OpenSciEd Unit 8.6 · Lesson 14
Look for: Using productive talk strategies they have be…
From Teacher Edition
Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
What to look / listen for
and listen for
Focus on how students engage in the Scientists Circle discussion. Look for evidence of the following:
Using productive talk strategies they have been practicing all year
Respectfully providing and/or receiving critiques on scientific arguments by probing reasoning and evidence
Challenging ideas and conclusions (raising related questions)
Responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives
Determining additional information required to resolve contradictions (and articulating the question this would help answer)
What to do
If students are struggling to get the discussion started, remind them of the productive talk moves we have been using all year. In addition, refer them to the class norms, particularly the ideas about moving our science thinking forward and equitable representation (e.g., recruit neighbors to go public that we haven’t heard from).
Reflect on the progress made. Reserve 3 minutes at the end of this discussion to celebrate as a class. Emphasize how valuable it is to be still generating more questions and more ideas at this point in our work and how much this reflects the nature of science. Suggest that even though we appear on the cusp of being ready to form an entire new DQB, that this line of questions and ideas might be most productive to pursue in future years, such as in high school. Encourage students to keep marinating on these ideas and questions over the summer. Suggest that we return to our unit DQB next time to see if we can close up most if not all of our initial questions on it. Say, So let’s wrap up our DQB next time and really celebrate what we have figured out.
Collect New Ideas and Questions Connected to Embryo Comparisons.
Additional Lesson 14 Teacher Guidance
SUPPORTING STUDENTS IN MAKING CONNECTIONS IN ELA
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.C Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.D Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
At the end of this lesson, while they are in the Scientists Circle, students share and acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented. They also pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.