Most Reasonable Answer : Helping Students Build Better Arguments Together

The Most Reasonable Answer is an innovative and comprehensive guide to engaging students in inquiry dialogue—a type of talk used in text-based classroom discussions. During inquiry dialogue, students collectively search for the most reasonable answers to big, controversial questions, and, as a result, enhance their argumentation skills and develop a deep understanding of the texts they read. Based on years of research and work in nearly fifty classrooms, this book is an essential resource for educators looking for new ways to teach critical thinking and engage students in high-quality discourse.
 
Reznitskaya and Wilkinson introduce a robust Argumentation Rating Tool, a rubric highlighting eleven practices and corresponding talk moves that can be used by teachers and students to improve the quality of their arguments. The tool encourages students to build on and challenge each other’s ideas, clarify meaning, rely on well-examined reasons and evidence, and make logical connections.
 
The authors explain how to choose the readings that have high “dialogic quality,” create controversial questions based on these readings, and design lessons that help students develop their argumentation skills when speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The book provides detailed annotated transcripts that illustrate how teachers can effectively facilitate whole-group and small-group discussions using fiction, nonfiction, and multimodal texts.
 
Packed with a rich array of field-tested materials, The Most Reasonable Answer supports teachers in facilitating inquiry dialogue in upper-elementary grades.
 

Alina Reznitskaya is a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University. She has acquired expertise in educational psychology, quantitative research methodology, and psycho-educational measurement, and she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on these topics. Dr. Reznitskaya conducts research on the role social interaction plays in the development of students’ argumentation skills. She also designs and evaluates professional development programs that support teachers in their use of classroom talk to promote student learning. Dr. Reznitskaya’s work has appeared in a variety of journals and edited books, including Educational Psychologist, The Reading Teacher, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Cambridge Journal of Education, Elementary School Journal, Discourse Processes, Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices, and Positive Psychology in Practice.

Ian A. G. Wilkinson is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. He has a background in educational psychology and research interests in cognition, instruction, and research methodology related to the study of literacy. Originally from Australia, Dr. Wilkinson has lectured and conducted research in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Dr. Wilkinson teaches courses on literacy learning and teaching, and conducts research on the impact of classroom talk on students’ reading comprehension and the implications for professional development of teachers. He served as co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly from 2006 to 2012. His work has appeared in publications such as Reading Research Quarterly, British Journal of Educational Psychology, American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Psychology, The Elementary School Journal, Reading Psychology, The Reading Teacher, Learning and Instruction, Teaching and Teacher Education, the Handbook of Reading Research, the Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction, and the Handbook of Educational Psychology.

Over the past several years, Drs. Reznitskaya and Wilkinson have worked with elementary school teachers to help them learn how to conduct classroom discussions that engage students in collaborative and rigorous argumentation. The research was sponsored by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, with Drs. Reznitskaya and Wilkinson serving as coprincipal investigators.