Gestures: Silent Scaffolding within Small Groups

This paper describes how gestures are used to enhance scaffolding that occurs in small group settings. Sixth and eighth grade students participated in an elective science course focused on earth science concepts with a substantial spatial visualization component. Gestures that students used in small group discussions were analyzed and four patterns of gesture usage with scaffolding roles emerged: (a) Gestures highlighted essential parts of speech, (b) gestures provided information not provided in speech, (c) gestures were used in place of words not immediately accessible, and (d) gestures were adopted by other group members as a shared means of communication.