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Teacher Directions – Lesson Plan & Activities

SELECTING A TOPIC with a Group or Class FOR RESEARCH & DISCUSSION

MATERIALS NEEDED:
 Chalkboard & chalk
 Multiple sheets of paper (at least 8 ½ X 11; large sheets of newsprint work well)
 Magic marker (teacher use)
 Masking tape (to post large sheets of paper on wall around classroom)
 Pencils (for kids to write on the sheets on the wall, if pens won’t work)
 Students will need notebooks, paper, writing implements
 3X5 index cards or pieces of paper – one for each student (for voting/rank ordering
selections in Activity 5)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
How TOPICS differ from ISSUES:

Topic = noun; broad category/subject, lacks focus; difficult for students to know information
to include and exclude.

Example: “Slavery” is a topic (Where? When? Who? – too broad, does not identify what to
include and what to omit)

Issue = question; provides focus, limits – makes it easier to understand what to include and
exclude. By writing it in the form of a question, it’s easier to develop an answer.

Example: an issue concerning slavery – “Should Congress allow slavery to be extended into the
territories acquired by the U.S. as a result of the Mexican-American War? “ (provides limitations)

NOTE: For this lesson and these activities, you will concentrate on TOPICS; the issue will
develop & evolve from the work the students will accomplish in this lesson.

June 2007; Maryanne Malecki

Lesson Plan:
SELECTING ONE TOPIC FOR WHOLE CLASS RESEARCH & DISCUSSION
Time: 40-42 minute period
(Adjust time allowances as needed; activities may be completed over 2 class periods)

Activity 1. GENERATING SUGGESTIONS – approx 15 minutes

 Ask students to suggest topics of school, local, regional, national or international interest
(some examples: school uniforms in public schools, teen use of Internet).
 Keep suggestions moving – if suggestions are unclear, ask questions to clarify ONLY; do
NOT encourage discussion of perspectives, points of view, etc. at this stage.
 Topics should be stated as NOUNS (see examples).
 Write topics on board. The list should include approximately 12-20 topics.

Activity 2. WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW? – allow 3 minutes per pairing

 First pairing:
o Have students select one partner (if uneven number of students, allow only one
group of 3). Instruct each pair to select ONE topic from the board, and develop 5
questions related to that topic (categories for questions - What do they want to
know about the topic? What information needs to be brought out about the topic?
Vocabulary?) Allow approximately 3 minutes.
 Second pairing:
o Call class to order – instruct students to select another partner. The new pairs
may select a new topic from the board, or the topic selected by a previous pairing
of students. Partners will develop 5 questions. If partners are working with a
previously-chosen topic, questions developed in the first round must be shared
with the new partner, and 5 new questions must be developed. Allow 3 minutes.
 Repeat the last step at least 2 more times – students in each round must work with new
partners, developing additional questions based on selected topics. Allow 3 minutes for
each successive round.
 Use your best judgment in determining the number of rounds. Things to consider: do you
have block scheduling? Is the class size large or small? How accustomed are your
students with this type of interaction and movement within the class?
 If time allows, or students need to be reigned in, ask students to INDIVIDUALLY select
a topic and write their own personal questions – provides students with an opportunity to
address an “unpopular” topic

TEACHER ACTIVITY – TO DO WHILE THE STUDENTS ARE WORKING IN PAIRS –

Write each topic as a heading on one sheet of paper. Tape sheets of paper against hard
surfaces (kids will need to write on these) around the room. Spread them out as best you can
to allow for adequate traffic flow.

Activity 3. SHARING THE RESULTS – approx 7-9 minutes

After the final pairing, instruct students to locate their various topics on the sheets of paper
positioned around the classroom (and in the hall, if necessary) and write their entire set of
questions under the appropriate topic heading. All questions should be written – even if
duplicated. All students should participate.

June 2007; Maryanne Malecki

 Activity 4. LIMITING AND ELIMINATING
 With the class, review the lists of questions and topics posted around the room. Do
any topics have few or no questions? Do any lists of questions relate to those on
another list? May these topics be combined in a meaningful way?
 Using the original list of suggested topics on the board, erase topics lacking any
questions – these do not have enough appeal to the group to warrant further research.
Ask students which of the remaining topics they want eliminated – and have them
provide rationale for doing so. Connect related topics. Depending on the original
number of suggested topics, approximately a dozen or so may remain in play.

Activity 5. TOPIC SELECTION & VOTING

 Distribute index cards or small
 IF TEN OR MORE TOPICS REMAIN: Instruct students to RANK ORDER their top
FOUR choices.
 IF FEWER THAN TEN: Instruct students to RANK ORDER their top THREE choices
 Collect cards.
 After class, tally results according to rank. Combine results for topics with first and
second rankings. In most instances, one topic will clearly stand out as ranked #1 or #2 by
more than 50% of the students. This is the class’s Research & Discussion Topic –
proceed to Creating & Using a Position Research Outline (Teacher Activity).
 In the case of a tie – use your judgment. Pick the topic that will work best for your
students, available resources, course content, etc.

NEXT STEPS - FOLLOW DIRECTIONS FOR:

CREATING & USING A POSITION RESEARCH OUTLINE

June 2007; Maryanne Malecki