Research and Informational Writing

1. Research and Informational Writing Ms. Rockwell JM 102

2. TIMELINE STEP 1: Pick Your Topic Step 2: Research Step 3: Write your Paper Step 4: Peer Review and Final Draft

3. Is it too broad? • Is it too narrow? • Is it relevant? • Does it interest me? • Will there be sources available? STEP 1: Presearch CHOOSE A TOPIC

4. What is a topic? A subject is the area of knowledge where you will search for a topic. The following would be subjects: The History of the NBA The 2008-09 NBA Season The Boston Celtics A topic is a category within a subject. The following are potential topics based on the above subjects: NBA Integration in the 1950s The Cleveland Cavalier's Chances of Winning the 2008-09 NBA Championship Why Rajon Rondo's Improvement Has Made Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce Better Players Each topic can be broken down further into subtopics: You may want to use the following subtopics for the above example topics: Wilt Chamberlain's Influence on League Wide Integration Lebron James' Role in Cleveland's Basketball Resurgence Experience as the Biggest Factor in Rajon Rondo's Improvement. These supbtopics will become your paragraphs

5. TOO BIG? too little? TOO BIG too little You are getting thousands of results when you begin your research. Your topic can be summed up in a word or two. (school cheating, hip hop, smoking) You have trouble coming up with a thesis statement. You are getting little to no results as you do your research.

6. Does it interest me? Get an overview of the subject by doing some reading: Read encyclopedia entries on the subject. Skim a review text and note relevant chapters and headings. Look at book titles on the subject. Skim some internet sites on the subject with your mom or dad. Understand the overall picture from the overview reading: Don't get bogged down in the details and overlook the obvious. Ask yourself what most people already know about the subject. Identify why the subject is important. Answer the questions who, what when, where, why, how, and how much.

7. Pick Your Subtopics! Ask three questions you would like to answer and teach others about your topic. These are your subtopics. Each one of these becomes its own body paragraph.

8. Select at least three sources • Types of sources include: • General Encyclopedias • Print or Online • NOT Wikipedia • Specialized Encyclopedias/Reference • Books • Magazines • Journals • Newspapers • Online Databases: collection of magazine, newspaper, photos, and/or encyclopedia articles online. • Websites: located using search engines STEP 2: Research Select Your Sources

9. HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR SOURCES RECENT RELEVANT THE 4 R’s READABLE RELIABLE

10. NOTECARDS You are required to take your notes on Notecards! They are easier to manipulate. Write your references on the back of your flashcards!

11. PLAGIARISM According to Purdue University, plagiarism is "the uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of somebody else's words or ideas.“ Purdue University states that a charge of plagiarism can have major consequences, "including expulsion from a university or loss of a job, not to mention a writer's loss of credibility and professional standing." How to avoid it: Read a paragraph, and ask yourself what it meant without looking at the text.  Take notes on what you remember. Do not use any more than five words in a row from any source without quotation marks.  If using a quotation, make sure to link it to the reference right away. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS cite your sources! Remember, teachers have turnitin.com and google.com. WE KNOW right away if those are your words or not.

12. First: Outline • Second: 1st Draft • Third: Peer review • Fourth: 2nd Draft • Fifth: Peer review • Sixth: Final Draft STEP 3: Writing Your Paper

13. OUTLINE Organize your Flashcards in the order you want your paper written. Write your outline on a separate sheet of paper using roman numerals, capital letters, and numbers. This is the same format we have been using in class all year. You will be receiving credit for completing this outline. BE SURE YOU DO IT!

14. WRITE YOUR THESIS STATEMENT Try to boil your topic down to a single question. Once you have the question you want to ask, write one or two sentences using the information from your paper to answer this question. Make sure your statement focuses on the one big idea of the paper – don’t crowd this statement with small details. This statement should also express your conclusions on the subject you are writing about.

15. BODY PARAGRAPHS YOU SHOULD HAVE THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS. Each body paragraph should answer one of questions you posed at the start of this project. Each paragraph should start with a transition.

16. CONCLUSION Restate your thesis; remind readers of your topic. Don’t just copy the topic. Use synonyms to replace the key words from your topic sentence. If it fits, try using one of the phrases on the board in the final sentence.

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY Easybib.com

18. Write your rough draft • Peer edit • What do I look for? • Do they have a thesis statement? • Do their paragraphs have transitions? • Do their paragraphs have topic sentences? • Is their conclusion correct? • Spelling errors • Dead words • Draft #2 • Peer edit • Final draft STEP 4: Editing Peer Review and Final Draft