Lit Review Article #3

I. Title Scaffolding Emergent Writing in the Zone of Proximal Development

II. Author Bodrova, Elena, Leong, Deborah

III. Author's Purpose for Writing The theoretical notions underlying the method: the zone of proximal development, scaffolding, materialization, and private speech.

IV. What are the points made in the review of the literature? Do they support the need for the study?

V. Author's Inquiry Question/s Would the use of Scaffolded Writing support the next developmental level within the ZPD?

VI. Author's Methodology A case study of 34 at-risk kindergarten children that illustrates the effectiveness of this method in supporting children’s emergent writing.
A. Who is being studied? 34 at-risk half-day kindergarten children
B. Over what length of time? School year
C. What data is being collected Evidence of using a combination of materialization and private speech to support emergent writing. Scaffolding is temporary. “Scaffolded Writing I s a Vygotskian –based technique developed to support and investigate emergent writing” (Lit. and Learn. 2). Scaffolded writing is a method inspired by the work of Elknonin and Galperin but applied to an area that neither of them originally studied – self-generated messages of young writers.” (Lit and Learn 2). “Scaffolded writing is a teaching technique and a method to examine children’s literacy development in the ZPD” (Lit. and Learn. 2). (
D. How is it being analyzed Gentry’sWriting scales and writing samples over the school year
E. Any other interesting or pertinent data
Interest in writing and reading increased at a greater rate than in previous years. Small groups of students necessary
VII. How the author collected information,
Writing produced by the children
VIII. What the Author Discovered or Conclusions/Implications “Instruction is only useful when it moves ahead of development” “Instruction is a source of development” ((Lit. and Learn. 3). “No all tangible objects have equal value in terms of materialization, however,. Only the ones that affect the essential components of the new emerging competence are useful” ((Lit. and Learn. 5).

How might I better support students through ZPD? Teach the strategies necessary to support the student at their ZPD level and then give them the private speech they need to become self-directed and self regulated.

What have I learned from this article so that I may better understand how I will better support students through ZPD? It is not only social interaction which must occur; it is interaction with knowledgeable instructors too. Although this was a study of at-risk kindergartners, I believe the methods are suitable for high school students too.