South Dakota ELA 11-12.WHST.7
The Standard
Conduct short as well as more sustained research; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; demonstrate understanding of the subject under investigation using multiple sources.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025) · Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students investigate a question using several sources. They narrow it when it is too broad and broaden it when evidence is too hard to find. They use the sources together to explain what they learned.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can turn a broad topic, such as cafeteria food waste, into a question they can research. They can compare a waste tally with published information, explain where the evidence agrees or differs, and revise the question as needed.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may stop at the first search result or treat three versions of the same claim as three sources. Some think narrowing a question always helps, even when it leaves them with too little evidence.
How to Assess It
- Give students a cafeteria menu, a one-day waste tally, and a USDA food waste fact sheet. Ask them to write a research question, name two sources they would use, and say how they would change the question if the tally showed too little.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs sort items from a one-day cafeteria waste tally, then write one question the tally raises.
Ask students to write how a cafeteria menu and a waste tally could give different answers about why fruit gets thrown away.
Give groups broad and narrow question cards about lunch waste; have them match each card to available evidence or revise it.
Have students use a cafeteria menu and a USDA food waste fact sheet to propose one change to reduce discarded fruit.
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Related Standards
- 11-12.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained, focused research. Use appropriate methodology to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the subject under investigatio...
- 9-10.WHST.7
The Grades 9–10 version of this standard.
- 5.W.7
Conduct short research projects that use multiple sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
- 9-10.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; demonstrate understanding of the subject under investigation u...
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