Research Project
You are going to learn how to write a research report, create props to support a presentation, and present the material to the class. This project will be worked on over the course of several weeks. You will learn how to research information, organize the materials, and write a research paper during Writer’s Workshops and Friday Project times. You may need to do some work at home as well.
You need to select a topic that you are really interested in because you will be working with that topic for several weeks. Have a couple of ideas ready in case the library doesn’t have any books available.
You will be taking the following steps to write your report.
1. Select a topic (Due date October 7, 2011)
2. Research the topic using books and the internet (We will work on research in class the week of September 10-14. If not finished, complete over fall break.)
3. Take notes on your materials (due October 24)
we are using the star/spaghetti/meatball strategy. Star represents the main idea. Spaghetti is a fact. Meatballs are the details that support each fact.
4. Record sources (see below)
5. Organize your notes
6. Write a paper that is at least 5 paragraphs long (Final draft tentatively due November 16)
7. Create props to support your presentation (Power Point, posters, dioramas, mobiles, models) We will work on this in class November 11
8. Present your information to the class (tentatively November 18)
Your accomplishments will be graded using the attached rubrics.
It is important to give credit to the people who wrote the book, article, or website that you are using. The way to do that is by citing sources. You will use the following formats to cite your sources.
Book
Author. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Date.
Ex: Gorman, Elizabeth. Prairie Women. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.
Website
Title of the website. Author, Date last updated (if known). Web. Date accessed.
Ex: Denali Kennels. Denali Kennels, Inc., 2011. Web. October 2, 2011.
Does the project look overwhelming? Don’t worry we will talk about how to do each step!! I will give you due dates as we progress through the project.
