Science Book Study Meeting 2
Supporting Grade 5-8 Students in Constructing Explanations
Goals for Today:
Conduct an open discussion of the text
- Consider the Study Group Questions from pg. 42 of the text
- Revisit the video aligned to the text (as needed)
- Review the sample lesson with 'My Dad is an alien'
- Review a concrete organizer that could be used to introduce CER
Open discussion of the text
Study Group Questions (p. 42)
- Look at Table 2.3. What variation of the framework would you use in your classroom? Why? Do you think the variation you will use will change over the course of the school year? Why or why not?
- Describe how you will introduce the scientific explanation framework to your students. Watch the video of Ms. Nelson's classroom again. How would your introduction be similar and different from how Ms. Nelson introduced the framework to her seventh-grade students?
- Introduce the scientific explanation framework to your students (how can we do it?).
Edutopia Article on CER
Sample Concrete Lesson
“Slip or Trip?”
At five-feet-six and a hundred and ten pounds, Queenie Volupides was a sight to behold and to clasp. When she tore out of the house after a tiff with her husband, Arthur, she went to the country club where there was a party going on. She left the club shortly before one in the morning and invited a few friends to follow her home. They got to the Volupides house about ten minutes after Queenie, who met them at the door and said, “Something terrible happened. Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink—he still had the glass in his hand—and I think he’s dead. Oh, my God—what shall I do?" The autopsy conducted later concluded that Arthur had died from a wound on the head.
Sample Concrete Chart
This organizer could be used for any content to teach Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning.