STRATEGIES

for
Scaffolding
Math
Discourse
with
ELLs
Eliminate obstacles to effective
classroom communication with
these research-tested suggestions.

Holland W. Banse,
Natalia A. Palacios,
Eileen G. Mer ritt,
and Sara E.
Rimm-Kaufman

100 September 2016 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 23, No. 2 www.nctm.org
Copyright 2016 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. www.nctm.org.
All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.
 F
acilitating productive discussions in the mathematics
classroom is a challenge for many teachers. Discourse
student communication of mathematical ideas with teachers
and peersprovides a platform on which students share their
understanding, clarify misperceptions, and evaluate ideas
(Vygotsky 1976). If students are unable to access and participate
in discourse, their opportunities to learn mathematics may be diminished.
The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010),
as well as NCTMs (2000) Process Standards describe discourse as crucial to
students mathematical development.

Strategies to confront potential barriers

One potential barrier to accessing discourse is students English language pro-
ficiency. Discourse can be difficult to implement, especially in classrooms with
students who are learning English in addition to mathematics. Teachers need
concrete suggestions for effective practices that can help them facilitate dis-
course in classrooms with English language learners (ELLs), so that discourse
can advance ELLs mathematical development. This article presents suggested
instructional strategies to support ELLs in both understanding and participat-
ing in mathematical discourse.
SORAD/SHUTTERSTOCK

www.nctm.org Vol. 23, No. 2 | teaching children mathematics September 2016 101
 We observed teachers using these strategies
during two qualitative studies on fourth- and
fifth-grade classrooms with high concentrations
of ELLs. The first study examined the types of
instructional practices used in two fifth-grade
mathematics classrooms with high concentra-
tions of ELLs, both of which demonstrated high
gains on a state standardized mathematics test
(Merritt et al., under review). The second study
examined how two fourth-grade teachers used
mathematical discourse practices during Every-
day Counts Calendar Math (Banse et al., under
review). All four classrooms contained at least
40 percent ELLs. Table1 describes the following
five strategies for scaffolding
ELLs during mathemati-
cal discussions:
Referential
questions invite
students to explain
their mathematical
thinking.
102 September 2016 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 23, No. 2 www.nctm.org
1. Ask open-ended questions.
2. Follow open-ended questions with close-
ended questions, as needed.
3. Scaffold students responses by repeating,
extending, and rephrasing.
4. Model mathematical vocabulary in context.
5. Strive to include ELLs in mathematical
discourse each day.
We will define and describe each strategy below
and include relevant examples from our studies
to illustrate how teachers use these strategies in
their classrooms.
1. Ask open-ended questions.
Open-ended questions, also referred to as ref-
erential questions, have responses that teachers
cannot easily anticipate (McNeil 2012). These
questions invite students to explain their math-
ematical thinking, and they usually have a stem,
such as how or why. Referential questions
are essential for all students mathematical
development, as they elicit mathematical rea-
soning from students and focus on conceptual,
rather than procedural, understanding. As a
result, referential questions are a critical tool for
productive mathematical discourse.
Teachers may think that referential ques-
tions are too challenging for ELLs to answer
and instead ask simpler, procedural questions.
Although ELLs might require scaffolding to
respond, asking questions that probe their
understanding of mathematical concepts is
important. Teachers can support ELLs com-
prehension of referential questions by using
supplementary strategies, including visuals,
gestures, and group work (Moschkovich 2013;
Shein 2012). The following example illustrates
how a teacher used a referential question to
open a lesson.
The teacher began by handing out an activity
sheet, which she also projected onto the board.
The activity sheet showed a picture of a trap-
ezoid on the front and a square on the back and
asked the same questions for both shapes: Is
this a square? Why or why not? Is it a rectangle?
SUSSENN/THINKSTOCK
Why or why not? These are referential ques-
tions, as they require students to use their con-
ceptual knowledge of quadrilaterals to explain
and justify their answers. The teacher scaffolded
TABL E 1 The authors observed teachers using these five strategies during two qualitative studies on fourth- and
fifth-grade classes with high concentrations of ELLs.

