How to Use Backward Chaining to Differentiate Instruction — from cultofpedagogy.com Jennifer Gonzalez
Excerpt:
Backward chaining is a specific kind of scaffolding that has the student begin a task closer to the end, rather than starting it from the beginning. Where the starting point is depends on the student’s particular needs. “There’s no telling where the gum in the straw might be for somebody getting stuck doing something,” Meehan explains. So finding it will require assessment and experimentation.
For example, if you are teaching a child how to brush their teeth, and that child doesn’t quite have the fine motor skills to put the toothpaste on the brush, you’d do that step for them and have them start with the brushing itself. Eventually, as they build confidence with brushing, you’d have them move backward and add on the skill of toothpaste application.