Centered On Meaning Making

Let’s review the purpose of the Explain phase – since it is so often misunderstood!  The purpose of this phase is for STUDENTS to make sense of what they observed and experienced during Engage and Explore, with the ultimate goal of developing an improved understanding of the phenomenon or concept. In this phase, students provide explanations of what they experienced during Explore.  Then, and only after students have had the opportunity to share their own explanations, teachers chime in with their additional information. But really, the more you can draw out these explanations from the students, the better off you’ll be.