Textbook
The chapter and the lab are the same lesson. A class starts from one observation, then writes about it.
For science and math departments
See the ideayour classis holding.
Students read the chapter, run the lab, and write the explanation. The margin quotes their words and asks for one change. You see the writing, where they are in the course, and what to reteach tomorrow.
Where does the wax go?
The candle gets shorter because the wax disappears into the air.
In the margin
The wax does not vanish. Its atoms rearrange into gases.
Revision: name where the atoms go, and what a closed jar would weigh afterward.
- Their words, quoted
- The idea, named
- One change to make
A textbook, a notebook, and a margin.
Teachers stay with the writing. Students move from the chapter to the explanation by a link, and back again.
Notebook
Every student writes the explanation. Each hand-in is kept, so you can see the draft that changed.
The margin
Beside their sentence: the idea those words show, and one change to make. No chat to assign or monitor.
Read, write, revise.
The same week in a chemistry class, an algebra class, or an enrolled LSAT class.
01
Read the chapter
The textbook teaches one idea and holds the lab. The student watches what happens and can take a sentence from the page.
02
Write the explanation
The notebook opens on that prompt. The student writes what they think is happening and hands it in. The next hand-in is a new revision.
03
Read the margin
The margin quotes a sentence, names the idea, and asks for one change.
04
See who still holds it
A later explanation that gets the idea right clears it. The class view shows who still needs the lesson.
Chemistry, algebra, and music, taught by writing.
Each course is a sequence of chapters and labs, and every one ends in writing. In music the labs are things you hear — a pulse, a cadence, a line of words on the beat — and a music class composes pieces of its own in the Composer. A chemistry class gets a chemistry set. LSAT is the college course, and only an enrolled class can open it.
Algebra is free. Chemistry, music, and the class tools come with a family plan. See plans
Writing
Writing
Writing
Describer → Scientist- Claim — a precise answer to the question
- Evidence — observations that belong
- Reasoning — a principle that joins them
- Mechanism — how and why, not only what
- Precision, representation, qualification, organization
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
Family plan · Observable → Symbolic- Observable — what can be seen, felt, and weighed
- Particles — matter as particles in motion
- Rearrangement — atoms move; nothing is created or destroyed
- Symbolic — words, particles, and equations together
- A chemistry set for chemistry classes and family plans: mix, weigh, and test
Algebra
Algebra
Algebra
Free · Arithmetic → Structure- Arithmetic — compute with the numbers in front of you
- Pattern — describe a regularity in words
- Variable — letters stand for quantities, and the equation stays true
- Structure — rewrite an expression so the relationship shows
- The writing has to say what the symbols mean
Music
Music
Music
Family plan · Listener → Composer- Time — pulse, meter, tempo, and syncopation
- Pitch — intervals, the octave, home, major and minor
- Harmony — triads, and the cadences that end a phrase
- Writing music — motifs, and words that fit the beat
- Labs you hear, and a composer for music classes and family plans
LSAT
LSAT
LSAT
For an enrolled class- Restater — repeats the argument
- Mapper — premises, conclusion, and the job of each sentence
- Gap-finder — the assumption, tested by negating it
- Evaluator and logician — what would weaken it, and why
- Opens only for students enrolled in an LSAT class
For schools
Walk in knowing what to reteach.
A class view of the writing, the course, and the ideas students are holding. Names stay in your school. The grader sees the prompt and the essay.
Writing level
How clearly each student explains, across the pieces they have handed in.
Where they are in the course
From what they can see and weigh, toward particles and equations. From arithmetic toward expressions they can rewrite.
The idea in their words
The wrong idea the writing shows, quoted. A later explanation that gets it right is what clears it.
Tomorrow’s lesson
The ideas several students share, so the next class can start there.
One change
Asked beside their words
The class
Ideas to reteach tomorrow
Two courses
Chemistry and algebra
LSAT
For an enrolled college class
Put it in front of a class.
Chemistry and algebra, with the writing beside the lab. Teachers see the idea before the next lesson.