Arguments Welcome!

 

“Curiosity—the desire to explain how the world works—drives the questions we ask and the investigations we conduct.”  - Kerry Emmanuel, MIT

Explorations in science and engineering should have purpose and lead to conclusions and claims. Scientists make claims all the time, but for their claims to be believable, they must be supported by evidence and reasoning. An effective tool for working through this type of scientific explanation is the C-E-R framework (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) and it offers the perfect opportunity for fourth-graders to begin thinking and communicating like scientists. 

The C-E-R framework is a valuable inquiry method that promotes the development of critical thinking skills where students not only evaluate their own arguments, but the claims and arguments of others. Students learn to answer scientific questions by stating what they believe to be true and then providing evidentiary data and rationale to support their belief. Utilizing this practice in science instruction, as well as across all disciplines, increases rigor by incorporating a greater cognitive complexity of thinking. For elementary students who are first learning to engage in scientific argumentation, C-E-R provides a developmentally appropriate approach toward how students connect their experiences with previously learned content, boosting their scientific literacy. If it sounds like a tall task to you, it’s because it is. 

Unknowingly, students began engaging in this process a couple of weeks ago when they first started exploring the various structures and functions of plants and animals. Their explorations inspired curiosity about the subject and a desire to analyze factual information, make connections, and evaluate the meaning and implication of it. A great deal of time and thought was spent crafting logical and concise claims, identifying relevant and reliable evidence, and understanding the importance of explaining how the evidence supports their claims. This exercise provoked an intense and meaningful reflection on what they had learned. It provided students with the practice necessary to draw and support appropriate conclusions and the foundation to participate in effective and high-quality argumentation. 

Students ultimately crafted their own C-E-R argument about an investigation related to moss and were asked to argue whether or not they believed it was a plant. It was fascinating to observe students effectively evaluate the information they were given and synthesize it with their schema to make a claim and defend it. We spent some time as a whole class afterward discussing the merits of their arguments, identifying any potential holes, sharing the various methods as to how they analyzed and evaluated the data and information they were given, and how they arrived at their conclusions. It was an incredibly meaningful discussion that helped shaped their ideas not only about the topic, but the perspectives and methodology behind organizing their thinking and assembling it into the C-E-R framework. 

This week’s guest bloggers reflect on this experience. Enjoy. 

I think that reasoning is the most important part of a C-E-R because it explains how the evidence supports your claim and makes it more clear to understand what you are trying to prove. - Flash4

During our group discussion I learned that your claim has to be clear and simple. You don't want to say "I think this or I think that". You want to be sure. - PickleKitty

You can use the C-E-R framework for anything, including math, social studies, and books you are reading. You can also use C-E-R to make an argument for getting a pet. Hmmm... that gives me an idea...  - Cheesy

In my opinion, I think the most important part of an argument is the claim. The claim is the foundation of your argument. The evidence and reasoning are useless without it. Your claim tells your audience what you are trying to prove.  - Choney

I think that reasoning is the most important part of an argument because reasoning is explaining why you think what you think. It breaks down the argument so that you can see the evidence more clearly.  - Wolverine12

I think the most important part of an argument is the reasoning because your audience might not know how your evidence supports your claim if you don't explain it clearly.  - CHEETO111

I think that evidence is the most important part of an argument because without factual evidence, you can't support your claim and it's not believable and your argument is not believable.   - Pickle03

I think the claim is the most important part of an argument because you are making a statement about what you know and want to prove.  - Strawberry

Another example of when you can use the C-E-R framework is if you are a lawyer. For example, if you are a lawyer, you need to defend your client with a claim, evidence, and reasoning. If I were a lawyer and my client was accused of stealing a pencil from the classroom, I would say something like this: "My client is not guilty. The classroom got new pencils and Mrs. Valzania said that they could take a pencil if they needed one. This proves that my client was allowed to take a pencil and therefore my client is not guilty."  - Pineapple

When we were learning about moss and had to investigate whether or not it was a plant, it was very hard to do because there were a lot of reasons some people thought it was and a lot of reasons people thought it wasn't. Kids had to think, and think, and think. We had to have a discussion about the evidence and how we could analyze it to make a decision. It was really hard but also really fun.  - Galaxy 

If you use the C-E-R framework to write a strong argument, it can be a very powerful thing.  - Lightning24

Sources:

Brunsell, Eric. “Designing Science Inquiry: Claim + Evidence + Reasoning = Explanation.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 25 Sept. 2012 

Cusamano, Jennifer, and David Janosz. “Using a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Platform With Next Generation Science Standards.” McGraw Hill Education. 

The Value of Listening

Listening is a fundamental aspect of developing strong interpersonal relationships as well as a meaningful understanding of the world around us. We often find ourselves distracted or overwhelmed which can impede our ability to truly listen and understand one another and purposefully process the experience of learning and life. 

