I am planning to do a staff development based on scaffolding for ESL students. So many teachers are under the mistaken impression that if the child can speak English well, or if that child can can read the words in a text, he or she can understand what is read.
Learning to read and comprehend fiction and non-fiction passages in a new language is more complicated than learning to speak the language. Teachers can scaffold, or provide needed support or accommodations, the comprehension skills that will help English language learners to better understand what they are reading. Just being able to read the words is not enough, they have to understand what they have read.