Today’s post is the second in a series offering educator-recommended instructional scaffolds.

‘Differentiate Instruction’

Abby Baker is a middle school ELA teacher near Raleigh, N.C.:

Nowadays, teachers are often faced with overcrowded classrooms composed of students with a wide range of abilities. Navigating diverse sets of needs and capabilities often leaves teachers feeling like they are participating in an all-day game of Tetris, trying to ensure their instruction “fits” each student’s individual needs. While this is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of teaching, there are ways to scaffold instruction to make it accessible to all.

One of the most effective ways to differentiate instruction is by meeting students where they are academically. I like to think of scaffolding like Google Maps. There are various routes to the final destination. Some have detours, some are straight shots, and others have unexpected accidents that pop up along the way. Whatever route one takes, everyone always ends up at the final destination.

One easy way that teachers from any discipline can scaffold for students is by chunking text, or, changing the way it is displayed to students. Sometimes, students may become overwhelmed when faced with reading a lengthy amount of text, so breaking it up into chunks can make it more manageable. The best part is that students can learn to chunk text themselves!

In my ELA classroom, I have students number the paragraphs before we begin reading a text. Depending on the student, I may assign them to read the text paragraph by paragraph, a few paragraphs at a time, or as whole. In math, this can also be done with word problems. Students can highlight important parts of the problem and cross out nonessential information they won’t need to help them find the solution. The same can be done with multiple-step questions. Giving students one question at a time instead of all at once is a way to alleviate frustration and improve comprehension.

Another way that I like to scaffold assignments for my ELA students is through student choice, and this can be accomplished in any subject. At the end of units, in order to assess mastery, I like to give students a choice board. The board contains a variety of activities related to the learning objective. Each activity lends itself to a creative modality, such as creating a piece of art, composing a podcast, or writing a letter from a character’s perspective.

‘Sets Students Up For Success’

Ann Stiltner is a high school special education and reading teacher in Connecticut with more than 20 years of experience. She shares her passion and love for working in the classroom at her blog from Room A212:

Incorporating scaffolds into your lesson planning is a must for effective teaching. It meets students where they are and supports their growth and independence. As a whole-class instructional tool, the first step in creating lessons with scaffolds involves identifying the learning needs of the class and the context within which this new content is being delivered.

Some questions I ask to prepare a scaffolded lesson include:

What holes might students have in their learning that will make it difficult to understand this topic?

What background knowledge can students use to understand this new topic?

What misunderstandings might students have about this content?

What key vocabulary is needed to understand this topic?

What visuals can I provide to help them imagine this information in their minds?

How will I structure the lesson from “I do” to “We do” to “You do” to move students toward independence?

I choose which scaffolding strategies to use based on the answers to these questions. Below are the strategies I use most often, organized into those for direct instruction or class discussions and those students can use to complete written work.

Whole-class instruction and discussion scaffolds:

Preteach key vocab in context - Identify words students need to know in the unit. Read the words out loud and ask students which they recognize. Have students share the meanings they know, adjusting, if needed, to match the meaning related to the content before finishing with the meanings of words they do not recognize.

Structure academic talk - When planning a class discussion, incorporate strategies like Think-Pair-Share and Say Something to scaffold the discussion by structuring students’ roles and providing them specific language to share their ideas.

Activate background knowledge - Discuss previously taught topics that relate to the new content, bringing them to the forefront of their memory so students have a framework to link this new information.

Provide visuals - Use visuals to support new learning. Whether it be a map, a diagram, a slideshow, or written notes on the board, these all help students to process and comprehend.

Teacher think-aloud - Model your thinking process as you start to encounter and understand a new knowledge. Share mistakes you made in your initial thinking and show how you change and refine your thinking.

Questioning techniques - Use a mix of open-ended and literal questions to assess students’ mastery of the new content. Call on students to respond. If students struggle with a response, offer choices they can select from. Make sure they understand the question by asking them to repeat it. If a student gives a limited answer, provide questions to help them develop their idea. If a student says they don’t know, provide a series of guided questions to lead them logically to the answer. Ask classmates to expand on an answer.

Scaffolds for completing written assignments independently:

Show end product - Share examples of past student work for a project. Highlight where each of the parts required are found in the example.

Chunk steps of assignments - Provide checklists, charts, and visuals that outline the steps for completing a long-term project or that give dates by which parts of a project should be done. These aids help students develop their executive-functioning skills. In the future, students can create their own checklists incorporating the steps to complete a project.

Give sentence starters and graphic organizers - These tools help students organize their ideas and begin writing an essay. Over time, teachers can release more responsibility by shortening the length of the sentence starters or providing less pre-completed information on the graphic organizer and requiring students to complete more of it.

Provide page numbers - When asking students to answer text-dependent questions, add the page number and paragraph where the answer can be found. To release more responsibility, provide just the page number so they must skim the entire page to find the answer.

Remind to use spell check - Teachers can give verbal prompts to remind students to use spell check on a computer-based written assignment. Teachers can pull back by listing spell check as a step on an assignment checklist.

Using a combination of these scaffolding strategies sets students up for success and independence.

‘Real Scaffolding Is Responsive’

Valerie Peña-Hernandez is an equity-driven education consultant, former bilingual special educator, and instructional consultant who helps schools design culturally responsive MTSS systems that center multilingual learners and students with disabilities:

The best scaffolds I ever used weren’t just academic. They were deeply emotional.
Yes, sentence stems, visuals, and graphic organizers matter. They help students access content and express complex thinking. But what helped my students the most, especially those learning English, navigating trauma, or managing invisible struggles, was when I met them where they were, emotionally and energetically.

Before jumping into content, I’d ask simple questions: “How are you today?” “What’s making learning hard right now?” “What’s something you’re proud of?” These weren’t soft skills, they were sacred bridges. Because once I knew what was happening in their world, I could build the kind of scaffold that wasn’t just helpful but human.

I remember one student who struggled with anxiety. Academically capable but emotionally overwhelmed. A traditional scaffold wouldn’t have helped unless I acknowledged the emotional block. So we co-created a feeling check-in before tests, a quiet corner for regrouping, and sentence stems for self-advocacy. That’s what made the difference, not just access to content but access to calm.

Now, in my consulting work, I help teachers see scaffolds as both academic and relational supports. Can we scaffold belonging? Can we scaffold trust? The answer is yes, through predictable routines, validating language, culturally responsive materials, and space for students to see themselves in the work.

Too often, scaffolds are one-size-fits-all and compliance-based. But real scaffolding is responsive. It says, “I see you. I will meet you here, and together we’ll move forward.” When we do that, students don’t just complete the task, they feel empowered to take ownership of their learning. And that is where the magic happens.

Thanks to Abby, Ann, and Valerie for contributing their thoughts.

You can see Part One in this series here.

Responses today answered this question:

What are the most effective scaffolds—in any subject—do you provide students to support their learning?

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on X at @Larryferlazzo or on Bluesky at @larryferlazzo.bsky.social

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