Following 3-5 minutes of freewriting, T asks class for responses. Together, Ss and T brainstorm a list of topics. T writes these on board, ultimately explaining that they are possible research topics for next writing project. Once a long list of topics is on the board, T asks Ss to think about which topic they'd like to research. Next, Ss receive 3-5 sample sets of survey questions.
T leads class in a discussion of designing strong survey questions.
Working in groups, students try asking and answering the questions they have written. At this stage, Ss are encouraged to weed out any weak questions and add stronger ones as necessary. Once Ss are content with their questions, T can provide a brief grammatical review of question formation, a problem that seems to plague students at every level. Ss are then asked to check their questions for accuracy. During this step, T should circulate among Ss, helping to correct grammatical mistakes by underlining them, thereby guiding Ss toward self-correction.