Scaffold practice: Secondary

[On-screen text] Teaching for how students learn: Scaffold practice 

Scaffold practice: What it is 

• Planned support to bridge the gap between current abilities and the learning objectives. 
• Supports planned before instruction commences or introduced during the instruction process to respond to students’ needs. 
• Supports for all students to be successful in their learning. 
• Building students’ capacity for independence by gradually removing scaffolds over time. 
• Sustaining use of scaffolds as required for all students to access and meet learning objectives. 

[On-screen text] This video demonstrates examples of the following techniques to scaffold practice: 

• Use scaffolds to model and explain new learning 
• Use scaffolds to guide practise and application of learning 
• Monitor learning to inform use of scaffolds 
• Fade or remove scaffolds gradually 

Sue Hartshorne, Learning Specialist, Lake Colac School: I think it's really important for teachers to use scaffolds in lessons, because the students are at various levels of learning. We all know where we'd like them to get to. Here at Lake Colac, we strongly believe in pitching a little bit higher and scaffolding our students up to the learning. We don't place any sort of barrier on where they can stop learning, so the scaffolds help and ensure that all the students in the class can actually achieve to their very, very best. 

We will get quicker and we're going to make some of these steps mental in a moment, so we're going to do some of this in our head as we go. But just showing our thinking here at the moment. 

[On-screen text] Use scaffolds to model and explain new learning 

Sue Hartshorne: So again, same thing again. We're going to start with our ones. So the green numbers. We're going to add our 1 plus 5 equals 6. Then we're going to look at our tens and we're going to go 40 plus 10 equals 50. And then we're going to add our tens and ones back together again. So 6 plus our 50 is 56.  

[On-screen text] Use scaffolds to guide practise and application of learning 

Let's have a go at this one together. Okay? So we are going to – can I get you to write this, write this equation on your board – 13 plus 15. And we are going to, first of all, I want you to write 3 plus 5 equals. So let's add our ones together. So what's our answer there? 3 plus 5 equals … Skylar, what is it, 3 plus 5 equals …?  

Student: 8. 

Sue Hartshorne: Yep, well done. Now let's add our tens, which is 10 plus 10. Nice and easy. 

Toni Beckett, Year 8 Mathematics teacher, Wilsonton State High School: In a classroom, I think it’s really important, should model exactly what the students are expected to do. So, what I would do is – on my classroom whiteboard – is I would actually set it out as I expect the students to also put it in their book. So pretty much what I do on the board is an exact replica of how I would like the students to write their notes. And then they can take that into their working when they go and do their independent practise or their activities, and it should be modelled directly as they see on the board. 

So to find that pre-GST cost, we're going to take away the GST we just calculated, from the cost of the pizza.  

So now that original cost, or the pre-GST cost of that pizza is $7. I’m going to finish by putting in a sentence to answer my questions. So there is 70 cents GST and the pre-GST price was $7. So we’ve answered that question: How much was the GST? What was the price before?  

[Whispering] Okay, what's next?  

[On-screen text] Use scaffolds to guide practise and application of learning 

Toni Beckett [whispering]: So what's the next step? If we look over here. What’s the next step that we did?  

Student [whispering]: Go find the pre-GST. Equals GST [inaudible]. Take the GST, so I take the GST. 

Toni Beckett [whispering]: Yeah, go. 

Student [whispering]: So I take that away. 

Toni Beckett [whispering]: Yeah, perfect. Good job. 

Nicole Commins, Year 7 Integrated Humanities teacher, Merici College: Within my teaching, particularly when it's complex topics, such as essay writing, it helps students if they have the acronym in their head. It gives them a clear structure and guideline to follow. And I think, before students can break the rules, they have to know the rules. So, by the time they get to Year 12, they might be playing around with those structures a little bit more because they have the ability to. But when we're in Year 7, 8, 9, we like to teach them these acronyms so that they can have a clear structure ready to go in their head and that they know exactly what is required for each step. So, it's essentially just a model breakdown for how to approach a complex task. 

[On-screen text] Use scaffolds to guide practise and application of learning 

Nicole Commins: Okay, we did this on Monday. What does GST stand for when we're writing introductions? Give you 15 seconds. Three … two … one: chin it for me. Excellent, everyone got that correct. Erase your boards.  

Gaelle Pajot, Year 7 French teacher, Merici College: In French, because there are there are a lot of complexities in trying to learn all the intricacies of grammatical concepts. By coming up with specific framework with a 3-step rule, for example, really, really help their systematic review and applying of the rules. So then it makes them more successful when they apply it themselves independently. 

