Grade 6 · Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Research and Source Evaluation

Build an Evidence File

Research becomes trustworthy when a writer can explain where information came from, why it is relevant, and how sources agree or differ.

The big idea

Source notes preserve the evidence trail

A useful note summarizes an idea in the researcher's own words and records the creator, title, date, and location needed to find it again.

Work it through

1. Define the purpose, audience, and central question.
2. Gather information from multiple textual sources and summarize rather than copy.
3. Check creator expertise, evidence, date, purpose, and agreement with other reliable sources.
4. Record each source, then classify and sequence only the content relevant to the chosen form.

For parents and educators

Grade 6 Language · Strand D: Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts

View supported expectations

D1.1 · Purpose and Audience

Identify the topic, purpose, and audience for various texts they plan to create, and explain why the chosen text form, genre, and medium suit the purpose and audience, and how they will help communicate the intended meaning.
D1.3 · Research

Gather information and content relevant to a topic, using multiple textual sources; summarize the information; verify the reliability of sources; and record the creator and source of all content created by others.
D1.4 · Organizing Content

Classify and sequence ideas and collected information, using appropriate strategies and tools, and identify and organize relevant content, taking into account the chosen text form, genre, and medium.