Elementary CER
| Grade | CER Focus |
| K-2 | · Claim + Evidence o Claim- Make conclusions from investigations o Evidence- Use observations from investigations |
| 3-5 | · Claim + Evidence o Claim- Make conclusions o Evidence- Use observations and measurements o Reasoning- Provide a simple connections between claim and evidence using the big ideas they have learned in science |
| 6-8 | · Claim + Evidence o Claim- Make conclusions o Evidence- Use observations and measurements. Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate data. Consider sufficiency of evidence o Reasoning- Provide a justification for why the evidence supports the claim using scientific principles |
| 9-12 | · Claim + Evidence o Claim- Make conclusions o Evidence- Use observations and measurements. Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate data. Consider sufficiency of evidence o Reasoning- Provide a justification for why the evidence supports the claim using scientific principles. Each piece of evidence may have a different justification. o Rebuttal- Describe why a counter claim is not appropriate by critiquing the alternative evidence and reasoning. |
- Purchase the book "What's Your Evidence?: Engaging K-5 Children in Constructing Explanations in Science" Carla Zembal-Saul, Katherine McNeill, and Kimber Hershberger
- The file attached "nsta_2014_handout_across_grades.pdf" has some good 2nd grade samples
- Resource page 1- Short 3 min video on CER in elementary classroom
- Resource page 2- teacher sample page from her class
- Resource page 3- examples of teacher planning from a workshop
- Resource page 4- great website for units! this teacher impresses me with her unit development. Borrow parts from her unit. It is grades 4 and 5
- Discussion Diamond is a creative way to get students to make claims for themselves, share their claim with their partners in discussion, then have group accountability to fill in what they discussed (or final answer).