Research to Inform

Overview

This 60-minute Grade 6 special education ELA lesson begins a four-week short research and informative-writing unit. Students will use several accessible sources to answer a focused question, record relevant facts, and organize ideas into categories before drafting. The lesson emphasizes explicit modeling, visual structure, repeated directions, and frequent checks for understanding.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Identify a focused research question and its important words.
• Gather facts from more than one source.
• Sort facts into broad categories.
• Use headings and notes to prepare an informative response.

Success criteria

• I can explain what my research question is asking.
• I can record facts in my own words and name the source.
• I can group related facts under a clear heading.
• I can use my notes to plan an informative paragraph.

Curriculum links

• Conduct short research projects to answer a question using several sources and refocus the inquiry when needed.
• Write routinely for short and extended time frames, purposes, and audiences.
• Introduce a topic clearly and organize information into broader categories.
• Use headings, charts, or other formatting when they help readers understand information.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Welcome and hook. Teacher opens with the hook and learning-target slides and displays the question, “How do service dogs help people?” Briefly explain that the class will investigate the question and prepare to teach others. Students study a photo or visual, share one observation with a partner, and identify what they already know or wonder.

2. 7–15 min · Make the question researchable. Teacher models how to underline key words in the question: how, service dogs, and help people. Think aloud about the difference between a focused question and a broad topic such as “dogs.” Students underline or highlight the key words on the research question and note-taking worksheet and orally restate the question using the frame, “I am researching how service dogs ___.”

3. 15–25 min · Model finding useful facts. Teacher uses the source-reading and fact-finding slides to model reading a short passage, locating a fact, and recording it in brief words rather than copying a full sentence. Demonstrate adding a source label such as “Source A.” Explicitly show one relevant fact and one unrelated detail, then ask students to explain which belongs in the notes. Students help identify two facts and practice saying each fact in their own words.

4. 25–40 min · Supported source investigation. Teacher gives each student two short, adapted passages about service dogs, reads the first passage aloud, and pauses to clarify vocabulary with visuals or gestures. Students read along, listen, or use text-to-speech; then they record at least two facts from each source on the research question and note-taking worksheet. Circulate and prompt with, “Does this answer our question?” and “How can you say that more briefly?” Pause halfway for a whole-group check and celebrate accurate source labels.

5. 40–50 min · Sort facts into categories. Teacher displays the category-sorting and heading slides and models grouping facts under headings such as “Jobs Service Dogs Do” and “How They Help.” Students compare notes with a partner, place a check beside related facts, and choose or write two headings on the worksheet. Students may explain their category orally before writing it.

6. 50–56 min · Plan an informative paragraph. Teacher models a simple plan: topic sentence, heading, two supporting facts, and a closing statement. Students complete the planning box on the research question and note-taking worksheet using the frame, “Service dogs help people by ___.” Students who finish early add a third fact or suggest a helpful chart or picture.

7. 56–60 min · Review and exit check. Teacher returns to the review and exit-question slides and asks students to show a fist-to-five confidence rating. Students answer orally or in writing: “Write one fact, its source, and the heading where it belongs.” Collect worksheets to identify who can select relevant information, paraphrase, and categorize notes.

Resources

• the research and organization slide deck
• the research question and note-taking worksheet
• Two teacher-prepared, accessible service-dog passages labeled Source A and Source B
• Projector or interactive display
• Highlighters or colored pencils
• Pencils, clipboards, and optional headphones
• Visual vocabulary cards for service dog, assist, task, and independence
• Timer and first-then visual schedule

Assessment

• Listen for students’ ability to restate the research question and distinguish relevant from unrelated information.
• Check notes for at least four facts, two source labels, brief paraphrasing, and appropriate categories.
• Use the final response to identify students needing reteaching on source use, paraphrasing, or headings before the next lesson.

Differentiation

• Provide an enlarged worksheet, reduced writing space, highlighted key sentences, and a word bank. Allow speech-to-text, scribing, pointing, drawing, or oral responses.
• Read both passages aloud and offer repeated directions one step at a time. Pair students strategically and provide the frames “This fact answers the question because ___” and “This belongs under the heading ___.”
• For students who need less load, provide two preselected facts to sort and ask them to add one independently. Check in privately rather than requiring public reading.
• For students ready for extension, invite them to compare the two sources, identify a difference in information, or propose a chart that would help a reader understand the topic.