Mod 8 Discussion: Tiering and Scaffolding in My Classroom

In my classroom, all of my students are Level 1, so I adapt instruction by adjusting the length and pacing of lessons and adding supports that make the content more accessible. One change I consistently make is providing a vocabulary list with pictures and shorter, student-friendly definitions so students can better understand key words before we begin the lesson.

In my class, we are expected to use the same curriculum as the rest of the school because students do not move to a modified curriculum until third grade. Because of that, I focus on scaffolding the grade-level materials so students can still access the content.

One scaffolding approach I use is pre-reading and previewing. Before reading, we look through the text using text features (titles, headings, pictures, captions, and bold words) to help students predict what the text will be about and build background knowledge. During instruction, I also use prefilled graphic organizers at different levels depending on student need. Some students may complete a partially filled organizer, while others may use a more open-ended version for an added challenge. For students who need more support, I may provide limited multiple-choice options to help them demonstrate comprehension without becoming overwhelmed.

These supports allow me to keep students working with the grade-level curriculum while still meeting their different cognitive and learning needs.In my classroom, I collect data for each student’s IEP goals because it directly guides my instruction and interventions. Tracking goal-specific data helps me identify learning gaps and see what skills students are improving in versus what still needs focused assistance. It also allows me to determine which strategies and supports work best for each student, so I can adjust instruction based on what the data shows.

I use student work samples to document progress and show growth over time. Keeping these artifacts, along with consistent progress monitoring notes, helps me clearly track improvement and make informed decisions about next steps for instruction and support.