In this lesson, we’re getting practical — really practical. We’re looking at scaffolding, and how we can support learners as they build clearer, more confident sentences.
If Lessons 1 and 2 gave us the “why,” this one gives us the “how do I actually do this at 9am on a rainy Tuesday with a sleepy class?” Because scaffolding is where teaching grammar and sentence structure becomes visible, supportive, and human.
In this session, we’ll unpack:
- Modelling — showing learners exactly what a good sentence looks like
- Sentence starters, stems, and frames — partial structures that help learners focus on meaning without getting stuck
- Guided practice — building sentences with learners before expecting independence
- The gradual release of responsibility — moving steadily from “I do,” to “We do,” to “You do”
- Collaborative sentence building — why learners often flourish when constructing language together
We’ll look at how each step reduces cognitive load, how to differentiate support for mixed-ability classes, and how scaffolding promotes confidence rather than dependency.
By the end of Lesson 3, you’ll have a clear toolkit you can use immediately — a set of supports big enough to help learners climb, but light enough to remove when they’re ready to stand on their own.
So let’s dive in.
When you’re done, take the quiz for this lesson, and then join me in Lesson 4, where we put everything together and look at how these techniques work across a full lesson sequence.
