About this Daily Classroom Special:
A Survival Guide for Teaching Students How to Write Research
Papers was written by former Teachers Network
web mentor, Lisa Kihn, a math and language arts teacher at Nevin Platt
Middle School in Boulder, Colorado.
A Survival Guide for Teaching Students How to Write Research Papers
Project Overview
Appropriate for grades 5 -7
- Cover page with picture and title
- Introduction
- catches the reader’s attention
- uses images
- general statement about the topic
- power statement
(A power statement is a type of topic sentence that involves numbers or a number word: “There are three national monuments in Washington, D.C., that I will describe.” “There are several reasons to vote against this amendment.”)
- explains your interest
- definition
- Paper divided into 3 or 4 subtopics or categories
- Topic sentences
- each paragraph needs a topic sentence
- Supporting Sentences
- all sentences within the paragraph support the topic sentence
- Flow
- each category contains enough information
- categories placed in such a way that the information flows well and makes sense
- Conclusion
- sums up the most important or exciting aspect learned
- contains a final image
- Resources
- must have at least one primary resource (an interview) and five secondary resources (books)
Quotes
- at least one direct quote from an interview
- Notecards
- 15 to 20 per category (one idea per notecard)
- Bibliography
- Visuals
- at least one per category (pictures, graphs, maps, etc)
- Presentation
- present to class, include a large display and a teaching activity
- Self and Peer Editing
To the Daily Lesson Plans
To the Topic Commitment Forms
To the Speech Preparation Sheet
To the Research Paper
Self-Evaluation |