When Reading It Wrong Is Getting It Right: Shared Evaluation Pedagogy among Struggling Fifth Grade Readers

Abstract

This study offers an alternative to traditional notions of scaffolding for reading comprehension by tracing the evolution of a fifth-grade small group literature conversation in which the teacher sought to displace himself as “primary knower” (Berry, 1981) in the conversation. The study examines how the teacher shared evaluation with his students even when they sought to reposition him as primary knower.