Early Elementary Research & Note Taking

I was thinking about the First Grade Common Core strand ELA Research to Build and Present Knowledge, which states students will:

• W.1.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of “how-to” books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).
• W.1.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

I've been trying to figure out why they would state it as “gather information from provided sources to answer a question.” As one teacher commented to me recently, "My kids can do so much more than answer one question!"

 I think maybe it goes back to this whole idea that with the Common Core we are supposed to “go deep”--what does that look like with this standard?  I think that by limiting the number of questions students are supposed to answer allows students to focus on other equally important things like extracting the appropriate information from the text, taking good notes, connecting what they learn to what they already know, organizing their information into creating a good product, thinking about spelling and handwriting, and avoiding anything that looks like plagiarism, time to reflect on the process, etc.  

I also keep pondering the subtle details nestled within the vertical alignment of this strand--sources are provided during research for grades K-2, students aren't asked to cite sources at all until 3rd grade when they are asked to "take brief notes on sources"

So, much to rethink.  Take a look at this Research to Build and Present Knowledge strand K-12 vertical alignment thingy.

Common Core Research Vertical Alignment from Georgia's Regional Education Service Agency

Here is the form I am hoping to use for small group research with our first grade classes.