Using Scaffolds to Make Students’ Initial Ideas Public

Jan 31, 2024

This video provides tips for eliciting students’ initial ideas, here in the context of fifth-graders thinking about why a flashlight stops working if left on. Listen for how the teacher revises the guiding question, supports talk, and uses model scaffolds for elicitation and later planning.

Video Transcript

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Equity

Several tips here enhance access for students, such as grounding the unit in a shared observational task (rather than assuming students have had particular kinds of experiences) and scaffolding students’ modeling. Note also how the teacher makes flexible use of a unit plan and devises next steps in response to students’ ideas.

Research

For more on designing a model scaffold to elicit students’ initial ideas, read: Fowler, K., Windschitl, M., & Auning, C. (2020). A layered approach to scientific models: Creating scaffolds that allow all students to show more of what they know. The Science Teacher, 88(1), 24-36.

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