Standard 6: Research

Students will engage in inquiry to acquire, refine, and share knowledge.

4.6.W.1 Students will generate a viable research question about a specific topic.

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will develop a question on a specific topic that can be researched.

• Teachers model how to create an individual question about one specific topic of interest that can be researched.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to create an individual question about one specific topic of interest that can be researched.
• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback regarding the viability of their original research question(s).

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights

How to Write Research Questions (Website) 

• The intent of this standard is that students begin to ask questions that would support the need for further research and not just closed-ended questions about the specific topic.
• Viable research questions will include words like how and/or why.
• To be viable, the question needs to be not so broad that it can be easily answered or that has too much information to explore.
• The question should also be not so narrow that there are too few resources to choose from and not enough information to prove credibility. 

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.