Okay, let's go over the 3-step rule. Okay, step number one. Track with me. Remove the ER. 

Students: Remove the ER. 

Gaelle Pajot: Step number 2: Write the stem of the verb.  

Students: Write the stem of the verb. 

Gaelle Pajot: Can you remind me what's the stem for ‘jouer’, Anara?  

Student: ‘Jou’, so J O U.  

Gaelle Pajot: Like it’s written here, excellent. And the last, third step, add the endings. Track with me.  

Gaelle Pajot and class: Add the endings.  

Gaelle Pajot: Three-step rule. That’s what you have to have in your head. Because when we conjugate verbs – regularly ER verbs – that’s what has to happen in your mind, okay? 

So I keep using the same song over and over, or going back and using parts of the song because I've noticed that sometimes students get caught up into the grammatical concept and they do the first — If there's a three-step rule, they all remember the first 2 and then feel there's a lot of information in the last step. But there's like 3 endings to verbs to be added. And to just going back to that song and just having a bit of rhythm – or sometimes snap my fingers or clap – have that kind of indicator that helps with the memory. So having a have a tempo or something that's rhythmic and will really stick to their memory. And now we have to go through the little song to remember what the endings are to match the pronouns. 

[On-screen text] [French]: Let’s go, listen and repeat. 

[On-screen text] Use scaffolds to guide practise and application of learning 

Gaelle Pajot: Remember, the Frère Jacques tune: EE SE. 

Class: EE SE. 

Gaelle Pajot: ONS. 

Class: ONS. 

Gaelle Pajot: Easy, easy, easy. 

Class: Easy, easy, easy. 

Gaelle Pajot: ENT. 

Class: ENT. 

Sue Hartshorne: The scaffolds help all the students achieve the learning intentions because, again, they're all at different levels of mastery. Some will have some parts of the concept, some will have other parts, but we want to make sure they're all reaching that end learning goal. So, I'm scaffolding the different parts of learning. So I had one little person today who wasn't quite ready for the 4 digits. And so, I was helping him by using the place value chart. So, actually, putting his thinking there so he could see it before he wrote the answers in. Whereas I had another one who it was well and truly there. He was ahead of me. I was watching and seeing he was ahead of me in the, in the, worked examples. And he was going to use the place value chart, but I said, ‘No, you can – I want you to see your thinking. I reckon you can do it yourself.’ So I pulled the place chart away from him. So, it’s about knowing the students and, again, watching while you're getting those checks for understanding to see who's ready to have a go and, and be – if they really want to have a go, go yeah, but they're pretty trusting. Like, we've built up enough of a relationship, they'll trust me then and if I want them to have a go without it. So, again, it's about having that sort of classroom where they can – they feel free enough or trusting enough I suppose – to have a go, yeah, without scaffolds. 

I am going to show you now. So write the equation at the top. I'm going to show you how we could use our place value chart if we need to, as we get closer to our independent work.  

[On-screen text] Fade or remove scaffolds gradually 

Sue Hartshorne: If we want to use our shortcuts. And we want to try and do it in our head, but we just want a little bit of support with the place value chart. I'm going to start with the hundreds and do 7 plus 1 —— 700 plus another 100 is 800. So, in here, I'm going to do 8 and it's already in the hundreds column, so I know that I'm talking about hundreds. Now I'm going to look at my tens. So 2 tens and 3 tens is 5 tens. And in ones, 1 ten plus 5, sorry, ones – 1 plus 5 is 6. So my answer is 856. So rather than, [inaudible], writing out all the equations, we can just start thinking about the numbers as their place value and use our place value chart to make it a little bit easier. 

[On-screen text] Monitor learning to inform the use of scaffolds 

Sue Hartshorne: Do you need this? 

Student: Probably not. 

Sue Hartshorne: Probably not. I don't think you do either. I want you to have a go without, okay? 

Student: Okay. 

Sue Hartshorne: I reckon you'll be fine. Now, remember, don't get tricked here. There's no hundreds. So we hold that place. 

Student: Yeah. 

Sue Hartshorne: Yeah, well done. It's like there's a zero here, isn't there? 

Student: Hmm, but not. 

Sue Hartshorne: Yeah. Great. 

Scaffolding is really just those supports: whether they be visual, whether they be a verbal support, whether it be a reminder. There's those different levels of prompt and scaffold that we use to be able to ensure that all the students can meet the same level. It also helps in not having to create a whole lot of different lessons within the same classroom. If you were pitching pretty much the same lesson, but just scaffolding some of our students up to that lesson or scaffolding beyond the lesson, it's the same lesson. So it's not a whole lot of different lesson planning that's going on for the one lesson.