Weekly Message- Scaffolding

Weekly Message

What is Scaffolding?

Many of us think of scaffolding as a temporary physical framework that supports a building during construction. When the construction is sturdy enough to stand on its own, the scaffold is removed. In an educational sense, scaffolding, in the form of coaching or modeling, supports students as they develop new skills or learn new concepts. When the student achieves competence, the support is removed. The student continues to develop the skills or knowledge on is or her own.

Joe Banaszynski and Linda Starr


Guidelines for Effective Scaffolding

· Identify what students know
· Begin with what students can do
· Help students achieve success quickly
· Know when it’s time to stop
· Help students be independent when they have command of the activity


What does Educational Scaffolding Look Like?

Just as scaffolding is used to support buildings during the construction process, educational scaffolding provides support systems for students during the learning process. Each of the following scaffolding tools can be used for all students or used to differentiate instruction. Scaffolding is both planned in advance and provided in the moment based on available data. In order to provide scaffolding, teachers must expand their repertoires of scaffolding strategies and gather materials and resources needed to build the scaffolding.

Twenty Ways to Scaffold Learning

Adjust pace and rhythm of speech
Avoid small print on handouts, overhead transparencies, PowerPoint slides, and on boards
Box Key Words
Break complex tasks into simpler parts
Build in movement
Check for understanding on Directions
Model Thinking Aloud
Provide checklists
Use models and exemplars
Use songs, charts, and rhymes
Teach reading strategies explicitly such as accessing prior knowledge, using context clues, etc
Teach students to highlight math operational signs.
Teach time management skills
Use props and realia
Use visuals
Use and have students learn to use mnemonics
Provide timelines
Provide page numbers where answers can be found
Begin with recognition and move to generation of information
Limit choices on matching tests




Rutherford, Paula (2008). Instruction for all students. Alexandria, Virginia: Just ASK Publications

Weekly Messate- Top Ten Questions for Lesson Design

Top Ten Questions to ask as you design lessons.

As we design instruction, there are many considerations. The questions below act as a guide for processing the demands of lesson planning.

1. What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson? How are these objectives related to national, state, and /or district standards?
2. How will students demonstrate what they know and what they can do? What will be the assessment criteria and what form will it take?
3. How will I find out what students already know (pre-assessment), and how will I help them access what they know and have experienced both inside and outside the classroom? How will I help them build on prior experiences, deal with misconceptions, and re-frame their thinking when appropriate?
4. How will new knowledge, concepts, and skills be introduced? Given the diversity of my students and the task analysis, what are my best options for sources and presentation modes?
5. How will I facilitate student processing (meaning making) of new information or processes? What key questions, activities, and assignments (in class or homework) will promote understanding, retention, and transfer?
6. What shall I use as formative assessments or checks for understanding during the lesson? How can I use the data from those assessments to inform my teaching decisions?
7. What do I need to do to scaffold instruction so that the learning experiences are productive for all students? What are the multiple ways students can access information and then process and demonstrate their learning?
8. How will I Frame the Learning so that students know the objectives, the rationale for the objectives and activities, the directions and procedures, as well as the assessment criteria at the beginning of the learning process?
9. How will I build in opportunities for students to make real-world connection and to learn and use the rigorous and complex thinking skills they need to succeed in the classroom and the world beyond?
10. What adjustments need to be made in the learning environment so that we can work and learn efficiently during this study?

Rutherford, Paula (2008). Instruction for all students. Alexandria, Virginia: Just ASK Publications.

The Return of the Weekly Message-Somebody’s Baby

This week marks the return of the weekly message. Each week, you will receive emails from me with tidbits of information to pass along or share that will hopefully inspire, revive, or validate your practice.

For those of you who are new, you will notice last year’s weekly messages on the C and I webpage.

For those of you who were here last year, you may have noticed I did not send a message last week. Last week was a challenging week in the Griffin household. You see, I have crossed over. No, I haven’t gone to the dark side; I have crossed over to the other side of the teacher’s desk.

My oldest son is now a great, big Kindergartener. For years, I laughed to myself as I saw parents with attachments issues. Yes, I said parents with issues. The children are usually fine.

Now I understand them totally.

A few days before the start of school, I saw my son’s Principal. Since we moved over the summer, I had yet to receive my notice with his teacher’s name on it. Since his friends already knew their teachers, I couldn’t resist asking.

When she told me the teacher’s name, I burst into tears. She asked me if I was disappointed. My response was, “No. Waker has a teacher!”

I love and respect his teacher. I adore the Principal and I trust them to take care of him. And for those of you who are parents, you know exactly how I felt.

I was thinking, “This is my baby I am trusting to you.”

The dust has now settled on our first week. The teacher has already replaced Mommy as the smartest woman who ever lived. (My teacher says to write it this way.) I can say we all survived.

My son is happy as a clam and loving his new found responsibility and friends. I am still adjusting to his new found responsibility and friends.

The lesson I have learned by becoming the parent of a student in Hickory Public Schools is this: each one of our students is somebody’s baby if they are 5 or 15. Parents trust us to prepare their children as best we can. They trust us to love them and care for them when they are not around and even if they are not so loveable that day.

The amazing thing to me is that our teachers consistently do just that each and every day with all too few pats on the back. That is the definition of going the extra degree.

I hope my son always loves school as much as he does right now. I hope he maintains his love for learning and his excitement for all things new.

Thank you all for the hours of preparation you put in getting ready for our students. Thank you for the time and care you put into all your lessons. Thank you for the extra things you do in your classroom to make sure your students feel special.

You sure make parents like me proud to have children in Hickory Public Schools.