Research Paper Instructions

[beckadoo1]

I will be going from 3rd grade to 6th grade next year. I will be teaching Lang. Arts and Social Studies. I was surfing in the sixth grade area some time ago and ran across a post where a lady gave DETAILED instructions on how she teaches her children to write their research papers. I would like to print these instructions off so I would have them next year, but I can't find this post anywhere. I certainly don't expect this teacher to repost, as it was a very long post, but can someone please help me find it? Thanks so much!

 

[Suezie]

Research

Could this be it?

http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=5128

 

[maryteach]

I teach sixth

and I am DONE with research papers! What a ridiculous unit research papers turn into, every year! Next year, we are going through all steps (forming a question, finding information, doing a bibliography, etc.) BUT we are doing a research poster, not a paper. A collegue of mine at another school got very good results from her kids when she used a poster format, which is far more developmentally appropriate for eleven-year-old kids. And the posters were great--actually, because of the format, I think those posters contained more information than any of our papers did. Every year, I drag them through a research paper, and every year, I admit that I'm really not sure what they've learned about their topic, or the process. It just turns into this long, grueling procedure. Posters are far more approachable for them. My district just changed things so we don't HAVE to do an actual paper till seventh grade.

If research papers were truly appropriate for sixth graders, then why, oh why, is it such a godawful struggle?

 

[wig]

I think that may have been my post. If so it is linked above.

I don't enjoy research papers either, but I would hesitate to say they are developmentally inappropriate. I actually use the paper as an assessment of writing skills we have used throughout the year (Word choice, sentence structure, mechanics, summarization without plagerism, leads, conclusion, etc.) in addition to note taking, works cited page, etc.

I can have a bunch of little assessments or just one where they combine all of their skills into one project. I think it is important for THEM to see how the skills they have learned in writing can be applied and combined in a finished project in an organized fashion. To be honest with you, it is a struggle no matter what year they do it.

Now I agree that the poster idea is also very valuable and we use that in addition to a powerpoint presentation one earlier in the year as prep for the final research report.

 

[maryteach]

wig, I read your post

on the other thread, and I must admit, you have it DOWN, girl! You are the undisputed guru on this one, I would have to say. And I will use your steps in the poster, no doubt about it. I actually printed that thread out. :-)

But we're doing posters. :-)

 

[wig]

maryteach! I've never been called a guru before. This was my 20th year of doing them. I BETTER have it down by now.

 

[fun_friend]

I did not do a good job with research process this year! We did research on poets and wrote papers on same. The papers were dismal, I didn't even grade them. The kids could really have used more time working on revising, but it took so long for the kids to write the papers and then they typed them on the computer. By the time they finally all had a turn, I was just so over the whole thing. So were they, really. Even though the papers didn't get graded, I think they did learned to PARAPHRASE! I worried so much about their ability to compose a bibliography page! I hope they got the questions right on the big state test. But really, it's nothing but gravy for me at this point. Just 5 more days of teaching language arts for awhile. I gave them a final writing project last week where the writing process got its just desserts after the fiasco of the poet project. I no longer have to worry about those cotton-pickin' research skills!

Can you tell I had a few glasses of wine after making a great grill-out for my family?

 

[tia]

neat idea!

mary, how clever! i am freaking out because school is out on june 8, and i always do a research paper (on famous artists) with my 6th graders....not because anyone has said i have to, but i know no one has shown them how to, and i want them to have that experience before moving on to junior high. anyway...i've got to get to it!

last year i had them write the papers in groups (because i was running out of time...but i had a little more time than i do this year!)

how i get through research papers is i model every tiny detail--basically i show them me reading aloud picture books, websites, and encyclopedia entries on an artist...they see how i paraphrase and take organized notes (by topic)...they see how i create an outline...they watch me piece it together and go back to find information and toss out meaningless info--they see how i formulate an intro and conclusion from what i know about the artist. (it's pretty fun/interesting for me because i choose a different artist every year to learn about!)

i think i may do the poster idea this year! yea! thanks for the tip!

 

[beckadoo1]

Thank you

That's is Suezie!!!! Thank you so much! And I have to agree...Wig you are the guru. I feel so thankful that I was able to locate this information BEFORE jumping into 6th grade. I feel like I can go into it with enough knowledge to have the majority of the students actually succeed. I believe I will use both ideas though. I love the poster research paper. So, I think what I will do is try to have one research paper each 9 weeks (after the first 9 weeks). I figure I'll use that first 9 weeks to teach the process. Then the second 9 weeks have them do a poster research paper. Depending on the outcomes of the poster, the 3rd 9 weeks will be either the poster or the actual report. And for the 4th 9 weeks, hopefully I will have excellently prepared research papers. I thank you all so much for all this information. I am so excited...I cannot even sleep, and here I am not even finished with my 3rd graders this year. lol. Oh yeah...I hate to rub it in Tia...but I have 6 full days left with the students. Yipee...this year has come to a close.

