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Assess Prior Knowledge
The purpose of the assessment of prior knowledge is to help students link informa on they
already know about the topic to the discussion in the classroom (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2003). An
example of a ques on to probe prior knowledge could be, “Does anyone know of any animals that
can be pets?” This gives the students an opportunity to answer open-ended ques ons. Then,
scaffolding techniques can be used to help students make connec ons between the concept
being taught and their personal experiences. Our goal is to engage students and check for
understanding. Examples of different scaffolding techniques are described below.
Expand Communica on using Scaffolding Techniques
Print reference - The adult references a target from the book by poin ng or commen ng (e.g.
The adult points to an illustra on and asks, “What is happening in the picture?”).
Cloze procedures - The adult provides the first part of an u8erance and the student completes
the thought (e.g. A: The mouse lost his balance and ______ S: fell off).
SyntacFc and semanFc expansions—The adult expands on an u8erance provided by the
student using the grammar and vocabulary targets (e.g. S: The mouse walking. A: Yes, the li8le
mouse is walking on the vine.).
Comprehension quesFons - The adult asks the student a ques on targe ng an appropriate
level of complexity for the student (A: Why do you think it could have been worse for the mouse?
S: Because the cat could have eaten him).
Binary choice - The adult offers the student two choices of responses (e.g. A: What happened
to the mouse? Did he fall off or jump off the vine? S: He fell off the vine.).
Modeling - The adult models the target structure for the student (e.g. What happened to the
mouse when he was crossing the river? The mouse fell into the river.) (Liboiron & Soto, 2006).
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