Use formative data to decide which students will need additional support before and during instruction. Anticipate potential misunderstandings and plan instruction to meet the needs of your students. Plan checkpoints during instruction to assess students’ understanding.

Invite a few students to gather before instruction to preview upcoming learning in order to build background knowledge. Allow students to read and discuss introductory texts. Lead them in highlighting key ideas. Frontload by pre-teaching challenging vocabulary.

Keep track of content and concepts with which your students are struggling as you circulate. Call those students who need extra support together for a private “mini-lesson” using a catch and release. Provide additional explanation or a scaffolded activity.

Utilize flexible grouping by pairing students who need additional support with a “learning buddy” who can help clarify directions or key ideas. Teach learning buddies your expectation that each student is to do his or her own thinking and writing. Employ learning buddies during complex reading and writing tasks.

For students who need additional explanation and practice (according to your assessment), create more learning opportunities within the next few days. Target additional practice precisely to address specific gaps in knowledge or skills.