Scaffolding All Students for Success

Amy Sheft

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A little about me…

• 16 years teaching• Currently an instructional coach• Based on a third grade unit in conjunction

with the video project• Can be adapted to other grade

levels/areas• Never perfect, but reflective• I am you• They can!

Objectives

• Gain an understanding of how curriculum can be developed to scaffold all students appropriately so they can productively struggle with difficult concepts and texts.

• To not pass out.

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Overview of Planning Process

• Start with the standards• Choose text • Develop an open-ended question with a

real life application/current/high interest• Work backwards• Think of possible areas of struggle• Implement appropriate scaffolds

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Me starting the planning process…

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Start with the Standards

• Focus on reading and writing standards• Incorporate content areas• Lessons are during ELA and content times• Writing is incorporated throughout with

small and large writing pieces• Teaching thematically allows for adequate

time on topic and deepens the understanding of the topic

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Class Makeup

• SPED classroom• Students on the spectrum• ADHD• Absentee issues• Tier 2 (5) • Tier 3 students (5)• Readers at 1st and 2nd grade reading levels• High risk students in the areas of vocabulary and comprehension• Enrichment students (4)

*Know Your Students!

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Develop a Question & Choose Text

• Began with a unit on the moon• Wanted to choose a culminating

activity that was real life and current

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Locating Text

• Finding text is the most difficult and time consuming

• All types of resources (not afraid to try this anymore-science journals, Wall Street Journal, etc.)

• BTW I have had epic fails!

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Open Ended Questions & Connections

• Open ended questions, no right or wrong (know they have to back up their thinking with evidence)

• Students understand the connection between what they have studied and the world

• Engagement!• High interest!• Students want to grapple with the concept/text,

they want to know!

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Work Backwards

• Define the culminating activity• Apollo Lunar Legacy Act article in Time for

Kids• Studied article• Take a moment to read the article and list

the concepts that should be covered prior to the article for students to be successful, include vocabulary and concepts students might struggle with

• Share out

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Build Appropriate Background

• Close reading• Partner reading protocols • Discussion protocols• Non-fiction text features• Ideas of headings within

articles (important for section of TFK article about history)

• Making connections and investigating

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Content Background

• Strands of a community• Apollo missions• Items on moon• Why these are important• Moon Treaty of 1967• Space Race• What is a bill?• What is a national park? How do they get their status?• Vocabulary (lunar, legacy, preserve, settlement,

exploitation)

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Make Connections(we work on this ALL year)

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Background Texts & Experiences

• Mainly text• Text levels can vary• Apollo videos and recordings• Videos (How a bill becomes a law?

National parks)• Hands on science (land & water example)• Sometime students develop the open-

ended question for me (epic win!)

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Possible Areas of Struggle

What are the students going to stumble on within the article?Take a moment to discuss what you think their stumbling blocks

might be.Share out.

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Apply Appropriate Scaffolds

• Partner pairings (not just based on reading levels)

• Guiding questions • What do you notice about the guiding

questions?• Building of background with prior readings

& experiences

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Questioning & Student Talk

• Student thinking can (and will) have misconceptions• As you listen, what does the student know and not know?• What do you notice about the questioning?

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Closing the Lesson

• What’s the purpose of the debrief?

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Debrief Whole Group

• Bring back to the essential question• Helps all students to get on the same page • Clears up looming misconceptions• Helps pull all information together so students can move into their

independent thinking task• Independent task usually focuses on writing

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Questions?

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