A scaffold is a temporary framework that we offer our students to enable them to do something beyond what they can do independently. The important thing to remember is that it is temporary - we can slowly remove the scaffold when the student feels success and masters the task.

• Students feel supported in the learning environment
• Frustration is reduced
• Students feel more successful in their learning and therefore more motivated to continue trying
• Students are more active in their own learning
• Students are able to reach independence much quicker than if they were not given scaffolds at first

Sentence Stems - can be used for writing and for discussion. By providing clear sentence stems, students can focus their energy on higher level thinking to add their own ideas.

Graphic Organizers - help students to organize information in a way that it easier to visually understand and read through later.

Word Walls - can be useful for all grades from Pre-K through 12th Grade! Pre-teach important vocabulary, practice pronunciation and post the words clearly on the wall in a logical order. Add images if possible to help with understanding and recall. Refer to the words often!

Use of pictures and graphs - visuals will help students understand, and remember concepts more effectively.

Chunking - break the instruction into smaller, and more manageable pieces.

Connect information to students' prior knowledge - linking concepts to what the students already know will help them to better understand, whilst also be more engaged in the learning.

Dorina Sackman developed this fabulous scaffolding tool for essay writing. She calls it a "Writing Recipe".

By following the scaffolded steps, students can create a five paragraph essay.

The scaffolds can be adapted to the type of essay that the students need to write - by adjusting the sentence frames offered.

As the student's writing becomes more proficient, the scaffolds can be reduced until the student is eventually able to write their essays independently.

The video below shows how Dorina Sackman uses this scaffolding with her students.