Mod 8 Discussion: Tiering and Scaffolding in My Classroom

As a PreK teacher one of my goals is to have my students be able to write their name by end of year before kindergarten. When thinking about the Zone of Proximal development the gap is very large for my students who are in school for the first time. Before they can write, they need to develop strength to hold a pencil correctly. 

When using the Frog Street curriculum for letters and letter sounds, I want my students to first be able to recognize and identify what the alphabet is. We would start by sky writing letters and using alphabet strips for recognition. I would first have activities like using pincers to place marbles in tubes, pouring water in cups, and using clay to strengthen the hands. When they are able to hold a pencil we would start with tracing vertical and horizontal lines until they can draw them on their own. Then scaffold to individual letters and so on until they can trace their name. With ELL's I would improve this method by having them watch me first so they can copy the action until mastery.