Research Unit

1. Research Unit 8th Grade LA Simmons Middle School

2. Search for a Topic • Brainstorm things that matter to you. • Circle the things that are RESEARCH WORTHY. Example: *World War II- There is TONS of research out there on World War II. (This is a great BROAD topic, now we must narrow it down to a specific aspect of this time period.) *Modern Warfare III- it might be a passion or interest, but there won’t be research out there to write a paper about it.

3. Narrow the Topic World War II The role of women in WWII Substance Abuse Crystal Meth Major League Baseball Derek Jeter

4. Ask Questions About the Subject The Role of American Women in World War II • Why weren’t American women drafted into the army? • Of women who enlisted, why were they excluded from combat duty? • What kinds of jobs were available to women in the defense industries? • For what military service could women volunteer? • Under what conditions did women pilot aircraft?

5. Take Your Topic and Your Questions and Formulate a Thesis Statement Things to consider: Think about your purpose in writing this topic. What do you want to find out? What do you want the readers to learn, think, or do as a result of reading your paper?

6. Write a Thesis Statements HAVE THREE SPECIFIC POINTS TO ADDRESS!!!!!!!!! • American women played a crucial role in WWII by piloting supply ships, serving in hospitals, and filling the jobs in the factories while so many men were away. • The use and abuse of crystal meth can be prevented through better education in schools, stricter laws and penalties, and an increase in funding to the police force. • Derek Jeter is the most valuable player in MLB today because of his career hitting record, number of World Series visits, and his leadership in the New York Yankees.

7. Search for Appropriate Sites • Use Webpath Express in Destiny: http://destiny.hoover.k12.al.us • Use Alabama Virtual Library http://www.av.lib.al.us • Use sites ending in .edu, .gov, and .org (NOT WIKIPEDIA)

8. Analyze a Sample Paper • What are the three points in the thesis statement? • What is the intro sentence for body paragraph 1? • What is the concluding sentence for body paragraph 2? • What is the intro/transition sentence for body paragraph 3? • Is the title effective? Why or why not? • What is an example of parenthetical documentation (the student quoted a source)? • What is an example of where the student paraphrased information? • What is the thesis statement re-stated? • Notice- *Times New Roman 12 Font *Paginate • *MLA Heading *Works Cited Page • *Double Spacing

9. Begin Writing • Read pages 10-11 in your research packet. • Your outline for writing begins on page 12. *Remember our “visual” for constructing essays: Thesis statement Intro sentence/main idea Concluding sentence Thesis restated X 3 examples/quotes

10. Introductions in Research Papers General to Specific • Hook—captures the reader’s attention • Explain what you are talking about—What do you want your readers to know? What are you trying to prove? • Why is this topic interesting to you? • Thesis Statement

11. Writing an Introduction: Tips to Remember Introductions: • capture the reader’s attention. • show the plan for the rest of the paper. -do not insult the reader’s intelligence with statements like “In this paper I will discuss..” or “The research paper will explain”. These imply that your reader does not know that this is a research paper. • avoid these words: YOU I ME

12. Hook Example Ask a Question • What determines someone's personality? Why do children who have the same parents and are raised in the same environment display such different personality traits? Many people have formed theories to answer these questions through their study of birth order. The studies show that there is a pattern of differences among first born children, middle children, and youngest children in families. Thesis

13. Hook Example Describes a Particular Scene • As the sun comes over the horizon, thousands of colors dance upon the deep blue water. Over a sand dune, four people run with their surfboards and submerge themselves in ten foot waves. For hundreds of years, surfing has evolved to become a very popular sport. There is no right way to surf. In fact, there are hundreds of ways to surf. Although surfing is a very dangerous sport, many surfers have taken safety precautions and have mastered this wonderful sport. Thesis

14. Hook Example Hook—Quote a Familiar Saying • "Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks" are the words to baseball's song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The idealistic way to spend summer afternoons is sitting at the ballpark absorbing all of the energy. People have been cheering for their teams every summer since the 1800's. Because it was one of their first sports, many people consider baseball to be America's past-time. Thesis

15. Sample Body Paragraph 1 The Black Mamba has been proven as the fastest snake in the world. “It has been recorded with speeds at over nine miles per hour” (Whittley 104). It also has a lightning quick strike that can pluck passing birds from the air. “This quickness is an amazing trait and can be potentially fatal to the mamba’s prey” (Clark), even to the fastest birds in Africa. Alas, this is not all this amazing creature can do. Its quickness is fascinating, but it is also deadly.

16. Sample Body Paragraph 2 Secondly, the venom of this astonishing snake has caused many casualties in Africa. “The Black Mamba has neurotoxin venom that can cause death in just a few minutes” (Whittley 104). The venom is extremely fast-acting (Whittley 104) and 95 to 100% of its bites are fatal (“Mamba”). That’s at least 95 out of 100 people killed from its bite. It is delivered from huge fangs in the front of the jaw in large amounts (Whittley 104). One bite has enough venom to kill eight humans. If you get bitten by one of these terrors, you are as good as dead without medical attention.

17. Sample Body Paragraph 3 Finally, this snake is massive in size. It is the largest venomous snake in the world, only second to the King Cobra (Clark). Reaching heights up to fourteen feet (“Snake Size”), it is more than twice the size of an average man’s height (Clark). “This size can be an extreme advantage, as they use it to scare their enemies by raising themselves two-thirds their size off the ground” (“Snake Size”). They could tower over an average man if the snake was at least twelve feet long by more than two whole feet. With this extra length, the black mamba can easily aim for its favorite targets.

18. Good Titles: • Catch a reader’s attention. • Fit the big idea of the piece. • Are not merely descriptions of topic. • Give a hint or taste of the topic or idea. • Are often the result of good brainstorming; they take thought!!! • Are the best possible combinations of words. • Are memorable. • Are usually decided on last, when an author has finished the work.