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How Scaffolding Works
By: Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, John Taylor Almarode
Scaffolding—keep it in place too long and learners coast but never fly. Don’t provide enough and they bottom out with frustration. In How Scaffolding Works, you will learn how to get it just right.
- Grade Level: PreK-12
- ISBN: 9781071904152
- Published By: Corwin
- Year: 2023
- Page Count: 184
- Publication date: February 14, 2023
Price: $39.95
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Description
Provide the perfect structure and support to develop student independence.
Effective scaffolding leads to learner autonomy—but too many educators have been airlifting students to right answers, perpetuating a generation who don’t know how to learn. Yes, we know the sweet spot for learning involves giving our students the right blend of productive failure and productive success, but how to do it is cloaked in misconceptions.
How Scaffolding Works unveils the essential moves and methods. Ten interactive modules help every K-12 educator structure support in new ways, including knowing how to:
- Gradually release responsibility to students through intentional and purposeful scaffolding
- Design lessons and experiences that attend to the affective, metacognitive, and cognitive aspects of learning
- Collect data before, during, and after learning, so we can place, move, and take away scaffolds with greater intention
- Promote independence with front-end scaffolds, distributed scaffolds, back-end scaffolds, peer scaffolds, and fading scaffolds
- Use a blend of demonstration, modeling, coaching, explaining, questioning and choice
- Promote purposeful practice—in which learners knows where they’re going and how to get there
Perhaps we rush in to rescue learners because the world seems fraught; we want to help our students reach the safety of academic success. Our intentions are good, but it’s time to step back, gradually and purposefully, and let them pilot their own learning.
Author(s)
Nancy Frey
Douglas Fisher
Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit and an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and How Learning Works. Doug loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.
John Taylor Almarode
Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and has worked with schools, classrooms, and teachers all over the world on the translation and application of the science of learning to the classroom, school, and home environments, and what works best in teaching and learning. He has done so in Australia, Canada, Egypt, England, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Korea, Thailand and all across the United States.
He is an Associate Professor of Education in the College of Education. In 2015, John was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship. In 2021, John was honored with an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia. At James Madison University, he continues to work with pre-service teachers and graduate students, as well as actively pursues his research interests including the science of learning, the design and measurement of classroom environments that promote student engagement and learning.
The work of John and his colleagues has been presented to the United States Congress, Virginia Senate, at the United States Department of Education as well as the Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House.
John began his career in Augusta County, Virginia, teaching mathematics and science to a wide-range of students. Since then, John has authored multiple articles, reports, book chapters, and eleven books including Captivate, Activate, and Invigorate the Student Brain in Science and Math, Grades 6 - 12 (Corwin Press, 2013), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers (Corwin Press, 2018), both with Ann Miller, and Visible Learning for Science, with Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin Press, 2018). He recently finished a book focusing on clarity, Clarity for Learning, with Kara Vandas (Corwin Press, 2019), as well as Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 6 - 8, and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 9 - 12 both with Doug Fisher, Joseph Assof, Sara Moore, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie (Corwin, 2019), all with Corwin Press. Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades K - 2 and Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 3 - 5 with the same author team plus Kateri Thunder hit the shelves in March of 2019. He is also the past co-editor of the Teacher Educator’s Journal.
In 2019, John and his colleagues developed a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities: PLC+. Focusing on sustained change in teacher practice, the PLC+ framework builds capacity within teacher-led teams to maximize student learning. The books, PLC+ Better Decisions and Greater Impact by Design, The PLC+ Playbook, Grades K - 12, The PLC+ Activator’s Guide will support this work in schools and classrooms.
John and his colleagues have also focused a lot of attention on the process of implementation – taking evidence-based practices and moving them from intention to implementation, potential to impact through a series of on-your-feet-guides around PLCs,Visible Learning, Visible Teaching, and the SOLO Taxonomy. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, John and his colleagues developed the Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction (SAGE). In November of 2020, Student Learning Communities (ASCD) was released, followed by Great Teaching by Design (Corwin Press), The Success Criteria Playbook (Corwin), an educational textbook on teaching science in the inclusive early childhood classroom, Inclusive Teaching in the Early Childhood Science Classroom (Routledge), and A Quick Guide to Simultaneous, Hybrid, & Blended Learning (Corwin).
Continuing his collaborative work with colleagues on what works best in teaching and learning, How Tutoring Works, Visible Learning in Early Childhood, and How Learning Works, all with Corwin Press, were released in 2021.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Module 1: The Foundations of Scaffolding
Module 2: The Origins of Scaffolding
Module 3: A Model for How Scaffolding Works
Module 4: Mental Models
Module 5: Goal Setting
Module 6: Deliberate Practice
Module 7: Front-end Scaffolds
Module 8: Distributed Scaffolds
Module 9: Back-end Scaffolds
Module 10: Peer Scaffolding
Module 11: Fading Scaffolds
Conclusion: So, How Does Scaffolding Work?
Reviews
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“Almarode, Fisher, and Frey have expertly created an insightful, timely, practical playbook for teachers and school leaders who want to learn more ways to ensure that all students gain skills using supportive structures called scaffolds. Most of all, educators will enjoy the techniques for using ongoing formative assessment and spiraling curriculum.”Virginia E. Kelsen, PhD
Lead Human Resources Administrator, El Rancho Unified School District
“At a time when every educator and transformational leader are strategizing on how to eliminate inequities and achievement gaps among their scholars, this book is a valuable, timely resource. The authors have masterfully defined the characteristics of effective scaffolding to make instruction and learning both accessible and relevant for all learners, regardless of the level they begin. I view this 'playbook' as an absolute necessity—for its clarity and focus on the steps educators can take to help all scholars reach their highest academic potential.”Dana Trevethan
Superintendent, Turlock Unified School District
“How Scaffolding Works is a highly-engaging and thought-provoking resource for school administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers to collaboratively learn about scaffolding. Each module includes real-life examples, opportunities for peer discussion and an easy-to-use framework for deliberately planning scaffolds for ALL learners throughout the learning process. This playbook is a must read for anyone wanting to learn how to use high-effect size strategies to scaffold learning.”Alisa Barret
Director of Instruction, Greenfield Exempted Village Schools
“This text provides a fresh lens through which to view the practice of scaffolding, applicable to all grade bands and subject areas!”Tiffany Coleman
Former Chair of Literacy Instruction, Georgia Gwinnett College