You caught a beauty!!!

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Download PDF of scaffold here.

Teachers in Higher Education typically focus less on language development and more on content learning – to the detriment of our students. We need to remember to intentionally address grammar and academic language in our lessons, in different ways, to help our students move forward more confidently in their learning. * One way to achieve this is to present new knowledge through music (rhythm). Rhythm helps students to develop key brain functions that not only enhance musical learning but also academic and social skills. It builds and strengthens connections between brain cells and improves memory and the ability to differentiate sounds and speech. It nourishes the process of learning, which includes:

  • sensory integration
  • attention
  • critical thinking
  • emotional maturity
  • motor capacities **

This scaffold addresses language development in four ways: through music, images, translanguaging***, and closed-and open-ended questions. It’s not usual to use this sort of technique in a university class; however, dare to be different and you’ll see how the technique benefits your students.

The example we give here is from a lesson on economics. Just as in many disciplines, the amount of academic language in an economics course can seem overwhelming to students since the subject is tied so closely to history, politics and law, to name a few, each of which has its own domain-specific terminology. You’ll see how easily the acivity can be adapted to your subject area.

*    (Zeiers, 2008)
**  Konrad, R.R. (200), ‘Empathy, Arts and Social Studies’.
***Translanguaging: Listening to, reading about, and/or watching a topic in one language, and discussing or writing about it in another. The technique is used to deepen learning not to make it easier. In other words, it must not be overused and one must make be certain it is serving the aims/objectives of the course. (Mehisto, 2017)Scaffold in WordScaffold in PDFTemplate

Scaffoldingmagic.com is your entryway into DYNAMIC bilingual learning methodologies, such as Phenomenon-Based Learning, CLIL, EMI, and ESL. You’ll find ways to implement critical thinking tools (DOK) to promote higher level thinking, the growth mindset, instill an ethic of excellence, deep reflection on learning, and all through multi-cultural, interdisciplinary activities. We have the keys to turning competences into action and to creating collective efficacy in your school so you move ahead as a unified, enthusiastic team.