Research Smart

Overview

Students build practical research skills for their booklet and PowerPoint assessment project. Using a short historical source about an age-appropriate topic, they develop a research question, select keywords, skim and scan for evidence, take notes in their own words, and consider whether a source is trustworthy.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• develop an effective historical research question
• identify useful keywords for searching and skimming
• distinguish relevant information from interesting but unnecessary detail
• record information in their own words
• organise notes for a future PowerPoint presentation

Success criteria

• I can turn a broad topic into a focused research question.
• I can choose keywords that will help me find useful information.
• I can skim and scan a source to locate relevant evidence.
• I can write brief notes in my own words and explain why a source may be trustworthy.

Curriculum links

• Historical inquiry: developing questions, locating and evaluating evidence, and communicating findings.
• Science: writing and creating texts to communicate ideas, findings and arguments for identified purposes and audiences, using digital tools where appropriate.
• English: planning and presenting structured oral or multimodal texts using appropriate content, language, visual features and delivery.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages: creating informative and multimodal texts for a specific purpose and audience, where relevant to the selected project topic and local cultural protocols.

Lesson structure (29 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Hook and purpose. Teacher displays a deliberately broad question, “What happened in the past?”, beside a focused question, “How did the environment influence daily life at an ancient Australian site?”, using the opening question slide. Students discuss which question would be easier to research and explain why.

2. 4–9 min · Model effective questions and keywords. Teacher models changing a topic such as “Ancient Egypt” into a question using who, what, when, where, why or how, then underlines keywords such as “daily life”, “Nile River” and “Ancient Egypt” on the question and keyword modelling slides. Students improve one broad question and list three or four keywords in the first section of the research skills practice sheet.

3. 9–15 min · Skim, scan and select. Teacher gives each student the same short historical source, included on the source analysis page, and demonstrates skimming the title, headings and first sentence before scanning for a keyword. Students work independently for two minutes, highlighting or recording two details that directly answer their question; they then compare choices with a partner.

4. 15–21 min · Note-taking and source trustworthiness. Teacher models converting a copied sentence into a short note using different wording and introduces a quick trustworthiness check: author or organisation, date, evidence, purpose and corroboration. Students complete a two-column task on the notes and source-check section: one brief note in their own words and two reasons the source is, or is not yet proven to be, trustworthy.

5. 21–26 min · Organise for PowerPoint. Teacher shows a simple slide structure on the PowerPoint planning slides: title and question, key evidence, explanation, image or map with caption, and source list. In pairs, students place their notes under the most suitable slide heading and identify one piece of evidence still needed for their project.

6. 26–29 min · Share and exit check. Teacher asks three students to share a strong question or note and revisits the success criteria on the plenary slide. Students complete the final three prompts on the exit reflection: “My research question is…”, “My best keyword is…”, and “One way I will check a source is…”.

Resources

• the research skills slide deck
• the research skills practice sheet
• One short, accessible historical source per student
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• Pens and exercise books
• Project topic list or existing booklet/PowerPoint task sheet
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Timer

Assessment

• Listen for questions that are focused, open enough to investigate, and connected to the selected historical topic.
• Check worksheet responses for relevant evidence, concise notes in students’ own words, useful keywords and a justified trustworthiness judgement.
• Use the exit reflection to identify students needing support with question formation, source evaluation or organising notes before the next research session.

Differentiation

• Provide question stems such as “How did…?”, “Why was… important?” and “What changed when…?” and allow students to choose from a reduced topic list.
• Supply a source with clear headings, bold keywords and a short glossary for students requiring literacy or EAL/D support; read the source aloud if needed.
• Pair students strategically and assign roles such as keyword finder, evidence checker and note-taker, while ensuring each student completes an individual exit response.
• Challenge confident students to compare two sources, identify a possible bias or omission, and explain which source would be more useful for a particular PowerPoint slide.
• When researching First Nations histories or knowledges, remind students to use respectful language, identify the source and follow relevant cultural protocols; do not treat restricted or community-held knowledge as freely available information.