Instructional Strategies Flashcards

What is the primary goal of 'scaffolding' in instruction?

Answer: To provide temporary, adjustable support that helps students accomplish tasks beyond their current ability

Scaffolding provides adjustable, temporary support (guided questions, worked examples, sentence frames) that helps students achieve tasks they could not do independently.

In cooperative learning, what does 'positive interdependence' mean?

Answer: Each student's success depends on the success of all group members

Positive interdependence means each group member's success is linked to the group's success — students need each other to achieve the shared goal.

Which instructional strategy BEST develops metacognitive skills in students?

Answer: Think-alouds and reflective journals

Think-alouds (where students verbalize their thought process) and reflective journals encourage metacognition — thinking about one's own thinking and learning processes.

A teacher asks students to create a concept map showing relationships between ideas in a lesson. This is an example of:

Answer: Graphic organizer / visual learning strategy

Concept maps are graphic organizers that help students visually represent relationships between concepts, promoting meaningful learning over memorization.

In differentiated instruction, what does 'tiered assignments' mean?

Answer: Providing tasks at different levels of complexity to address varied readiness levels in the same class

Tiered assignments offer the same core concept at different complexity levels so all students work at an appropriate challenge level.

What is the purpose of an 'anticipatory set' or motivation at the beginning of a lesson?

Answer: To capture students' attention and connect to prior knowledge before new learning

An anticipatory set (hook or motivation) engages students' interest and activates prior knowledge, preparing them mentally for new learning.