Reviewed By:
Thomas Brown
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I. Description of Materials
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Elementary teachers who are searching for a resource to help them use science inquiry to promote literacy skills will find the book Questions, Claims, and Evidence to be a helpful resource. The book provides a toolkit and shows teachers how to use science to encourage students to write. While reading this book, teachers will be led step-by-step through an integration of science lessons with writing.
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II. Purpose and Audience
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The book is aimed at elementary teachers, although curriculum specialists could also use it as a teaching tool. By having students ask questions, investigate those essential questions, and write about their findings, teachers help students learn the process of science while also developing their writing skills. Being provided with so many rich examples, teachers will be able to develop their lessons with confidence.
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III. Content and Quality
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The book is divided into three separate sections designed to help practitioners become successful. The first part of the book examines the relationship between learning and writing, with a focus on the importance of writing in learning science. The second section of the book shows teachers how to implement the authors' approach. They show how to develop essential questions as well how to help students analyze and reflect on their investigations. Throughout the process, the authors frame the work from the teacher's perspective, which helps readers to see how actual teachers have learned to develop the needed questioning skills. They also present a tremendous variety of student examples to provide context for the topics being taught. Finally, the book shows different instructional practices so that teachers can examine their own work; there is also a wealth of additional resources that should help both novice and experienced teachers use this approach in their classrooms.
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IV. Reviewers' Ideas for Using this Material
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This book would help any teacher who is seeking to integrate science into their classroom and thus, their students' lives. The book is written to make it easier for teachers to broaden their knowledge of questioning by providing numerous student examples as well as teacher commentary. These examples would help any elementary teachers to evaluate themselves at each step of the process.
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V. Comments and Cautions
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This book was well-written and easy to use. The authors provide both teacher and student viewpoints and examples. They provide additional resources and even a "Frequently Asked Questions" section near the end of the book.
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