Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Summary table of activities, evidence, explanation
This is a table with four columns—1) Activities we did, 2) Patterns or observations, what happened?, 3) What do you think caused these patterns or observations?, 4) How do these patterns help us answer the essential question or puzzling phenomenon? The table is placed on a wall in the classroom and it remains up throughout the unit.
After each round of reading and activity, students are in charge of discussing how the activity helps them think about the big idea, and filling in one complete row.
As the unit progresses, more and more rows get filled in and, ideally, students start to piece together a more coherent and complete explanation by looking “down” the fourth column.
At the upper right you can see a blank template for a summary table with the headings clearly marked. You can click on the image to enlarge it. Below this is a summary table used for a unit on "What causes the seasons?"
