6-8 Grade Resources
Students: Your goal in this first step is to learn enough about your topic to identify a specific question to answer or a hypothesis to test.
Write a specific research question or hypothesis.
Find articles on a wide variety of topics. Articles are vetted by experts.
Wikipedia content is developed by a world-wide community of users. Content should be compared with several sources. Wikipedia can provide a path to begin your search for expert sources.
Starting with these 2 resources will help you learn enough about your topic to form a good research question AND help you understand the keywords you should use to gather information (Step 2).
Each day, reporters at WCCO investigate a question, locating information from ordinary people and consulting with experts.
Your goal is to locate, retrieve, read, evaluate, and record information related to your research question or hypothesis.
Important: Create a list of resources and record notes from sources. You may create your own document, use NoodleTools or make a copy of this Data Collection Form.
Watch the video below to understand how to select Keywords that will get you the best information for your topic:
Your goal in this step is to reflect on what you have learned, draw a conclusion, and then organize your information to support that conclusion.
Confirm thesis (hypothesis) and outline main points.
Your goal in this step is to communicate your conclusion and supporting points to your audience.
If your teacher specifies the format, follow instructions.
If you choose the format, consider your audience and the tool that best communicates your message.
Always keep your due date in mind!
Consult with your library media specialist on selecting and using various technology tools.
Your goal in this step is to evaluate your completed product and the process you used.
Consider your assignment and the product you created and ask yourself:
Step 1: Question
Step 2: Gather
Step 3: Conclude
Step 4: Communicate
Step 5: Evaluate
Examples of possible rubrics:
Databases (library search engines)
Databases (Introductory)
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