What are some good research topics for 10th grade English classes?

Question

I'm a teacher and need interesting ideas for a regular 10th grade English class (aside from the basic choose a writer/poet and research his/her life).

Answer 1

The research topics I enjoy teaching most are broad and force students to find their niche.

Last semester I had great success getting them to research one aspect of another culture they just wanted to know more about. A lot wanted to know about food or music, for example. The catch was they had to make children's books explaining what they'd learned for a young audience. They loved it. (Too bad we never made it to the elementary school to read!)

I also had success with a social issues project, in which I listed various issues they could choose from and what sort of approach (national, regional, global) they wanted to take with that issue. This ended up being a multigenre venture, and the kids learned a lot about the world abroad.

Another thing you might do is tie it in with themes in the literature you're reading. For example, in the past I've had students complete "war" projects after reading All Quiet on the Western Front.

Check out my assignments below, and if you like them, you can adapt them to your purposes.

Answer 2

In my 10th grade English class we just finished doing a research project on Careers. We took a survery on COIN and found a career we were interested about and researched what you do, earning, future growth, training, education required, etc.
I think 10th grade was a great place for this because it opens up the minds of people who are going to be faced with the decision of what they want to major in only 2 years away. A lot of sophomores have no clue what they want to do yet and this research project really gives you an idea.

Answer 3

My 10th grade students read the play A Raisin in the Sun--about a poor black family in Chicago who gets a $10,000 insurance check. Each member has a dream (buy a home, go to college, have a baby, open a liquor store). My students research how each of those dreams (actually go through the process almost) and present it. Research that relates to something REAL and USEFUL to their lives will get them excited and motivated.

Answer 4

Well, the main topic of interest in my English class when I was in the tenth grade was:
Are those things real, or does Mary Jane Banks wear falsies?

Many of us were willing to research it, but never got the chance.

Answer 5

If you have not a lot of time, try topic about Dolly. There are a lot of information about her. If you want to make a perfect essay, try hard topic. Lifeforms without water or Does life evolve towards being intelligence would be great decisions.

Answer 6

I don't know where you teach, but here we can't just invent random research topics. We have to be able to tie them to specific knowledge goals within the curriculum. What are the main concepts you're expected to teach to your tenth graders? What haven't you addressed yet? Answer those questions and you'll come closer to finding your answer than Yahoo Answers could ever bring you.

Answer 7

How about taking a concept like "Loyalty" and exploring it through literature. Or a more complex concept like "Knowledge is Power" or "The End Justifies the Means" etc.

Or researching a writer and instead of a bio - show how his life experiences show through his/her body of work.

good luck!

Answer 8

In my world history class last year we had to pick a famous leader (i chose Nero) and create a scrapbook about their life from their POV and write little journal entries and stuff. It was really fun and could easily be applied to an english class.

Answer 9

The Scarlet Pimpernel. Great literature, interesting for both sexes, has a historical basis. Two thumbs up.

Answer 10

If one aspect of a writer's life was changed, how would that change his writings? Would it be for the better or worse? What topics would cease to exist?