CER is a writing format to help students become better technical writers. Technical writing in science and math and engineering is a little different than the way you write in English or social studies.

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It helps writing to think about data in a thorough and organized manner. For example, using accurate vocabulary in your writing is important.

Argumentative reasoning is a skill that takes practice. This means that students will not write a perfect CER response their first attempt. They will need guidance and support thoughout the next few years. I will teach student this format and guide students in improving their writing in science. This skill will help students become better at communicating their ideas to others.

A WRITING STRATEGY TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH SCIENCE CONCEPTS AND LABS

Have you ever had students respond, “I don’t know. It just did,” when asked to analyze and interpret their classroom lab results? We all want our students to “think like a scientist,” but often they fall short in connecting the dots between the lab results and the science concepts. Claim-Evidence-Reasoning or CER is a writing strategy that can develop a student’s analytical thinking and argumentative writing skills to turn that “I don’t know” into “aha, so that’s why we got those results in the lab.”

CER is science skill that is relevant inside and outside the classroom. Unfortunately, many CER examples feature just lab data or information from science textbooks. I understand why teachers tend to use science examples to illustrate CER. However, having a simple CER example that is based on something outside the classroom is much more powerful. For one thing, it’s fun (which will get students to remember it better). Also, it forces students to approach an everyday problem with scientific thinking. And, ultimately, isn’t that the purpose of a science education?