Strategies for scaffolding English language learners (ELLs) during discourse

Recommendation Purpose Example
1. Ask open-ended Gives ELLs the opportunity to explain and Begin the class with a question that
questions of all justify their mathematical reasoning. includes a how or why stem, such
students, including as, Is this shape a square? Why or why
ELLs. not?

2. Scaffold ELLs Contingent display questions are close-
with close-ended ended, follow-up questions that teachers
questions, asneeded. can use to guide students who are
grappling with a more complex question.
Multiple-option display questions have
more than one potential correct answer
or explanation. These questions may be
familiar and less challenging to students
because they are questions that are
regularly asked.
Sequence close-ended questions to help
a student work through a word problem:
Teacher: So can you make ten teams?
Pablo: No.
Teacher: So, how many teams can you
make?
Pablo: Nine
Teacher: But what happens to those
extra people?

Ask for explanations behind close-ended

questions:
Teacher: OK, today is the sixteenth day
of school. Anything special about that?
Student: It, um, gets a heart.
Teacher: How did you know?

3. Scaffold responses by Repeat, extend, and re-articulate
revoicing. students responses using mathematical
language that is more precise.
Doing this may model both mathematical
reasoning and mathematical language
usage, while emphasizing the
mathematical content in the students
response.
Recast students ideas using precise
mathematical language:
Teacher: I want you to explain what you
are going to do first.
Student: Something that equals seven.
Teacher: So you are going to think of an
expression that equals seven, and it will
become an equation, right?

4. Model vocabulary Beyond defining mathematical Be consistent in using vocabulary:

incontext. vocabulary, use it in context, so that
Teacher: She says we have a vertical
students understand how to incorporate
line of symmetry and a horizontal line of
vocabulary into their own responses.
symmetry. Is thattrue?

5. Strive to engage ELLs Remember that ELLs language
in discourse each day. proficiency is not necessarily indicative
of their mathematical understanding,
and encourage them to participate in
mathematical discourse.
Use all activities, such as Calendar Math,
as opportunities to engage all students in
discourse.

the experience by reading the question aloud to
the class, pointing to the shapes when speak-
ing, and nodding or shaking her head when
asking, Why or why not? She requested that
students work in pairs to answer the question,
and she individually attended to each group
before conducting a formal discussion at the
end of class. After students had time to consider
their answers, the teacher asked them to provide
observations about the square:
Teacher: What about the sides, Maria?
Maria: All the sides are all not touching at all.
Teacher: So, it has two pairs of parallel sides.
Presenting the open-ended question in this

