The Argumentation Toolkit
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  • About

​How can you support students to revise their thinking given new evidence?


Session Goals:

  • Teachers will be introduced to key criteria and other things to consider when designing rich argumentation tasks.
  • Teachers will consider how various instructional activities (e.g. Evidence Gradient Tool, Anticipation Guide) align with the key criteria for rich argumentation tasks.
  • Teachers will be introduced to the Anticipation Guide as an instructional tool that supports students in tracking their thinking, and revising claims given new evidence.
  • Teachers will consider the ways that different instructional activities can support the four areas of argumentation in which students need extra support. 
  • ​Teachers will design a new lesson or revise an existing lesson to integrate a rich argumentation task into their science instruction.*
  • Teachers will identify areas of argumentation that are challenging for their students.* 
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​*Note: These final two goals are only applicable if the module is implemented as multiple sessions
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Agenda:

*Extension Discussion - Try it with your students!
  1. Video & Discussion: Using an anticipation guide
  2. Activity: Anticipation guide Part 1
  3. Activity: Examining new evidence
  4. Activity: Anticipation guide Part 2
  5. Connection back to design criteria
*Extension - Preparation for work session

Materials:

  • Detailed agenda for facilitator
  • Criteria for Rich Argumentation Tasks handout
  • Anticipation Guide handout
  • Fossil Evidence Cards
  • Argumentation Activities handout
  • Argumentation Activities Planning Tool
Presentation View

*Extension Discussion - Try it with your students!

Share your experience:
  • Share the argumentation task you developed to focus on evaluating the quality of evidence, as well as any student artifacts you may have. 

Discussion Questions:
  • What went well with the argumentation task? Why do you think it went well?
  • What was challenging with the argumentation task? Why do you think it was challenging?

1. Video & Discussion: Using an anticipation guide

Click here for a reminder about the criteria for designing rich argumentation tasks

Watch the video below, which provides an introduction to the anticipation guide.
Discussion Questions:
  • In what ways does the anticipation guide mirror the work of scientists?
  • How might an anticipation guide support deeper learning for students?

2. Activity: Anticipation guide Part 1

The task:
  • Read each of the claims in the anticipation guide and check whether or not you agree with them in the “Before” column.
  • When you are done, share your current thinking with a partner. Remember, it is okay to be unsure at this point because you will be able to revise your thinking once you examine new evidence. 
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3. Activity: Examining new evidence

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The task:
  • Work in pairs or small groups to examine the Fossil Evidence Cards, keeping in mind the claims from the anticipation guide.
  • When you are done, discuss how your understanding of fossils has changed, or deepened after examining the cards. 

4. Activity: Anticipation guide Part 2

The task:
  • Re-read each claim, check whether or not you agree with it in the “After” column, and revise the claim (if needed) given the fossil evidence just examined.
  • Make sure to add evidence in support of each claim, regardless of whether or not you revised the claim. 
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Discussion Questions:
  • Were there any claims that you found difficult to revise? Why?
  • How can you envision your students engaging in this activity? What would work well? What challenges would they have?

5. Connection back to design criteria

Click here for a reminder about the criteria for designing rich argumentation tasks

​Think-pair-share:
  • In the activity you just completed, which design criteria do you think the argumentation task aligned with well?
  • Which design criteria do you think the argumentation task did not align with?
  • How could you redesign the argumentation task to better align?
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* Extension - Preparation for work session

The task:
  • Bring a lesson with an argumentation task from existing curriculum that you would like to revise. This could be the lesson you examined for the Extension Activity of Session #1.
  • Before the next meeting, look through the planning tool and mark which argumentation element you would highlight for each activity
  • Keep these activities in mind since you could incorporate one into the lesson you choose to revise. 
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This project was supported by National Science Foundation Grant DRL-1119584. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
All content and materials © 2015 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.