Short Research Projects

PROCEDURAL

English›Writing Composition|Ages 8—11|ID: mt_FW9_8F52bw

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic, gather information from print and digital sources, and take brief organised notes

Mastery Evidence

Generate three research questions about an assigned topic and identify two sources for each
Take brief notes from a print source, sorting key facts into provided categories
Write a short summary paragraph synthesising information gathered from two different sources

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] is given a research project at school, can they look up information from books or websites, take organised notes, and then write it up in their own words?”

Curriculum Standards3 alignments

W.4.7Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

W.4.7

Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

English Language Arts

W.4.8Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

W.4.8

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

English Language Arts

W.5.7Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

W.5.7

Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

English Language Arts

Prerequisites4

Shared Research Projects
hardAges 5—9
Writing Craft Vocabulary
softAges 8—11
Representing numbers with objects (age 8+)
softAges 8—9
Main Ideas & Note-Taking
softAges 7—10

Show full prerequisite tree

Shared Research Projects hard
Independent research extends shared research and writing projects
- Listening to Texts Read Aloud soft
  Listening comprehension supports shared research
- Writing Process Vocabulary soft
  Shared research and writing uses 'genre', 'purpose', 'audience', 'plan', and 'draft' vocabulary
Writing Craft Vocabulary soft
Research projects require 'evidence', 'argument', 'perspective', and 'purpose' vocabulary
Representing numbers with objects (age 8+) soft
Cross-subject: independent research projects may involve collecting and presenting data using charts and graphs
- Pictograms and tally charts hard
  Constructing simple pictograms/tables is prerequisite to scaled versions
  - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
    Constructing pictograms, tally charts, and bar charts requires these display vocabulary terms
  - Sorting into categories hard
    Constructing pictograms and tally charts requires classifying and counting objects first
    - Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
      Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
      - Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
    - Counting objects to 20 hard
      Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
      - How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
      - One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
  - Sorting Data into Categories soft
    Data representation formats (pictograms, tally charts) support organising data
    - How Many in Total? soft
      Counting data in categories requires understanding cardinality
      - One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
      Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
    - Sorting into categories hard
      Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
      - Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
        Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
        
        Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
      - Counting objects to 20 hard
        Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
- Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
  Drawing scaled bar charts and pictograms requires axis, scale, label, and frequency vocabulary
- Picture & Bar Graphs hard
  Single-unit bar graphs are prerequisite to scaled bar graphs
  - Sorting Data into Categories hard
    Drawing picture/bar graphs extends organising and representing data
    - How Many in Total? soft
      Counting data in categories requires understanding cardinality
      - One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Pictograms and tally charts (age 6+) hard
      Organising and representing data requires data, tally, frequency, and category vocabulary
    - Sorting into categories hard
      Organising data in categories builds on classifying and counting objects in categories
      - Comparing groups: more or fewer soft
        Sorting categories by count benefits from ability to compare quantities
        