www.nctm.org Vol. 23, No. 2 | teaching children mathematics September 2016 103
 format ensured that all students, regardless of
English proficiency, had a chance to grapple
with the question. Visuals, gestures, and group
workas well as the teachers attention to each
groupprovided students with the support nec-
essary to both understand the referential ques-
tion and express their reasoning. When formal
discussion of the question began, students were
able to develop and articulate theirideas.
Referential questions are the essence of
mathematical discourse. All students should
therefore have the opportunity to respond to
them. The supplementary steps depicted in this
example help ensure that ELLs can also benefit
from these higher-order questions.
2. Follow referential questions with
contingent or multiple-option, close-
ended questions.
Close-ended questions, also called display ques-
tions, have responses that teachers can antici-
pate. Contingent display questions are those
asked in succession, which are meant to help
students work through the process of respond-
ing to a more complex question (Boyd and
Rubin 2006). Multiple-option display questions
are familiar questions with a set of potential
correct answers. Although the teacher may be
able to anticipate a students answer gener-
ally, the student must choose from multiple
possibilities to answer the question. If an ELL is
having difficulty grasping a question or partici-
pating in discourse, these two types of display
questions can help the student comprehend
and respond to the question. Display questions
should not take the place of referential ques-
tions, but they are sometimes helpful for ELLs
who need scaffolding. For instance, during a les-
son on reasonable remainders, one fifth-grade
teacher was helping a student work through a
problem in which a number of soccer players are
being assigned to teams. The teacher scaffolded
his response using contingent display questions:
Teacher: Do you agree with him, Pablo? Can
you make ten teams?
Pablo: No.
Teacher: Why not? How many players do you
need to make ten teams? For team one, for each
team you have, how many players do you have?
Pablo: Eleven.
104 September 2016 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 23, No. 2 www.nctm.org
Teacher: So, by the time you get to the tenth
team, how many players do you need to have?
Pablo: One hundred and ten.
Teacher: But you dont have one hundred ten,
you only have . . ..
Pablo: One hundred and three.
Teacher: So, can you make ten teams?
Pablo: No.
Teacher: So, how many teams can you make?
Pablo: Nine.
Teacher: But what happens to those extra
people? Can you chop them up and spread the
pieces? So, what are you going to do with those
extra people?
Pablo: Put them on other teams.
These contingent display questions scaffold
the student by gradually modeling a strategy
and providing structure for the student to
solve the problem. This type of questioning
should not comprise the entirety of the lesson,
because it does not encourage students to rea-
son conceptually. However, contingent display
questions can help ELLs understand both the
content of the question and the mathematical
steps needed to answer it. As ELLs progress in
their English proficiency and mathematical
understanding, they may need fewer contin-
gent display questions to answer complex
questions.
Similarly, you might use a multiple-option
display question. This type of question may
seem open-ended but ultimately is not as open-
ended as a referential question. It narrows the
potential number of correct answers a student
can choose, while requiring the student to
engage in some mathematical reasoning. Such
questions are typically familiar to students. A
potential context for multiple-option display
questions is Calendar Math. During Calendar
Math lessons, teachers repeat similar activities
across lessons. Students may become accus-
tomed to the types of questions asked during
Calendar Math and so become better able to
craft a correct response over time. For instance,
in the following example, a teacher is going
through a Calendar Math activity in which stu-
dents assign shapes representing multiples to
the current number of school days.
Teacher: OK, today is the sixteenth day of
school. Anything special about that? Whats
special about that?
Student: It, um, gets a heart.
Teacher: How did you know?
Student: Because, um, like, its twos.
Teacher: Because its counting by two; so six-
teen has, if you were skip counting by two, you
would land on sixteen.
Student: Its a multiple of two.
Teacher: Its also a multiple of two.
The question Whats special about [16]?
may seem open-ended. However, students have
seen this exact pattern, and heard a similar
question, every day of the school year. Students
thus are already aware of the type of responses
they should give (e.g., Its even, Its a multiple
of two or four). At the same time, the student
still has to consider possible solutions and artic-
ulate reasoning for her solution. The student is
engaging in mathematical discourse as a result
but at a level that may be more manageable for
her level of English proficiency.
Neither type of display questioncontingent
or multiple-optionshould be the primary
questioning format during mathematical dis-
course. Display questions do not encourage
students to use mathematical reasoning on a
deep conceptual level, and when teachers use
only display questions, facilitating high-quality
