Inquiring Minds Want to Write

This article provides an inquiry model to embed written language acquisition into inquiry science. Students create problems to investigate, work in cooperative groups to conduct investigati... See More

This article provides an inquiry model to embed written language acquisition into inquiry science. Students create problems to investigate, work in cooperative groups to conduct investigations, and write in journals to record their observations, inferences, questions, and findings. The teacher facilitates learning by guiding the students through several stages of writing and editing of their work. Using critical friends (writing partners) becomes an important component to help students develop into better writers, and is one of the author’s strategies for improving his students’ skills at scientific reasoning and communicating. The teacher plays a vital role in helping his students write through inquiry, learn important science concepts, and practice process skills.

Might be too repetitive

While it is important to have students revise their writing, the steps outlined in this article might simply be too redundant for most middle school classrooms. Choosing to condense steps o... See More

While it is important to have students revise their writing, the steps outlined in this article might simply be too redundant for most middle school classrooms. Choosing to condense steps or presenting only a few steps at a time might be more effective.