Culturally sustaining and science education theorists advocate that children need to have opportunities to use personal experiences and background knowledge in dialog with peers as they make sense of phenomena in the natural world. Practically, this is a challenge to orchestrate -- both in classrooms and in out-of-school learning spaces -- as…

Rigorous and responsive science teaching is based on supporting all students in making progress in their understanding of important science ideas over time. In this article, we explore how did classroom talk patterns of funneling and focusing support student sensemaking. We share how talk, tasks, and tools within classroom activity work together…