mathematical discourse will be more difficult.
However, these types of questions can help
bridge the gap between ELLs English profi-
ciency and the demands of higher-level math-
ematical discourse.
3. Scaffold responses by repeating,
rephrasing, and extending.
Revoicing refers to the repetition, extension,
or rephrasing of a students response using
precise mathematical language (OConnor
and Michaels 1993). Revoicing serves the dual
purpose of sharing the students response with
the class while affirming or adapting the stu-
dents answer as necessary. The three types of
revoicing are repetition, elaboration, and refor-
mulation (McNeil 2012). Repetition is exactly
what it sounds like: repeating a response word
for word. Elaboration involves extending a stu-
www.nctm.org Vol. 23, No. 2 | teaching children mathematics September 2016 105
dents response, and either the teacher or the
student can do it. Reformulation takes place
when a teacher rephrases a students response,
using precise mathematical language.
Revoicing helps teachers focus on ELLs
reasoning and on the mathematical content
in their responses, instead of on ELLs gram-
matical accuracy or other language-based errors
(Moschkovich 2013). Although becoming profi-
cient in English is important for ELLs, becoming
capable mathematics students who can explain
their thinking is also important. Revoicing offers
teachers a method of capitalizing on ELLs
mathematical contributions and adapting those
contributions as necessary, so that the essential
idea becomes mathematically accurate and cor-
rectly articulated. Revoicing is not punitive or
overtly corrective. In fact, the use of revoicing
practices can help ELLs feel like valued con-
tributors during a classroom discussion (Turner
et al. 2013; White 2003), regardless of their level
of English proficiency.
When teachers elaborate on student
responses, they extend the students line of
reasoning and model mathematical thinking
for the student. During another Calendar Math
exercise, students use an algorithm to deter-
mine how much money they have (twenty
multiplied by the date plus the amount from
the day before).
One student notes that todays problem,
220, is the same as 20 + 20.
The teacher elaborates: So, you knew that
multiplication is just like repeated addition; you
just add twenty twice. Or, you had two groups of
twenty. Youre right; so that gives us forty dollars
today and twenty dollars yesterday.
By elaborating on the students response, the
teacher models the mathematical reasoning
behind the response. Doing so both strengthens
the classs understanding of multiplication and
demonstrates language associated with math-
ematical reasoning and multiplication toELLs.
Teachers can also reformulate student
responses, so that students ideas are re-artic-
ulated using mathematical vocabulary. In the
following example, students are using algebra
to solve the following problem:
 scale containing two objects displays a
A
weight of 7 pounds. Determine what the two
objects could individually weigh.
 Teacher: I want you to explain what you are
going to do first.
Student: [Pausing] Something that equals
seven.
Teacher: So, you are going to think of an expres-
sion that equals seven, and it will become an
equation, right?
In this example, the student can hear her own
idea articulated using mathematical vocabu-
lary. This may encourage the student to adopt
the use of mathematical vocabulary in the
future (Khisty and Chval 2002).
4. Model mathematical vocabulary
in context.
Mathematics has its own language, and correct
use of that language is part of doing math-
ematics. Although the explicit instruction of
mathematical vocabulary is necessary for ELLs
(e.g., Echevarria, Short, and Powers 2006),
this practice goes beyond explicit instruc-
tion. Teachers who embed their own talk with
vocabulary use mathematical vocabulary regu-
larly in context during lessons. This can occur
during either teacher explanations of material
or teacher reformulation of students ideas.
When students, particularly ELLs, are exposed
to mathematical vocabulary use in their teach-
ers language use, they may be more likely to
include mathematical vocabulary in their own
responses as the year progresses (Khisty and
Chval 2002).
In the following example, a teacher mod-
els vocabulary and prompts her students to
use similar vocabulary during a geometry
discussion.
Student: It has two lines of symmetry.
Teacher: Does it have two lines of symmetry
total?
Student: Yes.
Teacher: We can only draw two lines. Which are
they? The, what is this word, ver... ? [She panto-
mimes with her arms.]
Student: Vertical.
Teacher: And this word, hor. . . ? [She panto-
mimes with her arms.]
Student: Horizontal.
106 September 2016 teaching children mathematics | Vol. 23, No. 2 www.nctm.org
Teacher: Do we agree? She says two lines of
symmetry only. Agree or disagree only? Think
about that. She says we have a vertical line of
symmetry and a horizontal line of symmetry. Is
that true? Ah, what do we call that? Does it have
two diagonal lines of symmetry?
In this example, the teacher both explicitly
reminds students of correct vocabulary defini-
tions as well as models use of the vocabulary
in context. In doing so, she demonstrates how
to articulate their mathematical understanding
using the precise mathematical vocabulary. This
teaching moment is doubly useful for ELLs, as
they are learning both academic content and
academic English simultaneously, and so need
