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- Vol 2 RE: Chapter 9
claim-evidence-reasoning frameworkscientific explanationsevidence-based reasoningdisciplinary argumentationexplanation constructioninstructional scaffoldingpeer discussionscience talkBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
McNeill and Krajcik provide a practical framework for helping middle-grade students construct scientific explanations in speech and writing. An explanation contains a claim that answers a question, evidence drawn from appropriate data, and reasoning that uses scientific principles to show why the evidence supports the claim.
Key ideas
The book explains why each component is difficult for learners and how expectations can become more sophisticated across grades and content areas. Classroom examples, student work, rubrics, and teaching tools illustrate modelling, critique, peer discussion, feedback, and gradual removal of scaffolds. The authors distinguish explanation from description and from argument while showing how the practices overlap. They also emphasise equitable participation and the need to make disciplinary norms explicit rather than assuming students already understand them.
Why it matters
For teachers, CER is not simply a three-part writing template: its value comes from selecting meaningful phenomena and data, teaching relevant science ideas, and pressing students to connect evidence to claims through defensible reasoning.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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