You log into Facebook, and there’s THAT friend, the grammar expert. You know, that well-meaning grammar cop who is on a personal mission to correct every grammar or spelling error, ever. The friend who would bring together the programmers who created Autocorrect for a workshop. We accept that person. We love that person, and sometimes we learn from that person. Some of us may or may not recognize ourselves in that person.
I am not that person. Oh, no. I have a far more nerdy mission.
I went to Dollar Tree a few summers ago. I was decorating my classroom and wanted some of those huge colorful cutout letters that elementary teachers always have. I found the letters (I’ll post about that when it’s done, but I’m waiting for my school supply order to be filled to finish decorating). And, horrors! I found this, on an endcap. (Apologies for the lousy photo. The aisle was kind of busy.)
No. Just no. When did we start teaching the “scientific method” to students? I think I remember learning it in maybe 8th grade, decades and decades ago. My subsequent years in research labs, however, can verify that there is no one “scientific method.”
What, then, should you teach students to do, for starters?
This. Data can be collected by students or can come from many sources. Students can analyze and write about the results using a straightforward method known as Claim-Evidence-Reasoning, or C-E-R.
Here’s how that looks as students carry out and analyze an investigation: