CSEL SCIENCE
Extending Learning Through Writing
(high school)
CSEL Science provides students with frequent, structured opportunities to communicate scientific ideas through writing. For shorter open-response questions, student worksheets include sentence starters/frames and word banks to help students with lower levels of English proficiency answer questions. Teachers report that these supports promote complete-sentence responses and reinforce restating the question before answering. Students also complete these longer writing tasks aligned with NGSS SEPs.
To support extended responses, student materials include graphic organizers to help students generate and organize ideas; paragraph frames with sentence starters to guide organization and elaboration; word banks to encourage use of discipline-specific vocabulary; and model responses that make scientific reasoning and idea organization visible. Additionally, teachers facilitate partner talk or whole-class discussion before students begin writing to support idea generation and help students rehearse language to communicate their thinking.
Writing Frame
Description of key features:
A
Side-by-side bilingual materials support access to the same writing task. In this example, students can use Spanish and English versions of the prompt and graphic organizer to explain the same science idea.
B
Students discuss the writing prompt with a partner before writing. This gives students an opportunity to generate ideas and rehearse language before communicating their thinking in writing.
C
Consistent graphic organizer structure helps students organize scientific explanations. Color coding and labeling helps students distinguish claim, evidence, and reasoning.
D
Sentence starters support students in developing a complete written response. The starters help students explain their thinking using a clear structure and key science vocabulary.
E
Embedded word choices help students use precise academic and science language. These supports guide students to select vocabulary that accurately explains the inheritance pattern.
The image below shows part of a writing frame from the content summary for Module 7:
Patterns of Inheritance. Content summaries are designed to help students process key science ideas through short readings, checks for understanding, and brief, structured writing tasks. In this short writing task, students explain why XᴮXᵇ is called a carrier genotype. Numbered circles highlight key features and are described below the image.
