6.12.A

ELA6th GradeThe student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.

The Standard

generate student-selected and teacher-guided questions for formal and informal inquiry

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do

Students turn broad topics into focused questions that can guide investigation. They create questions for quick, informal learning and for longer research tasks.

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can create clear questions about a chosen or assigned topic. The questions vary in purpose and lead to useful facts, explanations, comparisons, or viewpoints.

Common Misconceptions

Students may write questions that are too broad, can be answered with yes or no, or only ask for simple facts. They may also confuse a topic, such as school lunches, with a focused inquiry question.

How to Assess It

Give students the topic “phone use at school.” Ask them to write one factual question and one open-ended research question, then label each.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

  1. Place objects in mystery bags, let students examine one without looking, then write five questions that would help identify it.

  2. Ask students to choose a school issue and write one factual question, one open-ended question, and one question about differing viewpoints.

  3. Play Question Sort with prepared cards, sorting questions into broad, focused, factual, and open-ended groups, then revising two weak examples.

  4. Use a local news headline and have students write three questions they would ask a reporter, witness, or community leader.

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