As we work toward developing the key skills, competencies, and dispositions that learners need in order to achieve success in school and in life, we took some time this week to focus on the value of active listening. To promote the value of this important skill, students were partnered with a classmate and engaged in a dialogical interview. Dialogical interviews focus less on making the interviewer's opinions and ideas heard and more on the thoughts and ideas of the interviewee. The purpose of this exercise was to offer students a meaningful opportunity to practice and develop their active listening skills, as well as to continue their important work in developing trusting and caring relationships within our classroom community and bolstering a mutual understanding of one another. Though at times the experience proved to be a challenge for some our learners, they were eventually able to successfully redirect their thinking and engage in meaningful moments of understanding and empathy. 

Listening exercises like this will be an essential part of the work we're engaging in as they help to develop skills that promote empathy, effective collaboration, that allow learners to absorb knowledge, be curious, develop a deep understanding about what they are learning about and experiencing, foster critical thinking, better communicate their ideas, support meaningful discussions about text, and allow learners to see and experience the value of diverse perspectives and creative approaches to problem-solving.

This week's guest bloggers reflect on their listening experience. Enjoy.

Listening is a really important skill in life because you have to really listen to others if you don't want there to be a lot of conflict in the world.  - Lonnie

I think 6 out of 10 kids are distracted listeners. - Cheeto111

When you listen, you just need to turn your mute button on and listen and learn from the person you are with.  - PickleKitty

Listening is about empathy, understanding, and digging deeper. When you listen to someone, you understand more about them and it opens up your own ideas about things.  - TheBeeGuy101

Listening is sometimes hard for people because some people want things their way. In life, people sometimes have their hearts set on what they want to say and not about listening to the other person. A wise man is a man that listens to others.  - Lightning24

It's important to learn to be an active listener and not a distracted listener. It's important to listen to other people's ideas and thoughts and not just your own.  - EarthySmurfy

Listening is important because you can learn a lot of things about someone if you just listen. If you have a great idea, you don't want to focus on your own idea, but you should listen to the ideas of others. Who knows, they could have a really good idea and your project could be even better.  - Kiwi222

Listening is important because you are giving other people a chance to share their ideas. Listening is also about respect.  - Strawberry

When you listen to someone, they will know if you are really listening.  - Dream

Listening is an important skill to have in life. Listening shows that you are being respectful and that you care. Even if listening is something that you struggle with, you should work at it.   - Galaxy

Listening is an important skill and it can be hard. You can learn a lot of new things from listening to someone and you can understand someone better.   - Ham

You can learn a lot about other people when you listen.  - Koala333

Welcome to a New School Year!

Students are settling in quite nicely and are already experiencing that feeling of being part of a strong and special community. Those first day jitters are evolving into smiles, laughter, and a sense of comfort and belonging.

We've carefully and deliberately spent our first days of school not just establishing routines and expectations, but more importantly, creating a classroom that is built on community; where students recognize and celebrate shared goals and experiences, who are learning to trust one another, feel empowered to contribute, and who feel understood, valued and capable. Those important traits will be nurtured all year long as they provide an essential foundation for enabling teamwork, cooperation, communication, flexibility, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills to develop.

We asked students to reflect on their experiences over the last several days and write about which ones they found most meaningful, which skills they nurtured in the process, and why and how those skills are important. Here are a handful of reflections from this week's guest bloggers. Enjoy.

My best learning experience this week was creating the Habits of Mind model. My team had to learn to share our ideas and work together. It was hard, but I learned how we could work together better and to create something together. - Polly  

My best learning experience this week was the Habits of Mind challenge. I needed to work with my team and listen to other people's ideas. Learning those skills is going to be important in the real world because you have to use those same skills in any job you are going to have.  - Chickadee

My best learning experience this week was the Habits of Mind challenge. We needed to work as a team and help each other. We also needed to talk to each other. By talking to each other, there were no fights over things and each of us would not do the same thing. We have to be able to share our ideas and talk to each other for the rest of our lives. Being a team player is important.  - Pineapple

My best learning experience this week was making the model for the Habits of Mind challenge. An important skill that I used was sharing ideas with my team. That was important because when we shared ideas, we did not argue or fight and we listened to each other.  - Lightning24

My best learning experience this week was learning about meditation, releasing stress, and calming my body. I definitely had to have a growth mindset about this and learn how to settle myself. When I am calm, I can be more independent and a better team player.  - Recycle14

My best learning experience so far this year was working in a group to create the Habits of Mind model. It was a fun challenge. Some important skills I used to complete this project were teamwork, responsibility, cooperation, and kindness. We will need these skills in life because anything could happen. Teamwork is always useful in any type of group situation whether you are a grown-up at work or a kid at school. Teamwork is always key.   - WowWriter

My best learning experience this week was building the Habits of Mind models. Some important learning skills that I needed to use in order to complete this activity were creativity, friendship, and communication. That is how we were able to make it work. Being creative and kind are important life skills.   - EarthySmurf

My best learning experience this week was creating our Habits of Mind model. We had to use teamwork, creativity and patience in order to complete it. Those skills are important because you are always going to have to work with other people in life and those skills help you to work together.  - Cheeto111

My best learning experience so far has been working with other classmates, not just my friends. It was good to hear other people's ideas.  - G-MONEY

My best learning experience so far was when we made cool structures for the Habits of Mind challenge. We had to be flexible and we had to share our ideas and listen to each other. That is what helped us be successful.  - Swagger25