 

[wig]

When you spend enough time preparing them for the paper itself, it really isn't too bad. The worst part is scoring it.

In our school, sixth graders have to use excel, do a powerpoint presentation and evaluate websites (among other things) so I integrate all that, too.

The kids enjoy the poster project and it is a great way to help them learn how to do research to find information and reduce it to captions, how to use the computer and magazines to find pictures ( I always require a combo of hand drawn, magazine, and computer images). We also learn how to use Excel by making graphs to fit our topic.

Maryteach - can you post your requirements for your poster project? I just started using that as a pre-curser to the paper a couple of years ago and I don't really have that fine-tuned yet.

 

[wig]

RE: Bibliographies or Work-cited pages

A couple of years ago I started to use online programs to do this page. It is so much easier. Sometimes we have to do some "tweaking" on it, but it sure saves time. Some available sites are:

http://webapps.calvin.edu/knightcite/

http://www.noodletools.com/

You have to log in because it saves it, so you can use it as you do research. I just have the kids put in thier first name and print a copy of their reference number so they can find it again.

 

[maryteach]

Wig, I don't have it

finetuned yet, either, but I am sure that my requirements will be pretty much the same as they are for the paper: bibliography correctly formatted, paraphrasing, notes included, required number and types of sources. I will also grade it on a six-trait rubric, just like the paper. This is, after all, a writing assignment. I will require just as much writing as the paper. It just will appear in a non-linear format. They will probably have to turn in the rough draft of the text they finally paste onto the board. They will have to do peer revisions of their writing.

One thing I think is going to be important is to not let anyone put any pictures on their poster until the written component is complete and well-done. Otherwise, you know kids, they'll put lots of great pictures on it and write maybe a paragraph, if you're lucky. So I think I have to restrict picture-attaching to the last step. On the other hand, maybe we want them to attach a picture or a map or a graph--in that case, it may not be a last-step item.

Beckadoo1--one research paper every nine weeks?! Are you kidding me? I would rather eat shards of broken glass--this is an arduous process with sixth graders. You may consider re-considering that. I assume your district has other types of essays they want you to do with them, as well--compare/contrast, narrative, persuasive, how-to. Remember to save time for those equally important papers. Don't kill yourself with four research papers a year. I would need to retire to a rubber room if I did that.

 

[wig]

I agree with too many research projects in a year, unless they do not have as many requirements. I mostly use the poster to teach research skills and evaluating websites and only require captions. The Powerpoint requires a bit more, including a bibliography. They cover SS and Computer benchmarks as well as Lang Arts.

So Maryteach, you are basically having them write a paper but glue it in sections to the poster?

 

[maryteach]

Yeah, I think so

I still have to teach all the benchmarks--all the components I listed--it just doesn't have to be in a paper format. So yes, I think we'll write our paper, but it won't be a linear paper. I just think this format is more kid-friendly. I'll let you know how it goes. I usually start research in January.

The hardest part of teaching them this, I think, is paraphrasing. The poster won't make that any easier. How do you guys teach paraphrasing? Wig, what do you do?

 

[wig]

I would be interested in what others have to say on this. It is difficult.

I have them write the main idea of the paragraph in phrase form as opposed to copying the sentence. I then have them write the details that support the main ideas in phrase form. They do that on day one. On day two I give it back to them and tell them to write it in paragraph form - they may not use their book. We usually use our SS books for this. We do it A LOT!!!!

 

[fun_friend]

Paraphrasing strategies

I insist that they compose their essay from notes versus composing with an open encyclopedia in front of them. I think composing from notes at least gets them one degree away from the source and therefore the writing has a better chance of being original.

I try to emphasize an outline as prewriting. I also try to teach them to begin the essay in an interesting way, like with an interesting fact.

My B-I-B-L-E of writing is Razzle Dazzle Writing by Melissa Forney. She has a mini-lesson on restating a detail in a different way. This strategy helps kids learn to write decent concluding sentences as well as paraphrasing.

 

[wig]

Thanks for the heads up on the book, Fun_Friend. I'm always looking for better and/or more interesting ways of teaching writing.

 

[fordch]

teacher

Check out the Big6 Research website. It is wonderful! There are 6 steps that students should folllow while doing research. (For early elementary, they call it the Little3 - I think). Our school adopted it, and it has been great!

 

[fordch]

Big6

Check out the Big6 Research website. It is wonderful! There are 6 steps that students should folllow while doing research. (For early elementary, they call it the Little3 - I think). Our school adopted it, and it has been great!

 

[hrush]

research poster

I was wondering if you could explain in more detail the procedure used in creating research posters.