6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students

6 SCAFFOLDING
STRATEGIES TO
USE WITH YOUR
STUDENTS
Written By :Rebecca Alber
Prepared by:
Basma Elsayed Abd El Fattah

Objectives
What’s the opposite of scaffolding
a lesson?
What do we mean by scaffolding?
What are the six scaffolding
strategies teachers can use at
classrooms?

The opposite of scaffolding is
• Asking students to do something like :
• Read a nine- page science article
OR
• Write a detailed essay on the topic it
explores and turn it by Wednesday

• Let’s agree that scaffolding a lesson
and differentiating instruction are
two different things.
• Scaffolding is the type of assistance
offered by a teacher or peer to
support learning .

What is scaffolding?
•Scaffolding is breaking up
the learning into chunks and
then providing a tool, or
structure, with each chunk.

•When scaffolding reading, for
example, you might preview the
text and discuss key
vocabulary, or chunk the text
and read and discuss as you go

What about differentiating
instruction?
• With differentiating,
1. you may give a child
an entirely different
piece of text to read.
2. you might shorten the
text or alter it.
3. You may modify the
writing assignment
that follows.

• In the process of scaffolding,
The teacher helps the student
master a task or concept that the
student is initially unable to grasp
independently.
The teacher offers assistance with
only those skills that are beyond the
student’s capability.

•In order to meet students
where they are, you have to
know the individual and
collective zone of proximal
development (ZPD) of your
learners

The zone of proximal development (ZPDThe zone of proximal development (ZPD))
the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined
by independent problem solving
and the level of potential development
as determined through problem solving
under adult guidance, or in collaboration
with more capable peers“
(Vygotsky, 1978, p86).

As education researcher , Eileen
Raymond states that:
•“The ZPD is the distance
between what children can
do by themselves and the
next learning that they can
be helped to achieve with
competent assistance.”

6scaffolding strategies
Show and Tell
Tap into prior knowledge
Give time to talk
Pre-teaching vocabulary
Use visual aids
Pause Ask
questions,Pause,Review

Show and Tell
•Modeling for students is a cornerstone
of scaffolding in my experience.
• Have you ever interrupted someone
with "just show me!" while they were in
the middle of explaining to you how to
do something?

A.
A-fish bowl activity
•
where a small group in the center
are circled by the class as the
group in the middle, or fishbowl,
engage in an activity, modeling
how it's done for the larger group.

• which will allow you to model your
thought process for developing critical
thinking as you:
• read a text,
• solve a problem,
• or design a project

Always show students the
outcome or product before they do it
. If a teacher assigns a persuasive essay or
inquiry-based science project, a model should
be presented side-by-side with a criteria chart
or rubric. You can guide students through
each step of the process, model in-hand of
the finished product

2. Tap into Prior Knowledge
• Ask students to share their own
experiences, hunches, and ideas about
the content or concept of study and
have them relate and connect it to their
own lives

Give time to TALK
• All learners need time to process new
ideas and information. They also need
time to verbally make sense of and
articulate their learning with the
community of learners who are
• also engaged in the same
• experience and journey HOW?

Turn-and-Talk
•Look at your partner
•Listen to your partner
• Be ready to speak when it’s your turn
• Speak so that only your partner can
hear you.
•Turn and face the front, when you and
your partner are finished sharing.

4.Pre-Teach Vocabulary
Use analogies
metaphors
introduce the
words to kids in
photos, and in
context
Dictionaries
invite students to
create a symbol or
drawing for each
word
Pictures
Charts


5.Use Visual Aids
Graphic organizers,
 pictures,
 and charts

6.Pause, Ask Questions,
Pause, Review
• To check for understanding while students read a
chunk of difficult text or learn a new concept or
content. Here's how this strategy works:
new idea from discussion or the reading is shared,
then pause (providing think time), then ask a strategic
question, pausing again.

• By strategic, you need to design them
ahead of time, make sure they are specific,
guiding and open-ended questions. (Great
questions fail without giving think time for
responses so hold out during that
Uncomfortable Silence.).

• keep kids engaged as active listeners by
calling on someone to "give the gist" of
what was just discussed / discovered /
questioned.
• If the class seems stuck by the questions,
provide an opportunity for students to
discuss it with a neighbor

Trying Something New
• . Scaffolding a lesson may, in fact, take
longer to teach, but the end product is
of far greater quality and the experience
much more rewarding for all involved.

Recommendation
• Recent research has concluded that
too much direction actually limits
our students and they end up doing
just what is asked and no more, thus
not challenging themselves.

6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students

6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students

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