Steps to Complete the Vygotsky Paper

1. First choose which activity or game you want to teach someone through scaffolding

2. Once you choose your task, find a person in the appropriate age range (Ex: If you want to teach the game of candy land to someone, choose someone from age 3 to 5, not older.

3. Find a time and place to teach the activity or game and make sure you use the appropriate tools.

4. Remember to take a picture of you teaching the activity or game. You must attach the picture to the end of your paper as proof that you were teaching the activity or the game).

5. Now it is time to write the paper!

6. Start with the Introduction:

1. Start the paper with a general background on Vygotsky and how he emphasized language and social interactions in learning.

2. Explain what game or activity you chose to teach through scaffolding and what the purpose of the paper is.

7. Next Background:

1. Start talking about Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in general and the impact of the social world on children’s learning.

2. Then, explain what the zone of proximal development is and give an example of this.

3. Next, talk about the concept of scaffolding and give examples.

4. Finally, explain how language is an important cultural tool that is used in learning and how it relates to sociocultural theory

8. Next Method section:

1. Participant: How old is the person you taught the game or activity to through scaffolding? What grade are they in and if you know about their cognitive skills or skills in relation to the task or game.

2. Materials: Talk about the materials used for the task ( ex: for chess the board and the pieces are the materials used, or if you are teaching how to ride a bike your materials would be the bike , training wheels, and helmet ).

3. Procedure: First, assess the child’s ability levels (ex: If you are teaching them how to ride a bike, do they have any knowledge about riding a bike? What is the knowledge they have about riding the bike if they have any knowledge?)

4. Procedure continued (Talk about the 5 levels of scaffolding you will use. The first scaffold should have the most support with the last scaffold having the least support). (Ex. Riding a bike 1. Place the child on the bike and when they start pedaling hold the bike to make sure they do not fall. 2. Have them sit on the bike on their own but still hold the bike to make sure they do not fall 3. run with the child as they ride the bike and only hold it when they look like they will fall 4. Do not run with the child while they are biking but be nearby and watch them so if they look like they are going to fall run to them and steady the bike 5. Next have the child bike independently and have them call out if they need help) Notice how each scaffold has less and less support.

5. Procedure: Explain how you choose to reduce scaffolds ( Ex: for the biking example above ,the child make not even need scaffold number #1 if they are confident about sitting on the bike on their own).

9. Finally, Results and Discussion Section:

1. How well did the child learn the game or the activity?

2. Relate the results in teaching the game or activity to the sociocultural theory. (Relate how the child is able to learn to ride a bike with the support of you the knowledgeable other which relates to the zone of proximal development. Were they able to do any steps of riding the bike independently such as sitting on the bike themselves which also related to the zone of proximal development since it related to what they already know about riding a bike? Also, talk about how the purpose of scaffolding and how it helps them play the game or perform the activity independently. Finally, talk about how the social interactions between you and the child were critical to them learning the activity or game).

3. What scaffolds worked well, and which ones did not work as well?

4. Explain your thought and feelings on the assignment and what you learned about scaffolding and sociocultural theory from this assignment. This is reflecting on the assignment.