Travis,

I liked your overview teaching strategies ideas. The things that struck me as especially effective was the way you used the notion of main idea to get them to identify the claim. Ignoring the qualifiers is wise when they are trying to figure out what the thinking is but it was a smart idea to think about qualifiers as narrowing the main idea. I think that's a great piece of insight that I can use with my students.

I wish you had written more about how you taught the types of logic. That's because it is where I've struggled the most...I agree authority is a pretty straightforward idea that my kids get. I have not been successful with the other types of logic and I wonder how you got them to do something beyond simply knowing the definitions. I thought the way that you made sure that they have evidence to support their logic was wise and a terrific way to reinforce the notion of backing up what you say.

Your idea of having them identify the things that caused them to take pause was a good one. I think that might be the difference between your students and mine. They are so new to science ideas that they rarely have something strike them. Nothing pops into their heads!!!!! Did you specifically teach this by giving them examples to follow or does it just happen with the age of your students?

I also agree that Making Judgements is the easiest part for my students. I wonder if it has been any sort of challenge to get them to do this based on the evidence?