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Argumentation and Explanation
through CER and the Common Writing Assignment in Science
The Science Department has been implementing the Common Writing Assignment (CWA) for many years as part of our disciplinary literacy support plan. We worked with teachers and Dr. Kate McNeill to revise our grades 4-8 prompts. Additionally, working with other departments and David Pook, we now have a common rubric to be used across all disciplines.
CER and CWA ResourcesOur Claim, Evidence and Reasoning (CER) work with Kate McNeill has yielded many resources. Check out these websites that resulted from some of our workshops with Kate.
CWA Overview Presentation: Some basic information about CWA implementation. CWA Common Scoring Rubrics: general rubric for use in all content areas! Our Old Science CWA Rubric:provided here in case you need to review CER/R details when scoring using the generic rubrics NEW Draft CER Rubric -- highlighting vocabulary...take a peek and let us know what you think! Shared work with the Edwards! |
CWA Score Calculation Sheet
We have developed an XLS score calculation sheet for your use. You can enter the score for each criterion of the rubric and it weights that aspect accordingly and calculates each student's total score. We hope you find it helpful!
Various Graphic Organizers to structure CER responses (Thanks, Kris Grymonpré!) |
Prompts for Grades 3-8 Units and High School Courses
Grades 3-8
3/Sound 3/Structures of Life 3/Water 4/Animal Studies 4/Magnetism & Electricity 4/Motion & Design 5/Ecosystems 5/Landforms 5/Levers & Pulleys 5/Measuring Time 6/Human Body Systems 6/Weather & Water 7/Diversity of Life 7/Earth History 7/Force & Motion 8/Chemical Interactions 8/Planetary Science 8/Populations & Ecosystems |
Below are five new argumentation prompts that were developed by Kris Grymonpré of the McCormack Middle School. Kris teaches grades 7 and 8 and he developed these prompts as part of the Summer Teacher in Residence Program at the Boston Museum of Science. These new prompts are connected to the New Draft MA Standards as well as the current one. Please give them a try and send us some feedback!
For grade 7: Aligned with the Diversity of Life Unit: BEE_haviors (Investigation 7) and Flower Structures (Investigation 7) Aligned with the Force and Motion Unit: Greenhouse Effect Tie it into energy and energy transformation) For grade 8: Aligned with Populations and Ecosystems Environmental vs.Genetics Factors (Inv. 3) Recycling Focus: overpopulation and limited resources Student Rubric that Kris developed Powerpoint from Kris' Museum of Science PD Session |
Prompts for High School Physics, Biology, and Chemistry -- new for 2016!
Kudos to Michael Couture (Physics), Johanna Waldman (Biology) and Juanita Shaffer-Ratzlaff (Chemistry) for developing and sharing these resources! Each of them worked with Kate McNeill and Science Department members to develop writing prompts that encourage students' development in the practices of scientific explanation and argumentation.
There is a table below for each content area that includes information about the set of prompts in that discipline, the main science idea being addressed, the MA STE draft and existing standard(s) targeted, the type of prompt (specific to a particular lesson, to be used as part of a unit assessment, or one that encourages open argumentation), the writing prompt and the resources that are available to support the use of each prompt in your classroom. We encourage you to work with them and share your implementation experiences, student work and suggestions for revisions or additional supports.
Kudos to Michael Couture (Physics), Johanna Waldman (Biology) and Juanita Shaffer-Ratzlaff (Chemistry) for developing and sharing these resources! Each of them worked with Kate McNeill and Science Department members to develop writing prompts that encourage students' development in the practices of scientific explanation and argumentation.
There is a table below for each content area that includes information about the set of prompts in that discipline, the main science idea being addressed, the MA STE draft and existing standard(s) targeted, the type of prompt (specific to a particular lesson, to be used as part of a unit assessment, or one that encourages open argumentation), the writing prompt and the resources that are available to support the use of each prompt in your classroom. We encourage you to work with them and share your implementation experiences, student work and suggestions for revisions or additional supports.
Prompts for Physics
View/download the Overview Table and the physics prompts with their resource files.
View/download the Overview Table and the physics prompts with their resource files.
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Download the Overview Table for Physics Prompts Prompts/Resources for Physics CWAs Acceleration of Falling Objects Conservation of Momentum Ohm's Law Wave Properties |
Prompts for Biology
View/download the Overview Table and the biology prompts with their resource files.
View/download the Overview Table and the biology prompts with their resource files.
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Download the Overview Table for Biology Prompts Prompts/Resources for Biology CWAs Nutrients Evolution Ecosystems Genetics |
Prompts for Chemistry
View/download the Overview Table and the chemistry prompts with their resource files.
View/download the Overview Table and the chemistry prompts with their resource files.
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Download the Overview Table for Chemistry Prompts Prompts/Resources for the Chemistry CWA Properties of Substances Calorimetry Charles' Law Hydrogen |