Scaffolding

Previous to reading Chapter 13 of When Kids Can't Read, I assumed that high school students of lower reading levels should read novels more at their level, rather than what the advanced English students read.  Because of the case study in the book, I realized that, for example, all tenth graders can read Huck Finn.  The difference is that some students need help comprehending the text, while others are more independent.  Perhaps English Teachers could recommend each student to a general level class, moderate or advanced for the next grade, so the students are better grouped with similar learners.  Each of the classes would read the same text, only the lowest level would have more scaffolding and more comprehension exercises in the class, while the upper level class could work on higher levels of thinking.  In this way, all students read the grade level novel, but work with the text in a way that is most helpful to them. 
  As it is right now, most students are enrolled in middle level English classes, yet not all of them are able to succeed in them.  If the teacher assigns an activity to enhance making inference and comprehension skills, the students who have mastered these skills would be bored, which would be unfair to them.  If the teacher only focuses on higher level thinking, many lower level students would tap out and not succeed, which is unfair to them.  If students could be better broken up based on their skill levels it would be easier for the teachers to focus on certain areas and more students would succeed.

(Chapter 13)