19 Research Paper Rough Draft // Due the week of Feb. 2017

Hi Everyone!

This week, the homework is to write the rough draft of your research papers! You will not be graded harshly on this rough draft, but you should be happy enough with your draft that you’re okay having your peers read through it and discuss it next week. 

You should write in a paragraph form, but have all of the pieces of the following outline:

1. Introduction
1. Attention-grabber
2. Thesis= Opinion because R1, R2, and R3
2. Paragraph about R1
1. Topic sentence
2. ~4-5 sentences of evidence
3. Concluding sentence
3. Paragraph about R2
1. Topic sentence
2. ~4-5 sentences of evidence
3. Concluding sentence
4. Paragraph about R3
1. Topic sentence
2. ~4-5 sentences of evidence
3. Concluding sentence
5. Conclusion
1. Wrap it up
2. Call-to-Action

Put it on Google Drive and email me if you have questions!

18 Research Paper Notecards // Due the week of Jan. 25, 2017

Hi Everyone!

This week, the homework is to create 15 notecards with one piece of evidence on each, supporting your thesis from two weeks ago.

If you, in your researching, find that your thesis was wrong or that one of your reasons does not have enough evidence behind it, feel free to switch! That is one of the marvelous things about research: discovering when long-held opinions are not legitimate, and then being open to changing them! (It' just means you may need to change also your works cited page/etc to adapt to your new topic.)

Remember, the three types of evidence are:
Logos: Statistics, facts, logical analysis
Pathos: Personal stories
Ethos: Expert opinions

However, a common mistake is for students to organize their notecards by these three types of evidence. Notecards should be organized based on your three reasons instead.

Make sure you have at least five notecards for each of your three reasons with your thesis statement. I gave you color-coordinated notecards last week, but if you lose these, you can always make your own at home.

Email me if you have questions!

17 Works Cited Page // Due the week of January 17, 2017

Hi Everyone!

Last week, you chose a topic, casually researched it, and wrote a thesis statement on it! Then you posted your thesis statement to our Research Paper document on Google Drive. If you have not yet done this—definitely do it asap :D

For this week, you will be creating a Works Cited Page!

Works Cited Page:

• It is a document that tells all of the places you got your information, whether books, interviews, webpages, etc! 
• Each source is called a "citation" on this page, and citations must have several different pieces of information and be in a certain fancy order. Fortunately, the internet can help us know what information is needed and in what order!!!
• Go to Easybib.com and tell the website whether you are citing a webpage, book, interview, etc.
• Fill out the information that Easybib.com asks to have
• For webpages, BE SURE to tell Easybib.com to "show URL" so that the webpage address is shown in the citation!
• Complete the citation and paste it into your Works Cited Page on Google Drive!
• Make sure you have at least 5 sources for your Works Cited Page. 

**No need to write down information from these sources yet. Just find them, make sure they will be able to help you with your research paper topic thesis, and then cite them in a Works Cited Page!

(I know, this week had a lot of info; feel free to email me on Engrade if you have questions!!!)

Website Legitimacy: 

• Sometimes it's tough to know whether a website is telling the truth or not! Here are some guidelines to help you figure out if a website it legitimate or not!
• .gov, .edu, and .org are usually legitimate 
• .com can be legitimate, but not always
• Is it well-written?
• Is it well-designed?
• Is is well-known for being legitimate?
• Is the information consistent with what you're seeing from other websites?

16 Research Paper Thesis // Due the week of Jan. 12, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week we are beginning the research paper!

The exciting thing about the research paper is this:

Even those who do not like writing almost always have interests: space travel, anti-aging techniques, WWII history, Artificial Intelligence, ancient Greek gods, current politics, etc. Your interests will evolve as you grow, but your whole life, you will likely continue learning about whatever things interest you, so knowing how to learn about those things is absolutely vital! I like to capitalize on that natural fascination we all have with at least one part of the world by allowing you to pick your topic for the research paper!

However, before picking your topic for this paper, part of this week's homework is to look through the 40+ topics that are listed in a document in our class folder (Wednesday/Thursday/Friday Research Paper Topics) and spend some time casually looking at some of them (and any of your own ideas) online.

The reason to do a little pre-research researching is simply to make sure there is enough information out there on that topic before choosing it. For example, I've had multiple students want to write about how Atlantis does exist, only to discover that the evidence for that viewpoint is not enough to easily fill a 2-3 page paper.

Once you have looked into 4-5 topics, choose one and write a thesis statement on it. This statement should be written, with your name, on the shared "Research Paper Topics" document in the class folder. More directions for that are listed there.

You will be writing a thesis on your topic because I treat the research paper exactly like the practice persuasive essay we do, except with real evidence! So the thesis should have:

• Opinion because Reason1, Reason2, and Reason3.
• ie: Living with cats is the best way to live longer because they make people happier, they can fight off intruders, and they can call an ambulance if you need one. 
• If you want more of a refresher on thesis statements, feel free to look back at the old thesis statement post on this website.

**We will be reviewing your thesis statements next week.