Identifying and Developing a Topic Teacher Resources

Do research projects at your school look like a class of eighth graders staring at a blank screen? Use the Big 6 research method to guide middle schoolers through the process of finding a topic, searching for and evaluating sources,...

How do you choose a research topic? This helpful graphic organizer is provided to aid middle and high schoolers in organizing their initial thoughts and choosing a topic. They have to narrow their topic by culture, time frame, event,...

Discuss controversial issues with your charges. More importantly, discuss how you have to research both sides of a controversy before taking a stance. In groups, middle schoolers research the controversial issue of dog sled racing. They...

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...

Students analyze a graphic from an article and predict what the article might be about. After reading an article, they discover a journalist's experience of traveling across the United States to compare fast food restaurants. They...

It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They then...

After reading on the topic of their paper, high schoolers work in pairs to assess how to write powerful, precise thesis statements. The introduction contains three statements: a universal statement, a bridge statement, and a thesis...

I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...

The lesson guides young academics through the steps in producing a 10-page research paper on any topic in American history. Historians begin by formulating a thesis and gathering resources, then move on to creating an outline, and end...

Surprise! is the theme of this series of challenge activities. The surprise comes from the information your scholars will discover when researching topics such as alligators and crocodiles, living in other countries, becoming a...

Teaching learners how to evaluate a research source is an important part of the research process. The fresh idea here is that groups first develop a list of reasons why resources should be evaluated, transform these reasons into...

Pick a topic, any topic! Working in small groups, scholars choose three topics they think would make interesting podcasts. Next, each group shares their ideas with the class to narrow down their choices.

Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt pieces....

Students discover how to find authoritative resources. In this research skills lesson, students examine strategies for using the Internet effectively to research global development issues.

Using discoveries and inventions as the focus, learners complete a research project. First, they come up with research questions. Then, they conduct research on the topic. Finally, they write a research paper.

As your class reaches the end of the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, the seventh activity in this literary unit helps third graders transition from reading narrative to expository writing. Scholars develop their note-taking skills as...

Speaking of the Internet. The culminating lesson plan for the unit on the Internet challenges pupils to prepare short, two-minute speeches on an issue facing society. The pupils chose from three topics that connect the Internet and...

It's time to gather nuts, berries, and lots of information. Scholars continue on their quest to determine the consequences of each of Michael Pollan's food chains from The Omnivore's Dilemma. Using research questions developed in a...

Take two! Scholars begin part two of the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment. They continue researching the destruction caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fires. To further their research, they discuss how new information connects to the...

Having a strong searching skill set can make a research project much easier and much for successful for pupils. Tackle finding evidence with the ideas included here. The ultimate goal is for class members to learn the stepping stones...

Students are required to become Internet Research Assistants to a staff member or someone in the community and take that person on as a client. They develop a letter informing potential clients that they are available to do research for...

It's never too early to build research skills! Students locate information relevant to a subject they are doing a research project on. They take notes and sort the information under main topic headings. Through research, they gain an...

Focus on research skills, specifically identifying key words and concepts on a specific topic and evaluating information for relevance and authority. This is part of a multi-step lesson on Ancient Rome; however, it is useful for any...

While this focuses on Ancient Rome, the objectives are improved research and information evaluation skills. In one class period, class members narrow their topic, research it, select the best information, log useful sources, and discuss...