consistent exposure to correct, specifically
mathematical language use.
5. Strive to engage ELLs
in mathematical discourse each day.
The teachers challenge is to try to implement
these strategiesasking referential questions,
scaffolding with contingent and multiple-
option display questions, revoicing, and using
contextual vocabularyto support ELLs in
joining discourse across all types of learning
experiences. Asking referential questions is one
way to initiate and sustain discourse-based les-
sons with ELLs (McNeil 2012). Using revoicing
practices, scaffolding complex questions with
display questions, and using vocabulary regu-
larly also help teachers incorporate and scaffold
discourse for ELLs across all types of lessons.
Two teachers were observed using Everyday
Counts Calendar Math as a warm-up lesson.
This curriculum targets foundational math
skills, such as geometry, patterns, and time, for
elementary school math students. Calendar
Math can be repetitive, because teachers are
enacting similar lessons day after day, and stu-
dents become accustomed to the types of ques-
tions that are typical in this format. Possibly as a
result, the teachers did not ask many referential
questions and did less reformulating. However,
despite the repetitive nature of the curriculum,
teachers still used discussion practices. In par-
ticular, teachers used multiple-option display
questions, which required students to carefully
choose a reasoning path. They also repeated
and elaborated student responses and asked
students to elaborate their own responses. These
elaborations provided an opportunity for teach-
ers and students to use mathematical vocabu-
lary. Calendar Math may not seem like the
perfect outlet for mathematical discussions. But
these teachers still made an effort to engage all
students in discussions, and as a result, students
had opportunities to practice using their mathe-
matical discourse skills and use new vocabulary
in context, modeling after their teacher.
The Common Cores Standards for Math-
ematical Practice (SMP) explicitly recommend
that students construct viable arguments and
critique the reasoning of others during math-
ematics instruction (SMP 3, CCSSI 2010, p. 6).
These two practicesconstructing arguments
and critiquing reasoningare the ultimate
goals of teaching students through discourse.
Our observations have indicated that teachers
can and should include ELLs in that goal. It is
understandable that teachers may be unsure of
whether their ELLs can effectively participate
in discourse. However, even if ELLs seem hesi-
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tant to participate in mathematical discourse,
teachers should not call on another student
or refrain from asking challenging questions.
Instead, teachers can encourage and scaffold
ELLs participation in mathematical discourse.
Common Core
Connection
SMP 3
REF EREN C ES
Banse, Holland, Natalia Palacios, Eileen Merritt,
and Sara Rimm-Kaufman. (Under review)
Discussion during Calendar MathA Warm-
Up Curriculum for Basic Math Skillswith
English Language Learners.
Boyd, Maureen, and Don Rubin. 2006. How
Contingent Questioning Promotes Extended
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Vol. 23, No. 2 | teaching children mathematics September 2016 107
 Student Talk: A Function of Display Questions.
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2010. Common Core State Standards for
Mathematics (CCSSM). Washington, DC:
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Best Practices and the Council of Chief State
School Officers. http://www.corestandards
.org/wp-content/uploads/Math_Standards.pdf
Echevarria, Jana, Deborah Short, and Kristin
Powers. 2006. School Reform and Stan-
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Every Day Counts Calendar Math. 2005. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Khisty, Lena Licn, and Kathryn B. Chval.
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White, Dorothy Y. 2003. Promoting Productive
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The research reported here was supported
by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education (USDOE), through
Grant No. R305B090002 to the University of
Virginia (UVA). The opinions expressed are those
of the authors and do not represent views of the
Institute or the USDOE. The research reported
here is also based on work supported by the
DuBarry Foundation under a grant awarded
to UVA.
Holland W. Banse is a second-year
doctoral student in the Educational
Psychology and Applied Developmental
Science program at the University
of Virginias (UVA) Curry School of
Education in Charlottesville. Before
arriving at Curry, she taught preschool
in Washington, D.C. Natalia A. Palacios,
PhD, is an assistant professor in the
Educational Psychology and Applied
Developmental Sciences program
in the Curry School of Education at
UVA. Her work examines the language
development and school readiness
of children from Latino or immigrant
backgrounds. Eileen G. Merritt, an
assistant professor at Arizona State
University, was a teacher in Albemarle
County and Chesapeake City Schools for
many years. Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman,
a professor of education at UVAs Curry
School of Education, conducts research on teacher-
student interactions in elementary school classrooms
and directs the Educational Psychology and Applied
Developmental Science program.
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