CSI Planning STEPS:
Catch-Up Support and Instruction
Goal/Core Belief: Students who lack prerequisite math skills can ‘catch up’
when they are provided with scaffolded learning support and guided math
instruction within the structure of the regular class period/math block.
Step 1
Identify a hard-to-learn, hard to teach concept:
Step 2 Identify prerequisite skills students lack or misunderstand that
they need to learn this concept:
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Step 3
Scaffolding Learning Support for Whole Group Instruction:
How
will you scaffold instruction during the whole group lesson, knowing there will be students in the group who won’t get it
due to lack of prerequisite skills? The goal here is to plan supports (scaffold) for these students so they can be
successful and participate in the lesson, and not be lost throughout. For example, you may plan to partner these students
with students you know DO have the prerequisite skills. You may provide physical models for addition, subtraction, or
multiplication, fractions, or a copy of a multiplication table, or?
A. Review/background knowledge (concepts you will practice/review/connect
to at the start of the lesson?)
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B. Referential supports (posters, pages in the textbook to look at, step-bystep ‘reminder’ sheets, fact family charts, etc.)
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C. Cooperative group supports (partners, small groups, turn and talk, etc.)
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D. Physical tools: (strips, base ten blocks, fact family charts, RAMP/RNP
concepts)
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STEP 4 Formative Assessments during the lesson:
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STEP 5 Plan for Catch-Up Instruction: Cooperative group structure and
how to identify participants (partners, small groups, etc.):
These groups can be teacher-identified, student-self selected, or a mix of both, depending on student needs. It is
beneficial to keep these fluid and open, depending on who needs support, depending on the skills addressed. Establishing
a math learning norm emphasizing that it is normal and ok to seek additional support will help the teacher create a
collaborative community of math learners.
STEP 6 Small group, homework, and practice activities the rest of the
class will be working on while you are working with the prerequisite small
group:
These activities may include practice activities (make sure when they are practicing that it is with material they are
already familiar with, and structure it so they can support each other and work independently), homework activities
(student who ‘have it’ may start on the homework, which the guided math group will take home), math vocabulary practice,
or parallel activities (math tasks of demanding varying levels of complexity). Also Note: Ideas and resources for planning
guided math group activities are widely available (see Annette’s math learning group materials for example).