Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

This Common Core Standard asks students to do some pretty in-depth research. Not only that, students should no longer be given specific questions to answer during a research project—they should be asked to think of their own, one that's broad enough to branch out into a couple sub-questions for the student to answer. At the same time, beware research questions that are so broad that the project becomes unfocused.

It's a balancing act we have to play when it comes to these projects, and as long as no one tries to shove an elephant onto one of the sides, things should turn out okay.