Entry-level nursing students lack the foundational knowledge and experience necessary to make clinical connections. Nurse educators can accelerate progress by incorporating a guided learning template for use as an instructional scaffolding tool in a patient care course. A guided learning template is a faculty-developed worksheet with probing questions, written to guide the learner through each phase of the clinical reasoning process. Repeated template use allows students to practice clinical reasoning skills and begin development of clinical judgment. With the introduction of each course topic, students complete a new copy of the template, relating their responses to a client manifesting the disease/concept under review. Prompts require learners to identify and prioritize client problems along with appropriate nursing care measures while considering expected assessment data, interdisciplinary treatment approaches, potential complications, and methods used to evaluate outcomes. Written responses enhance transfer, reinforcement, and application of knowledge from required reading sources, whereas repetition of use enables learners to rehearse the cognitive sequencing of the clinical reasoning process. Templates are used as preclass assignments, with responses reflected upon in collaborative learning groups. Students construct individual case studies from their responses and use completed templates to study for assessments. With use, students report increased confidence in their ability to process information like a nurse and relate course content to the clinical environment. In addition, students note higher levels of engagement and preparation for class when educators integrate guided learning assignments with didactic instruction.