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Kathy, I am a strong advocate for using Page Keeley’s “Uncovering Student Ideas” series as starters. http://www.nsta.org/store/search.aspx?action=quicksearch&text=Uncovering If you do an advanced search in the Learning Center, using “Page Keeley” in the “Author /Conference Presenter,” Individual Resources, All Grade Level and free, you will come up with 12 prompts to look at and use. If you are an NSTA member, these are free as part of your membership. You can also find sample chapters under the details section of each of the books in the bookstore.
I scanned all of the prompts, cropped them so the only thing left is the actual prompt itself. I place them 6 – 8 to a page. My middle school students cut them so they each have one to glue into their graphing notebooks. I put the book with the full page under the document camera and freeze it. As students come in, they know they need to read the prompt, quickly write their reply and justify their reasoning in their notebook.
After I have attendance taken, there are a couple of things I can do with the prompts. I can either have the share as turn and talks, within their table group of four, or have each of them stand up and share their response with the whole class. While the latter takes more time, it gives them an opportunity to speak in front of the class, a skill they don’t get anywhere else. Once done, I share the correct response as well as read the Science explaining the answer. I expect them to listen as I read to make sure they get the whole story instead of trying to listen for notes that may or may not be critical. I then take out my notebook, and write bulleted notes they copy into their notebooks.
While it takes time, it is time well spent. You can align the prompts to units you are studying, or use them to provide information you know you won’t be able to get to, but students need to know, especially for state assessments.
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