Lesson 24: Flex Research: From Big Topic to Strong Question

Display historical image(s) of teenagers in a 1960s public social space.

Think-Pair-Share

Teacher Guidance: Use this routine to connect students’ previous reading to today’s research work. Students should briefly name patterns they have noticed in the novel and in the image before moving into question-building.

Place students with a partner.

• Say: In the previous lesson, we traced how groups in The Outsiders use style, spaces, and social rules to show who belongs and who gets pushed out. Today, we are turning those patterns into research questions about 1960s youth culture and social class. This matters because research helps us build context instead of relying on one character’s point of view.

• Ask: What details in the opening of The Outsiders suggest that youth culture is tied to class and belonging? What details in this image connect to that idea?

  • At the beginning of Chapter 1, Ponyboy explains that Greasers and Socs are divided by money and where they live, so class already shapes who belongs where. In the image, the cars and the way people are gathering suggest that hanging out was also tied to money, style, and status.

Partner A, share first. Partner B, listen for one detail that connects to belonging or class. Then switch.

Connection to Today's Learning

Now that students have named a pattern, they are ready to turn that pattern into a question that can actually be answered with sources.

Teacher Guidance: Today’s Inquiry Protocol gives students a repeatable way to move from a large idea to a focused question. Use the same teacher model topic across the research sequence so students can see how research grows over time.

Display and read aloud this short line from the fifth paragraph in Chapter 1 of The Outsiders:

“We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class.”

Explain that this line gives us a possible starting point for research because it raises a bigger historical question about how class shaped teen identity in the 1960s. Optionally, read the rest of the paragraph to support students in thinking about perspectives on class and identity.

Say these Directions: We are going to use the Focus and Frame a Research Topic graphic organizer to move from a broad topic to a focused question. As we work, notice how a strong question gets smaller, clearer, and easier to answer with sources.

Teach:

If I start with 1960s America, my topic is too big because it could include almost anything. Because we have been reading The Outsiders, I notice that I am especially interested in how class shapes belonging for teenagers, so my own reading is already helping me narrow. Next, I move from a whole era to one group, one place, and one issue I can actually investigate. Then I turn that narrowed topic into a how or why question that needs research, more than just a yes-or-no answer. Last, I check whether I could realistically answer it with articles, photos, interviews, or other sources.

Display the completed teacher model topic for support and guidance:

• Activate: I already know that The Outsiders shows teens using clothes, cars, and neighborhoods to signal who belongs. I also notice that I am most interested in how class affects identity, so that interest is shaping what I want to research.

• Narrow: 1960s America → youth culture and class → class and teen identity in cities → how social class shaped teen identity in 1960s Tulsa

• Question: How did social class shape teen identity in 1960s Tulsa?

• Check: This question is focused and researchable because it names a time, a place, a group, and an issue. I could answer it with historical articles, photographs, and background sources about youth culture and class.

• Frame: I can list keywords and types of sources that might be useful:

  • Keywords: 1960s Tulsa teens, youth culture social class, greasers’ working-class identity, 1960s teen belonging, class and neighborhoods

  • Source types: overview article, photo essay, background article, historical archive

Quick Check

Say these Directions: Write one phrase from the model question that makes it more focused. Then write one sentence explaining what that phrase narrows.

• Ask: Which phrase in the model question most narrows the topic, and what does it limit?

  • The phrase “in 1960s Tulsa” most narrows the topic because it limits the place and time instead of asking about all teenagers everywhere.

Connection to Today's Learning

Students have now studied how the model works. Next, they will begin their own organizer and use the same steps to draft a focused research question.

Part A: Develop and Refine Your Question (W.7.7) (15 minutes)

Teacher Guidance: Students begin their own organizer in this part. The goal is to use the teacher model as a guide while completing the Activate, Narrow, Question, and Check steps for an individual research question.

Teach:

• Say: When I begin my own organizer, I do not jump straight to the final question. First, I write the broad topic and jot what I already know because that helps me see what I am actually curious about. Next, I narrow the topic by choosing one group, one place, or one issue that I can really investigate. If my topic still sounds like it could fill a whole book, I know I need to narrow again. Only after that do I turn it into a question and test whether the question is focused enough for sources to answer. If my question is missing a clear group, place, or issue, I revise it before I move on. The organizer helps me do that thinking step by step instead of all at once.

Say these Directions: Open the Focus and Frame a Research Topic graphic organizer. Start with your broad topic about 1960s youth culture and social class. Complete the Activate and Narrow sections first, then draft your Question and complete the Check section. After that, trade with a partner and give one piece of feedback: name one word or phrase that makes the question focused and name one place where it could still become clearer.

Focus and Frame a Research Topic graphic organizer]

• Ask: What is your draft research question, and which words in it make it focused?

  • My draft research question is: How did working-class teenagers in 1960s American cities use clothing style to express identity and belonging? The phrases working-class teenagers, clothing style, and American cities make it focused because they narrow the group, the part of life I am studying, and the setting.

• Ask: What revision did you make after partner feedback?

  • At first, my question only said teens and style in the 1960s. After partner feedback, I added working-class. clothing, and American cities so the question would be clearer and easier to research.

Connection to Today’s Learning

Once students have a focused question, they are ready to test whether a source actually matches that question.

Part B: Choose a Starting Source (W.7.8) (15 minutes)

Think-Pair-Share

Teacher Guidance: Students are not doing full source evaluation yet. They are doing a first relevance check by skimming titles, headings, images, and short previews to see whether a source might help answer the question they just refined.

Teach:

• Say: I do not need to read every word to decide whether a source is useful at the start. First, I look at the title, source type, and preview to see whether they match my question. If my question is about working-class teens and after-school spaces, a source about national elections might be interesting, but it is not closely connected to my focus. A relevant source gives me a strong starting point, even if it does not answer every part of the question yet. I am looking for clues that the source connects directly to my topic, group, or issue. Those clues help me choose wisely before I spend time reading closely.

Say these Directions: Skim the teacher-curated source set. Choose one source that seems most relevant to your revised question. On your organizer or journal paper, record the source title, source type, and one sentence explaining which clue in the title, heading, image, or preview makes it a strong starting source.

• Ask: Which source seems most relevant to your question, and what clue tells you it might help answer it?

  • The source on working-class teens and city life seems most relevant to my question. The title matches my focus, and the preview mentions what teens were wearing, which connects to how teens used style to show belonging.

• Ask: Which source would you set aside for now, and why?

  • I would set aside a source about national politics in the 1960s because it may give background about the decade, but it does not seem to connect directly to teen belonging or style.

Quick Write

Teacher Guidance: Collect this reflection with the graphic organizer so students can reopen it in the next lesson.

Say these Directions: In your Quick Write, reflect on how your thinking changed today. Answer both questions so you leave with a clear question and a clear next step.

• Ask: What change did you make today to turn a broad topic into a researchable question?

• • I started with the broad topic of 1960s teens, but that was too big to research well. I narrowed it to working-class teens in cities and then focused on how clothing style showed identity, which made my question much more specific.

• Ask: What is your next step, and which source will you start with?

• My next step is to test whether my source is actually useful and accurate for my question. I will start with this source because its title and preview already connect to my topic.

Scoring Rubric

Connection to Future Learning

In the next lesson, students will carry forward today’s question and starting source to evaluate whether the source is accurate, useful, and worth keeping.

Instruct students to complete the following:

• Review your narrowed research question.

• Underline the three to five most important search keywords.

Bring your completed organizer and your starting source note to the next lesson.