Abstract
Today, in a modern school, the organization of students' research activities both in the classroom and outside of school hours is becoming increasingly important. Such activity in the lesson involves an active search for answers to problematic questions, the implementation of mini-projects within a specific topic or section, and the solution of search and research tasks. However, in order to achieve a full-fledged result, research activity should not be limited only to the scope of the lesson. On the contrary, it is in extracurricular activities that the student has the opportunity to deepen the topic being studied, developing a mini-project into a full-fledged research project, or to work out in detail the problematic issue that concerns him. In this process, the teacher's role changes dramatically: he becomes not just a source of knowledge, but also a consultant, assistant, and supervisor, guiding, supporting, and coordinating the student's activities. This approach contributes to the formation of key competencies of the 21st century among schoolchildren: critical thinking, independence, the ability to explore, analyze and draw conclusions. The purpose of the article is to find effective ways to develop research skills in schoolchildren. In this article, the authors share their own experience in organizing student learning on the basics of research and the development of creative thinking. The presented results can be useful to other educational organizations and serve as an example of the introduction of a research approach into the educational process. One of the effective solutions to this problem can be the parallel training of both teachers and students themselves in research skills. If a student is systematically and step-by-step taught from an early age how to choose a topic, how to formulate a problem, how to work with sources and formalize results, he will feel confident and motivated. Thus, special elective courses can become an important tool in this direction, for example, such as the "Laboratory of Creative Ideas", where students learn to see a problem, formulate a research question, put forward hypotheses and look for ways to solve them.