        Counting objects to 20 soft
        Counting a set helps when comparing groups, but younger children (GB age 4) can compare using matching without formal counting to 20
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
      - Counting objects to 20 hard
        Counting objects in each category requires being able to count sets of objects
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Answering 'how many?' requires the cardinality principle
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Counting objects to answer 'how many?' requires one-to-one correspondence
Main Ideas & Note-Taking soft
Note-taking for research benefits from summarising and recording skills
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
  Summarising builds on identifying main topic in informational texts
  - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
    Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
- Reading between the lines soft
  Key details and inference support identifying main ideas
  - Characters, settings, and events hard
    Need story elements to extract key details
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
      Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
- Self-Correcting While Reading soft
  Retrieving and summarising main ideas from multi-paragraph texts requires active self-monitoring comprehension — noticing when something doesn't make sense and re-reading to fix it
  - Monitoring Comprehension soft
    Self-correcting while reading requires the awareness that decoding correctly is not the same as understanding
    - Feeling of not understanding soft
      Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
      - Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
    - Reading for Meaning hard
      Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
      - Feeling of not understanding soft
        Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
  - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
    Need basic reading ability to self-monitor
    - Single Letter Sounds hard
      Need GPC knowledge to blend
      - Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
    - Onsets & Rimes hard
      Phoneme awareness needed for blending
      - Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
      - Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
  - Feeling of not understanding soft
    Checking that a text makes sense while reading and self-correcting is the reading-domain form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
    - Asking for Help hard
      Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
  - Building sentences soft
    Sense-checking uses sentence knowledge
  - Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
    Reading comprehension monitoring builds on earlier fluency skills
    - Building sentences soft
      Understanding sentence structure supports expressive phrasing
    - Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
      Wider GPC knowledge supports fluent reading
      - Consonant Digraphs hard
        Must know consonant digraphs before learning alternative consonant GPCs
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letters before digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Vowel Digraphs hard
        Must know common vowel digraphs before learning alternative representations
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before vowel digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before learning alternatives
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Alternative GPCs build on basic blending ability
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
    - Reading fluently hard
      Expressive reading builds on basic reading fluency
      - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Must be able to decode before fluency
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
      - Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight hard
        Need sight word bank for fluency
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Need to recognise letters to read sight words
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
        Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
- Story Sequence and Central Message hard
  Identifying main ideas from multiple paragraphs and summarising builds on the prior skill of discussing sequence of events and how information items are related in shorter texts
  - Main Topic of Informational Texts soft
    Understanding main topic and key details of informational texts supports discussing how items of information are related
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
      Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
  - Reading between the lines hard
    Retelling key details builds on Y1 key details and inference
    - Characters, settings, and events hard
      Need story elements to extract key details
      - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
        Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
  - Listening to Texts Read Aloud soft
    Listening comprehension supports understanding text structure
  - Characters, settings, and events hard
    Sequence and central message build on Y1 story elements
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
      Need to engage with stories before identifying elements
  - Reading with Expression and Accuracy soft
    Expressive reading supports comprehension of sequence and meaning
    - Building sentences soft
      Understanding sentence structure supports expressive phrasing
    - Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
      Wider GPC knowledge supports fluent reading
      - Consonant Digraphs hard
        Must know consonant digraphs before learning alternative consonant GPCs
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letters before digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Vowel Digraphs hard
        Must know common vowel digraphs before learning alternative representations
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before vowel digraphs
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Single Letter Sounds hard
        Must know single letter sounds before learning alternatives
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
      - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Alternative GPCs build on basic blending ability
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
    - Reading fluently hard
      Expressive reading builds on basic reading fluency
      - Blending Sounds to Read Words hard
        Must be able to decode before fluency
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
      - Reading High-Frequency Words by Sight hard
        Need sight word bank for fluency
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Need to recognise letters to read sight words
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Blending Sounds to Read Words soft
        Blending helps attempt unfamiliar words but sight words bypass phonics
        
        Single Letter Sounds hard
        Need GPC knowledge to blend
        
        Knowing all letters hard
        Must recognise letters before learning their sounds
        
        Understanding print hard
        Must understand print direction before letter identification matters
        
        Onsets & Rimes hard
        Phoneme awareness needed for blending
        
        Rhyming words soft
        Rhyme awareness supports finer phoneme skills
        
        Syllables soft
        Syllable awareness builds toward phoneme level
- Non-Fiction Text Features hard
  Summarising requires understanding non-fiction text structures
  - Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
    Non-fiction structures build on Y1 informational text main topic
    - Listening to Texts Read Aloud hard
      Listening comprehension foundational for informational text
  - Book Features and Author's Reasons hard
    Understanding text features builds on Y1 book features
    - Understanding print hard
      Print concepts needed to understand book features

Unlocks3

Research & Note-Taking
hardAges 10—11
Literary Evidence in Writing
softAges 9—11
Evidence-Based Writing
softAges 9—11