Access

Recruiting Interest

• Students choose a research topic from a list of options that are relevant and inspired by student interest

• Flexible grouping based on topic, student choice, and/or teacher suggestion

• Allow students to write their own research questions based on their curiosity about their chosen topic 

Perception

• Provide students access to text-to-speech, magnification tools, and videos to find information about their topic

• Offer a graphic organizer or template to students to record information

• Encourage the use of websites that differentiate text by grade-level (e.g., NewsELA, CommonLit, Readworks) 

• Allow groups or partners to read texts aloud 

• Post all information virtually for students to access at their pace 

Physical Action

• Pacing of students’ research is flexible

• When applicable, allow students to use printed and digital sources to find and record information 

• Give opportunities for students to record information visually with mind maps or by summarizing information aloud to a partner

• Provide students access to digital resources with assistive technologies when necessary

• Provide flexibility with how students organize their information (e.g., typed, spoken, with images for support) 

Build

Sustaining Effort & Persistence

• Model how to find and record information as an example and give scenarios in which researching will be a useful skill

• Give students time for collaboration to narrow research question(s) to explore as a group

• Allow students time to establish group expectations and goals for finding and recording information as a team

• Provide virtual and in-person examples of different ways of recording information from sources

• Offer and model the use of note-taking templates and/or graphic organizers to help record information from sources to answer research question(s)

• Check-in with students to discuss progress and give feedback based on effort and mastery 

Language & Symbols

• Highlight key information that may help students answer research questions

• Check in with each group to help students find sources that are appropriate based on relevance and ability

• Allow students to use videos and infographics in addition to written text to learn about their chosen topic

• Encourage the use of online tools such as dictionaries and translation tools to read and record information 

Expression & Communication

• Allow students to express their learning in a modality of their choice with examples provided

• Provide sentence-starters and/or outlines to help students organize information

• Encourage the use of assistive technologies to match student abilities and needs when organizing information (e.g., spellcheck, Grammarly)

• Provide access to digital discussion boards for students to collaborate with group members and share research findings

• Differentiate feedback (e.g., in-person, written, digital, and/or video) on students’ organization of information 

Internalize

Self Regulation

• Provide a timeline for completing each step of the objective: finding, recording, and organizing information

• Include examples of information organized from sources into a project and/or presentation

• Model how students can follow legal and ethical guidelines when organizing information from sources into an essay, digital infographic, or slideshow presentation.

• Provide students and groups with a checklists for finding and organizing information 

• Have students reflect on their research 

Comprehension

• While in groups, have students engage in a discussion in which they share prior knowledge and curiosities about their chosen topic (K-W-L chart optional)

• Ask students to summarize their main findings to their group to encourage an equal understanding about their chosen topic 

• Post anchor charts and/or checklists to encourage students to review and revisit each step of the research process (e.g., finding, recording, and organizing information) 

Executive Function

• Prompt students to “stop and think” about information they learned from a primary source prior to finding a secondary source

• Encourage students to talk about their learning with their group in-person or digitally

• Have students write short, daily goals for completion of their research

• Schedule time for students to peer review partner research projects in-person or digitally 

• Provide students with checklists, rubrics, and examples to create and evaluate the organization of their research