2. Subtopics

Ask yourself: "What do I want to know about my topic?"

How to create good subtopics

Concepts:

Strategies that apply to print and digital sources:

1. Outline: Developing subtopics is a KEY research process step that is often overlooked when students jump straight from a topic into research. But it's important to divide a topic into smaller parts, called subtopics. This can be written as an outline. It becomes your research plan so you know what information to gather and, equally important, what to skip! Just like a chef cannot cook without a recipe and an architect cannot build without a blueprint, you CANNOT do research without subtopics as your research plan.

2. Rule of three: Triangulation means the fewest number of subtopics you need is three for good topic exploration. Judge how many more to add by the amount of time needed for project completion. The more time you have, the more subtopics you can explore.

3. Notes: A subtopic must be large enough to take at least ten notes about it. For example, "population" cannot be a subtopic if the answer is just one number. But "people" can be a subtopic if it includes things like food, clothing, language, cultural group, etc.

4. Keywords or question: Subtopics can be written into essential questions, or subtopics can be identified from essential questions. Subtopics form the keywords used as search terms. Expand your search with keyword synonyms.

5. Location skills: Learn skills unique to print and digital sources to locate subtopics that support the topic. It is NOT plagiarism to copy subtopics. Be prepared to add, drop, or change subtopics depending on information in at least three different kinds of sources.

6. Types of subtopics:

General subtopics can be brainstormed for simple topics such as a person, place, or thing that you already know something about. For a topic that is a thing or a concept, you can also use the 5Ws as a general way to determine whether a topic has enough information.
Specific subtopics must be "pre-searched" when a topic is unfamiliar or complex. It is not plagiarism to copy subtopics.

7. Consider using a print or digital Thinking Map or graphic organizer to plan your subtopics.

Subtopics graphic organizer

⭐NEW: Print to Digital Skills⭐

Teachers: Subtopics

Student Hyperdoc

Library (Print) tasks and skills:

Refer to the "Subtopics" section of your research "Checklist."

- Basic skills:
- Outline: Subtopics form the outline for research, the plan for the information scavenger hunt: what to keep and what to skip.
- Triangulate/Rule of three: Three subtopics are required to explore a topic in a balanced way. Add more subtopics as time permits.
- Notes: Subtopics must be large enough to write ten notes about.
- Subtopics can be used to write essential questions, or be pulled from essential questions.
- Subtopics often form search terms, such as in a book's index or reference's guide words.
- It is NOT plagiarism to copy subtopics. But remember to cite sources, even for ideas.
- General subtopics: Do you already know enough about your topic to brainstorm subtopics? For example: simple subtopics for the topic of any animal could be body, food, habitat, enemies, babies. But no matter how obvious the subtopic, you need to confirm supporting information in at least three types of sources such as books, references, and Web sites.
  - Person: Examples of simple subtopics include: personal life, accomplishments, other interesting facts.
  - Place: Examples of simple subtopics include: geography, history, economy, government.
  - Thing or Concept: Examples of simple subtopics include: who, what, when, where, why, how.
- Specific subtopics: You need to pre-search for subtopics when a topic is completely unfamiliar or complex. Pre-search to research! It is not plagiarizing to copy subtopics as a guide for locating notes in a variety of sources. Generally speaking, if a subtopic appears in World Book, it will appear or can apply to almost every other type of source used in your research. Below are some examples of how to locate specific subtopics:
  - Person: A World Book page has more complex subtopics for the topic of James Russell Lowell: early career, literary success, teacher and editor, political activities.
  - Place: An atlas might have maps with legends or text entries divided into subtopics such as: landforms, natural resources, population areas, agricultural areas, etc.
  - Thing or Concept: You can often locate subtopics from a book's Table of Contents, such as this example for songwriting: basic terminology, songwriting method, etc.

⭐Connection with Digital Citizenship:

(Unit 2.1.d) Regarding your online research behavior, is it cheating to use Wikipedia? To see why Wikipedia can be used for subtopics but not for information research, view this YouTube video: "Is Wikipedia a Credible Source?"

Digital (Non-Print) tasks and skills:

- All print basic skills carry over to the digital environment.
- General subtopics: Brainstormed subtopics must be confirmed by locating supporting information in at least three formats (types) of sources such as eBooks, online encyclopedias, and databases.
- Specific subtopics: Pre-search to research using online tools. It is not plagiarizing to copy subtopics as a guide for locating notes in a variety of sources. Below are some examples:
  - Person: Use a biography site such as biography.com, i.e. Helena Rubinstein's subtopics of Early life and travels, The business of beauty, Mascara and more.
  - Place: In an online atlas such as Altapedia, a country such as Afghanistan is divided into the subtopics of: location, climate, people, religions, education, etc.
  - Thing: Scroll down this Web site on "Jupiter" to see that the topic/page is divided into subtopic sections: physical characteristics, composition & structure, orbit & rotation, moons.
  - Concept: Scroll down this Web site on the concept of stealing to practice using the "W's" as subtopics: Who, What, When, Why, Where.

Anecdote: How are subtopics like M&Ms?

Let's say you have a bag of M&Ms. You get enough buckets for the number of colors. You put the red M&Ms in a bucket, the blue in another bucket, and the same for the green, and brown, and yellow.

When you get to sources of information, you pull out facts to match your subtopics, just like picking out M&Ms. This means you are using subtopics to analyze information no matter what kind of source you are reading such as a book, reference, or Web site. Sort the information from all sources into the subtopic buckets.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/mms-recalled-due-to-peanut-allergy-risk/28202466

Student handouts

Write subtopics on your Checklist
Title every note card or note sheet with subtopics.

Videos and PowerPoints

Mrs. Stanley's PPT on developing subtopics, grades 3-7

Mrs. Stanley's PPT on developing subtopics, grades 8-12

Subtopics form a research plan

Other resources

- Apps, Web sites, add-ons, or extensions
  - Use InstaGrok to create subtopics that can then be easily explored.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

ELA.W.7.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation. (p.59)
ELA.W.8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively;...

Works Cited

Campea, Kris. "Digital Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities." YouTube. YouTube, 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRgnSnAXyc8
"M&Ms Recalled Due to Peanut Allergy Risk." ClickOnDetroit. WDIV - Detroit, 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/mms-recalled-due-to-peanut-allergy-risk/28202466>.
- Puma Librarian. "Develop a Research Plan." YouTube. YouTube, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DnrUVnwHn0>.
Stanley, Deborah. "Sierra MS Library." : Eagles Research. Google Blogger, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://sierramslibrary.blogspot.com/p/research.html>.