The Simple Four is a problem-solving research model developed for South Carolina and works with the research and inquiry standard (Standard 6) in the 2007 ELA Academic Standards.

Step 1: PLAN

(Planning means that students are engaging the topic or assignment and deciding what they know about the topic; what they want/need to know about the topic; and what information they need about their topic to complete their assignment or research project.)

Students demonstrate the ability to:

•  Think about the assignment to understand the assignment
• Brainstorm, thinking about and listing possible topics and key words
• Think about information needed to complete the assignment or research project
• Narrow the list of topics and select one topic
• Complete a KWL chart
• Talk with teacher, peers, and library media specialist about the topic, the assignment/research project, and the information requirements
• Read to become informed about the selected topic
  • Browse the library resource collection by searching the OPAC
  • Conduct preliminary research in DISCUS, StreamlineSC, and the WWW
• Write a clear, concise thesis statement, focus question, or essential question

Step 2: Act

(As students ACT ontheir plan, they must prioritize their list of possible sources of information, find those resources, engage the resources, to extract the relevant information and then evaluate the information for credibility, authority, and relationship to the topic or assignment.)

Students demonstrate the ability to:

• Locate identified sources of information
• Evaluate information in each source for credibility, authority, and relevance to the topic or assignment
• Extract the relevant information from identified sources
• Understand the need for, and the accepted method of, citing sources consulted and used
• Redefine the topic based on research
• Seek assistance from teacher and/or library media specialist

Step 3: Organize

(When students ORGANIZE their information, they make decisions about that information and their topic or assignment. During this phase, students create their final product (e.g., paper, multimedia presentation, web page, podcast) and submit it to the teacher. This is the phase where students demonstrate what they have learned.)

Students demonstrate the ability to:

• Develop a project outline or storyboard
• Determin the need for additional information
• Determine how to present the information to demonstrate comprehension and understanding of the topic or assignment
• Request assistance from the teacher and/or library media specialist

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