UDL Week: Day 6 - Support for Unfinished Learning
It’s the weekend here at the AutSide. For Day 6, we look at supporting those students who have gaps in their knowledge and skills in our geometry class, also known as support for unfinished learning. If you’re new here, check out our Day 1 article and go forward from there.
Supporting unfinished learning in the context of our geometry lesson refers to taking steps to fill in gaps in students’ knowledge, skills, and understanding that are necessary foundations for the new material being taught. Some examples include:
Providing a refresher on key prerequisite concepts and procedures needed for the geometry lesson, such as ratios, angle measurements, right triangle properties, etc.
Incorporating scaffolded review, warm-ups, or spiral review to reinforce unfinished learning and ensure readiness for the lesson.
Using diagnostic assessments to pinpoint exactly where students’ unfinished learning exists and tailoring support to those skill deficits.
Offering targeted small group remediation or intervention to help struggling students gain mastery of the unfinished learning.
Providing additional instructional time, practice, and resources to develop the underlying competencies.
Breaking the geometry lesson into smaller chunks and checking for understanding often to confirm concepts are solidified.
Relating new geometry concepts to previously learned knowledge students may have.
Using methods like graphic organizers and models to aid integration of old and new ideas.
The goal is to explicitly build the connections between old and new learning, otherwise students may lack the foundations necessary to engage meaningfully with more advanced content.
Supporting unfinished learning is imperative from an equity and inclusion perspective because students come to each lesson with varied backgrounds, experiences, and prior education that impact their readiness for new content. Assuming a homogeneous skill level falsely sets some up to struggle unproductively. Diagnostically assessing and purposefully filling unfinished learning gaps levels the playing field. Students challenged by knowledge or skill deficits require extra scaffolds to access new material. Providing these prevents achievement gaps from widening. Each learner deserves appropriate tools to reach common high standards. Some require more prior knowledge development than others to unlock new learning. Equity means meeting students where they are and giving them what they need to succeed. Strong inclusive pedagogy identifies and fills unfinished learning gaps so all students can meaningfully engage with grade-level work.
What does this look like?
Here are some suggestions for how a teacher could accelerate a student's learning to fill the identified gaps so they can access our lesson with their peers:
For problem 1:
Provide a quick refresher on the definition of complementary angles before the lesson. This could be a short warm-up activity.
Have the student complete extra practice problems involving complementary angles.
Pair them with a peer who understands complementary angles to explain the concept.
For problem 2:
Before the lesson, work through an example ramp problem together calculating the length.
Have the student calculate the ramp length in the warm-up activity as an added challenge.
Encourage the student to show their work calculating the ramp length during the class activity.
For problem 3:
Clearly explain the connection between side length ratios and table values during the lesson introduction.
Provide the student with a reference sheet linking ratios and table values.
Have the student teach a partner how to move between ratios and table values.
For problem 4:
Do a quick pre-lesson check-in on decomposing shapes into triangles. Re-teach if needed.
Provide extra practice problems decomposing figures into triangles.
Encourage the student to visualize decomposing the shape during the class activity.
The key is pre-teaching critical prerequisite skills, building in added practice, providing peer tutoring opportunities, and actively monitoring the student's understanding throughout the lesson. This provides accelerated learning while allowing participation with the whole class.
Here’s how that might look in a 55 minute class session
Minutes 0-5: Warm-Up - Provide warm-up worksheet with complementary angle practice problems. Pair student needing support with peer tutor to review concept.
Minutes 5-10: Introduction - Clearly explain connection between ratios and table values. Provide reference sheet. Have student needing support teach a peer how to move between ratios and values.
Minutes 10-15: Small Group Work - Provide extra triangle decomposition practice sheets. Monitor student who struggled with this; re-teach in small group if needed.
Minutes 15-25: Ramp Design Activity - Before activity, work through sample ramp length calculation with student who struggled. Have them also calculate ramp length during activity as a challenge. Monitor work.
Minutes 25-35: Presentations & Discussion - Have student needing support help explain their work calculating the ramp length. Provide peer feedback.
Minutes 35-45: Lesson Debrief - Provide graphic organizers linking old concepts to new learning. Check again for understanding with quick informal assessments.
Minutes 45-55: Cool-down & Wrap Up - Encourage students to visualize concepts. Check student work and provide question prompts as needed to support unfinished learning. Share encouraging feedback on progress.
The key components are pre-teaching gaps, weaving in extra practice, using peer supports, actively monitoring, relating old and new concepts, informally assessing, providing organizational tools, and addressing individual needs. This creates an inclusive lesson that meets learners at their starting points and advances them.
Conclusion
Supporting unfinished learning is an essential, multifaceted challenge. Students arrive in our classrooms with diverse backgrounds. Transitioning amid curricula or between states may create knowledge gaps. Recent migrants and refugees have unique needs. Mobility within cities disrupts continuity. No two students share the exact same academic path. It is unrealistic to expect identical readiness. Yet Inclusion means meeting each learner where they are and providing the requisite foundations to achieve common high standards. This requires diagnosing gaps, differentiating support, building connections to prior knowledge, and actively monitoring growth. Teachers must know their students deeply (thus the emphasis on UDL), scaffold strategically, and enrich thoughtfully. There are always opportunities to enhance equity and access. Whilst unfinished learning takes many forms, our commitment to helping each student succeed despite life’s complexities remains constant. Our diverse school communities are enriched by broad perspectives. With care, creativity and compassion, supporting unfinished learning allows strengths to shine brightly.