Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 7, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.7.7 Means in Plain English
Seventh graders answer a research question in a short project, a few days to two weeks, drawing on several sources. It ends with new questions the research raised, related to the original and focused enough to research next, like whether the falcons nesting downtown came from a release program.
Sixth grade (W.6.7) asks students to refocus the question when the sources point elsewhere. Seventh grade adds the step after the answer: new related, focused questions for further research. Eighth grade (W.8.7) includes questions students generate themselves and follow-ups that open several avenues of exploration.
W.7.7 I Can Statements
I can answer a research question using several sources.
I can explain what each source added to my answer.
I can write related, focused questions for further research.
W.7.7 Worked Example
Two answers to one question about the falcons on a downtown tower: one leans on a single website, and the other builds from three sources toward two sharper questions.
Prompt
Research question: Why do peregrine falcons nest on the tallest office tower in our city? Answer it in a paragraph using at least three sources from the class list, then end with two new questions your research raised.
Not YetPeregrine falcons are the fastest birds and they live on buildings. I learned this on a website. Next I want to research more about birds. What is the biggest bird in the world?One loose fact from one source never explains why the falcons chose a city tower, and the follow-ups drift away from the question. “More about birds” is a topic, not a question, and “What is the biggest bird in the world?” starts a different project instead of extending this one.
Meets the StandardPeregrine falcons nest on our city’s tallest tower because it gives them the two things they need: a high ledge and plenty of food. A bird conservation group’s website on our class list explains that in the wild, peregrines lay their eggs on bare cliff ledges, and a ledge near the top of a tower works the same way. The city’s live nest camera, and the notes posted under it, showed the second reason: the adults keep bringing back pigeons from the streets below, so the chicks never run short. A library book on endangered animals added a surprise: by the 1970s, the pesticide DDT had thinned peregrine eggshells so badly that the falcons had vanished from much of the country. They came back only after DDT was banned and people raised young falcons and released them, some from the roofs of city buildings. That fact raised two questions I want to investigate next: did the falcons on our tower come from a release program or find the city on their own, and are any pesticides used today thinning the eggs of birds the way DDT did?Three sources of different kinds each answer a different part of the question, and the writer names them. The two closing questions grow out of the surprise in the book, stay with the falcons and their tower, and are each narrow enough for another short project.
Moves to Use
Start from a question that needs more than one source to answer.Use each source for the part of the answer it covers best, and name it.Notice the fact that surprised you, because the best follow-up questions start there.Keep follow-up questions related and focused: same topic, small enough to research next.
Common Mistakes with W.7.7
Follow-up questions that leave the topic
“What is the biggest bird in the world?” at the end of a falcon project
Try this: Have students underline the fact that raised each new question, and cut any question that no fact in their research raised.
Questions too big to research
“How does nature work?” or “What is the history of rivers?”
Try this: Test each follow-up question with “Could three sources answer this in a week?” and narrow it until the answer is yes.
Several sources saying the same thing
Three websites, all repeating that peregrines are the fastest birds
Try this: Require sources of different kinds, such as an agency guide, a documentary and a news article, each answering a different part of the question.
What is the research question, and which three sources does the strong response use?
Why do peregrine falcons nest on the tallest office tower in our city? The sources are a bird conservation group’s website, the city’s live nest camera with its notes and a library book on endangered animals.
Which fact led to the follow-up questions?
The library book’s point that DDT thinned peregrine eggshells until the falcons vanished from much of the country, and that they returned after DDT was banned and young falcons were released.
Why is “What is the biggest bird in the world?” a weak follow-up question for this project?
It is not related to what the research found about the falcons and their tower, so it starts a new project instead of extending this one.