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Brown and Skinner (2007, para. 1) explained that, "creating meaningful communication with at-risk students shows caring for students and allows them to be more themselves". The five steps proposed by Brown and Skinner, are: listen, validate, problem solve, showing positive regard, and fostering hope. If a student is fearful of speaking in the classroom, it could lead to being disengaged or falling further behind. Once trusting relationships are built, students are more open to communicate. Teachers must encourage students to share their opinions and answers. Even if a student's answer is incorrect, teachers can show that they value a student's bravery to answer and use it as a learning opportunity to guide the student in the right direction. When more students participate speak up during instruction time, many points of view are shared to enhance learning. An example of this would be having students discuss a possible alternate ending of story.

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Students at young ages obtain a great deal of understanding through the use of discussions. Many times, students can veer off topic or have difficultly expressing what is on their mind. Scaffolding refers to "a method of teaching, designed to offer students and support (Rock, 2017, para. 1)". For scaffolding to be effective and build a student's confidence, it must first be age appropriate. Many discussions requiring scaffolding at the Pre-K age can take place as a teacher reads a book. One topic of discussion could be what students predict will happen. As students state their answers, teachers can ask "why" to have students justify their reason, which also acts as an example to students who do not know how to communicate their ideas. Teachers can also scaffold with the use of sentence stems.

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Pre-K is often a student's first exposure to school. Just as it is important for teachers to model expectations at the beginning of the year, examples of how to provide feedback to fellow students is also necessary. A common method to model feedback is the use of the "I do, we do, you do" process (Hermann, 2014). This begins with the teacher modeling what is expected, working together as a class, and finally having students practice on their own. Although the process would need to be practiced several times in younger grade levels, the use of modeling feedback sets the foundation for students to meaningfully collaborate with their peers about their work. Since there tends to be a wide range of cognitive abilities regardless of grade level, students are able to learn from each other when giving constructive feedback. As Pre-K students learn to write, the teacher begins by modeling proper letter formation, connecting sounds to letters, and general sentence structure. As students enter the "we do" phase, students can take turns writing letters or words on chart paper during whole group as the teacher gives feedback about what is correct and what is not. The teacher may also call of students to give feedback as a form of practice. Finally in the "you do" step, students would be able to work in groups for journal writing as the teacher monitors. As the students write, time can be set aside for students to present to their group and obtain proper feedback.

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The use of hand signals during whole group instruction saves time as opposed to students raising their hands to ask a question that is not related to the current lesson. In the case of early elementary grade levels, it is best to limit the amount of hand signals to reduce possible confusion (The Teacher Toolkit, n.d.). Examples of this could include holding up 3 fingers (like a "w") to ask to get water, fingers crossed to use the restroom, or a thumbs up/down to show a students level of understanding. Signals for water or using the restroom allows teachers to automatically see what a child needs. Once a child's needs are addressed, the child will be more likely to focus on instruction. Including a poster in the front of the classroom that shows hand signals reminds young students which signals are used for specific needs. When implementing the thumbs up/down signal during ELA instruction, teachers can make note of which students need extra support on the topic at hand (ex: understanding proper sentence structure).

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Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development can be seen as students are grouped to by skill level. Based on the study of analyzing Dallas Independent School District's data, it was concluded that grouping students based on prior performance benefitted both high and low achieving students (Garelick, 2013). An example that supports this would be conducting small groups for guided reading. If a student needed support on letter recognition or sounds was paired with a student who already knew several sight words, one of the students in the group would be at a disadvantage due to instruction not being at their school level. Grouping students based on skill level leads to less confusion and addressing similar concerns at once.

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Grouping students for classroom management can serve multiple purposes. As students work collaboratively, teachers are able to go through the groups to monitor and guide students as necessary. As the teachers work with groups, the remainder of students should still stay on task. For this to be possible, groups based on classroom management. Before creating groups, teachers must first create structure in the classroom (Gabriel, n.d.). Rules and procedures should be established for students to know what is expected of them during group work. As a teacher creates groups based on classroom management, he or she can assign roles within the group and separate students that are likely to get off task when paired together. Having students know their roles and who is in their group will reduce confusion if a substitute is in the classroom for a period of time. In the case of writing for Pre-K students, creating a poster based on the story read during whole group instruction can consist of a person that dictates what to write, a person that does the writing, a person in charge of drawing, and a person editing for mistakes.

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A common grouping system during whole group instruction in elementary schools is "Turn and Talk" which involves students discussing the topic at hand with the person that is next to them (Lynette, 2013). The purpose of this strategy is to allow students to discuss their thoughts during the given time period set by the teacher. If needed, a teacher can strategically place students next to each other on the carpet based on skill level, with students they do not often talk to, or next to a student that will allow them to focus. In the case of ELA in pre-k, "Turn and Talk" is a chance for students to discuss things such as their favorite parts of a book during story time, proper sentence structure, letter sounds, or sight words during writing time. Teachers are then able to walk around to each of the pairs to listen to what they are discussing and guide them as necessary.

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According to Laura Santos (2013, para. 5), "Often times, teachers' default partnering strategy is to have students talk to the person sitting closest to them. This may be quick and easy but it also limits students' learning horizons as they are hearing form the same person every time they share". The "Clock Partner" strategy can be used in any level of schooling and allows for flexibility and student choice for up to 12 different partners. Students are given a clock when the teacher first decides to implement the strategy. Each hour has a blank line to fill in the name of a fellow student that a student would like to work with. Teachers can utilize "Clock Partners" by strategically assigning students to work together for some of the slots. For example a teacher can assign the __ o'clock partner to be used for ELA instruction. It would be beneficial to have partners of mixed skill levels. Once all slots are filled in, students must keep their clock in a safe spot to be accessed as needed, such as when the teachers tells them to "work with your 9 o'clock buddy".