Developing Researchable Questions - Lesson/Activity Plan Template

Sep 12, 2026

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Lesson/Activity Plan Template for helping students develop researchable questions through structured inquiry. Learners explore multiple types of questions and practice generating their own questions from a chosen topic. The plan uses prompts such as word walls, guided discussion of handouts and slide materials, and pair or small-group work to refine question quality. Follow-up conferences and reflection focus on strengthening thinking and building more complex, research-ready questions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Developing Researchable Questions

Student Objectives

Overview/Description

Activities/Process

Extensions/Assignments

Reflection/Metacognition

Notes

Lesson/Activity Plan Template | Title | Developing Researchable Questions | | --- | --- | | Contributor [Name & email] | Teresa [Diaz / tdiaz4@neisd.net](Diaz / tdiaz4@neisd.net) | | Focus Area | Task Definition: Questioning | | Student Objectives | 􀁸 Become familiar with various types of research questions
􀁸 Practice developing their own research questions | | Resources | Jansen, Barbara. "Research: Just What Does It Mean?" 2001.
[http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~bjansen/TaskDefinitionHS.pdf](http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~bjansen/TaskDefinitionHS.pdf)
Jansen, Barbara. "How to Impress Your Teachers by Asking Good Questions!" 9 Sept.
2002.Big6 Kids. Robert E. Berkowitz and Mike Eisenberg, 1987.
[http://www.big6.com/kids/site/2002/09/15/how-to-impress-your-teachers-by-asking](http://www.big6.com/kids/site/2002/09/15/how-to-impress-your-teachers-by-asking)good-questions/
KNE's 21st Century Literacies: Developing Different Types of Questions: [http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/lgener.html](http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/lgener.html) | | Materials/Technology | Researchable Questions Handouts A or B Types of Questions Handout Researchable Questions PP
Word Wall in Wordle—of your own topics
Question Frames Handout (see p.6 ): Koechlin, Carol, and Sandi Zwaan. Questioning Success. PDF from AASL 2005 Presentation. { [http://tiny.cc/YRXLi](http://tiny.cc/YRXLi})[}](http://tiny.cc/YRXLi}) | | Correlations to Standards
􀂙 AASL | 1.1. 1, 1.1. 2, 1.1.3 | | 􀂙 NETS | 1a, 4a | | 􀂙 State | | | 􀂙 Other: | | | Overview/Description | Students explore, identify, and develop different types of research questions based on a topic of their choice. | | Activities/Process | 􀁸 Set the tone by showing students your own word wall and having them take a moment to look at what you have there | | | 􀁸 Then ask them what they are curious about on your wall
􀁸 Use one of the words they mention to share a little about it, why you selected it, and what you want to know more about—tailoring your own questions to fit into the types of questions you will be examining in this activity (fact, convergent, divergent, evaluative)
􀁸 Lead into the activity by telling them that they will be examining different types of questions and developing their own, and then have them work in pairs or small groups to discuss the Researchable Questions handout, using the Different Types of Research Questions handout as a guide.
􀁸 Review their responses using the Researchable Questions PP
􀁸 Have them try their hands at creating different types of questions using their own topics, and share them with the class (either orally, or using the slide templates in the PP) . | | --- | --- | | Extensions/
Assignments | 􀁸 Have students use the Question Frames handout to craft their own questions using their selected topic.
􀁸 Conference with students about their questions, offering feedback. | | Reflection/ Metacognition | During conferences with students, use their questions from the Question Frames sheet to “unpack their thinking,” by asking follow-up questions about their own reasons for asking those particular questions, and to think about what else they may want to discover, leading them to craft more complex questions rather than only fact or convergent ones. | | Notes | Hybrid activity & handout based on B. Jansen's two online articles and KNE's 21st C. Literacies Questions Lesson (see above) |

FAQs

What are the student objectives for this lesson/activity plan?

Students become familiar with various types of research questions and practice developing their own research questions based on a topic they choose.

How does the lesson introduce the idea of research questions?

The teacher sets a tone by sharing a personal word wall, prompting students to identify what they are curious about, and using selected words to model question development aligned to question types.

What activities help students develop different types of questions?

Students work in pairs or small groups to discuss researchable questions handouts, review responses using presentation materials, then create and share different question types using their own topics.

How are students supported to improve question complexity?

During conferences, the teacher uses question frames to unpack students’ reasoning, asks follow-up questions about motivations and additional discoveries, and guides them toward more complex questions beyond only fact or convergent ones.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Fahsai