Standard 6: Research

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

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will adjust and refocus their research question as information is gathered.
• Students will construct and create well-developed thesis statement to use for clear and concise report findings. 

• Teachers model how to refine and formulate a research question as information is gathered. 
• Teachers provide opportunities to refine and formulate a research question as information is gathered. 
• Teachers monitor students’ ability to refine and formulate their research questions as they gather information and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback. 
• Teachers model how to create a clear and concise thesis statement, using findings from the report.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to create a clear and concise thesis statement, using findings from the report. 
• Teachers monitor students’ to make sure they are correctly using the information gathered to create a clear and concise thesis statement. 
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to receive feedback regarding their thesis statements. 

Supporting Resources 

Teacher Insights

• The intention of this standard is for students to acknowledge connections between topics and sources. At this level, students are articulating viable research questions and topics based on initial research.
• Oftentimes, gathering information will lead to new information or different information that necessitates changes to the original research question. Students adjust their research question within the same topic as needed while gathering and analyzing information.
• 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.
• A thesis statement is the guiding, arguable statement or claim an essay attempts to prove through evidence and reasoning.
• Thesis statements should address all parts of the proposed question.
• Students often struggle with the difference between “topic” or “subject” so it is important that the thesis is developed from a broad topic or subject. 

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.