Full Description
By providing a variety of strategies, scenarios, student samples, classroom video clips from across all science content areas, rubrics, and guidelines this book provides teachers with the tools to successfully support young scientists to use evidence to construct scientific explanations.
With the view that children are capable young scientists, authors encourage science teaching in ways that nurture students' curiosity about how the natural world works including research-based approaches to support all K-5 children constructing scientific explanations via talk and writing. Grounded in NSF-funded research, this book/DVD provides K-5 teachers with a framework for explanation (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) that they can use to organize everything from planning to instructional strategies and from scaffolds to assessment. Because the framework addresses not only having students learn scientific explanations but also construct them from evidence and evaluate them, it is considered to build upon the new NRC framework for K-12 science education, the national standards, and reform documents in science education, as well as national standards in literacy around argumentation and persuasion, including the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010).The chapters guide teachers step by step through presenting the framework for students, identifying opportunities to incorporate scientific explanation into lessons, providing curricular scaffolds (that fade over time) to support all students including ELLs and students with special needs, developing scientific explanation assessment tasks, and using the information from assessment tasks to inform instruction.
ABOUT THE VIDEO
All of the video clips associated with this text were filmed in elementary grade classrooms in central, rural Pennsylvania. None of the lessons were staged or scripted. The video was not professionally recorded or produced given that our aim was to be as non-intrusive as possible in the classrooms in which we were guests. Permissions were secured for all students and teachers appearing in the video clips. We hope those that view the videos are as grateful as we are that these teachers were willing to share their attempts to integrate scientific explanation into their science teaching practices, providing us with insights that would not be possible without these images. They are the true heroes of this work. - Carla L. Zembal-Saul, Katherine McNeill, and Kimber Hershberger
Contents
Chapter 1: Importance of Engaging K-5 Students in Scientific Explanation
Introduction to engaging K-5 students in scientific explanation
Why teach children to construct scientific explanations?
Scientific explanations in the classroom
Connecting science and literacy through scientific explanation
Benefits of engaging students in scientific explanations
Understanding science concepts
Participating in scientific practices
Using evidence to communicate convincingly
Learning about the nature of science
Benefits of scientific explanation for teachers
What to expect in elementary grades
Check Point
Study Group Questions
Chapter 2: Framework for Explanation-Driven Science
Framework for explanation-driven science
Claim
Evidence
Reasoning
Rebuttal
Video Example - Introducing the instructional framework
Examples of scientific explanations
Life science example
Earth science example
Physical science example
Increasing the complexity of the framework over time
Variation #1: Claim and evidence
Variation #2: Using multiple pieces evidence
Variation #3: Providing reasoning
Variation #4: Including a rebuttal
Check Point
Study Group Questions
Chapter 3: Planning for Explanation-Driven Science
Coherent Science content storyline
Essential features for constructing scientific explanations
Scientific data
Scientific principles
Learning performances and examples
First grade: Sound
Second grade: State of matter
Third and Fourth grade: Day/night and shadows
Fifth grade: Water cycle
Complexity of the learning task
Openness of the question
Characteristics of the data (type and amount)
Check Point
Study Group Questions
Chapter 4: Integrating Scientific Explanation into Classroom Instruction
Instruction sequence for constructing scientific explanations
Assessing prior knowledge
Framing the question
Making predictions
Collecting, recording and interpreting data
Constructing scientific explanations
Instructional strategies for supporting the explanation building process
Introducing the framework for explanation
Using real world examples to introduce the framework
KLEW(S) chart
Critique a teacher example
Debate a peer example
Talk moves for scaffolding the construction of scientific explanations
Check Point
Study Group Questions
Chapter 5: Designing Assessment Tasks and Rubrics
Overview of the development process
Step 1: Identify and unpack the content standard
Fourth grade writing case - Unpacking
Third grade podcast case - Unpacking
Step 2: Selecting scientific explanation level of complexity
Fourth grade writing case - Level of complexity
Third grade podcast case - Level of complexity
Step 3: Create learning performances
Fourth grade writing case - Learning performance
Third grade podcast case - Learning performance
Step 4: Write the assessment task
Fourth grade writing case - Assessment task
Third grade podcast case - Assessment task
Step 5: Develop specific rubric
Fourth grade writing case - Rubric
Third grade podcast case - Rubric
Using assessment data to inform instruction
Fourth grade writing case - Examples
Incomplete evidence and incomplete reasoning
Incomplete evidence and complete reasoning
Third grade podcast case - Example
Assessing informal science talk
Check Point
Study Group Questions
Chapter 6: Creating a Classroom Community of Young Scientists
Norms of participation in science learning
Active listening and patterns of talk
The role of the scientific explanation framework
A culture of constructive criticism
Check Point
Study Group Questions
