Writing in K-1

The K-1 units provide ample opportunities to compose and record ideas through talking, drawing, and writing. Investigation Notebooks provide students with opportunities to record observations and document science ideas they are preparing to explain. As explained in the Oral Language section, talking and listening are important precursors to composing written language, so all formal writing activities in kindergarten and grade 1 units are preceded by oral language activities that often include Explanation Language Frames. In kindergarten, the class orally composes the ideas and language of the text while the teacher records the words. A similar process is used in grade 1, but students take on more responsibility for writing some of the explanations, and their writing is supported with writing planners. Every unit includes at least one mini-book about key science ideas in the unit which students complete with the teacher’s guidance. Finally, students sometimes take responsibility for oral composition and recording of ideas through illustrations or emergent and beginning writing.

Writing in grades 2-5

In grades 2-5, student writing is an essential and consistent part of every lesson, and all writing exemplifies some aspect of writing that is authentic to science. Students engage in whole-class shared writing activities as well as individual written work. Each unit’s Investigation Notebook provides the primary space for students to write and every lesson is accompanied by several notebook pages designed to support students during the lesson. Students use these notebook pages for a variety of writing activities, including making predictions, summarizing findings, reflecting on key science ideas and practices, and recording lingering questions.

In addition to the lesson-level writing activities, each grade 2-5 unit supports students in constructing and writing increasingly complex scientific explanations or arguments across the unit. Students learn how to develop grade-appropriate one-to-two paragraph written pieces that adhere to specific guidelines for scientific explanation or argumentation (e.g. A scientific explanation answers a question about how or why something happens. A scientific argument answers a claim about the natural world). Students learn to address claims with evidence and reasoning to make convincing arguments. Not only do the units support students with the content of their written explanations and arguments, but many also incorporate an emphasis on how to make an explanation or argument clear for an external audience. For example, in the Vision and Light unit, students learn about and incorporate connecting words such as first, next, and last to strengthen their writing. The grade 2-5 units thus provide students with a strong base for understanding the purpose of scientific explanation and argumentation, and offer substantial opportunities to practice writing within these genres.