Supporting Students’ Writing in Elementary Science: Tools to Facilitate Revision of Inquiry-Based Compositions
This article highlights the complementary cognitive processes found in writing to communicate and communicating in science. Writing in science is important for enabling students to clarify observed scientific phenomena, along with assisting them to construct new scientific knowledge from inquiry experiences. Maximizing teachers' resources, experience, and knowledge is necessary to support the intersection of instructional practices in writing and science. Two instructional strategies are proposed: a mnemonic acronym and an editing checklist, for teachers to use when helping students edit and revise their explanatory and persuasive writing products generated from scientific inquiry activities. A sample lesson outline for editing and revising inquiry-based compositions is also provided.
