20 April: Research Day 12, Preparing the Final Draft

Today students

1. Prepared the Final Draft. Specific instructions given on a handout can be viewed here (attention: 2nd period students may not have the handout about museum curators. Don't worry about it if you can't find it! This means you should have a total of 13 handouts rather than 14.)
2. Worked on PowerPoint Presentations

Due Wednesday, April 22:

1. Final Draft
2. Folder, including all rough drafts, graded work, handouts
3. PowerPoint Presentation, including a handout of the presentation (6 slides per page)

Instructions for turning in/saving the PowerPoint:

16 April, Research Day 11: Editing

Students were to edit their revised rough draft today. The should have followed the instructions on the "editing instructions" handout. Those instructions can be found here: Editing Instructions Handout
These instructions include following more instructions for preparing a Works Cited page. Those instructions can be found here: Preparing the Works Cited Handout

After students finished editing and preparing the Works Cited page, they had the opportunity to print it and bring it to Mrs. Woodliff to be checked for accuracy.

Presentation Assignments were handed out. That handout and tips on how to make a good PowerPoint can be viewed here: Presentation Assignment

14 April: Research Day 10, Revision

Students were given the following instructions and information:

•Take 3 handouts (click on these 2 links to view these instructions: revision instructions, highlighting/finding instructions, and peer revision handout)
•Follow instructions carefully. Notice, you will be printing multiple drafts. Remember: the revised and edited drafts are a MAJOR GRADE!
•Peer Revision Handout: When revising Draft #1, if the paper only has 3 body paragraphs, skip #s 5 & 6. If it has 4 body paragraphs, skip #6

IMPORTANT DATES:
•Tuesday, April 14: Revise Rough Draft
•Thursday, April 16: Edit Rough Draft; Presentation Assigned
•Monday, April 20: Prepare Final Draft; Work on Presentation
•Wednesday, April 22: Final Draft Due; Give presentation

31 March: Research Day 9, Drafting the Paper

• Students should be finished with their note cards (these were to be finished BEFORE coming to class).
• Next, they organized the note cards into stacks according to topic. Each stack will make up much of one body paragraph. (3 stacks = 3 body paragraphs; 5 stacks = 5 body paragraphs). There should be no more than 5 body paragraphs. Information on "stray" cards may be used in the introduction or conclusion, or it might not be used at all.
• After sorting note cards, students were to open the "Drafting the Paper" PowerPoint found on the y-drive. They should follow the instructions on the PowerPoint. First: view the entire slideshow. This gives them an idea of what they will be doing/how they will be writing the rough draft.
• After viewing the PowerPoint, they should start writing their body paragraphs. After the first body paragraph was written, students were to get it checked. There should be parenthetical citations in these paragraphs.
• After getting the first body paragraph checked, they should continue drafting the body, then the conclusion and introduction.
• Students will be using this PowerPoint until the finish the rough draft.
• The rough draft should be finished before spring break!

27 March: Research Day 8, Making note cards

Today, students...
1.Continued making note cards. These should be finished before next class.

After note cards are complete, they should
2.Sort note cards according to topic in left hand corner.
3.Draft body paragraphs using these note cards. Each stack will be a separate paragraph.
4.After each quote, number, or information that is NOT common knowledge, put the source number in parentheses.

Examples of how to use note cards and source number when drafting your paper. Below are 2 sample note cards with sentences made using each note card. If the information on the card isn't common knowledge, is a quote, or is a piece of numerical information, you MUST cite your source. In the rough draft, you put the source number in parentheses! When you edit, you will replace the source number with the proper information (author's last name) or ("Article/Webpage Title") if there is no author.

HOMEWORK:
•Finish your note cards. No note cards = grade of 0.
•Bring note cards and all handouts/sources to class on Tuesday.
•The rough draft should be finished before spring break. This relieves you of having to do it over spring break.

Annotated Bibliographies were handed back. The following correction assignment was given:

25 March: Research Day 7, Outline & Note cards

Today, students...

• Turned in completed annotated bibliographies with website evaluations (flourescent yellow handout) attached.
• Brainstormed for their outline/Developed body paragraph topics. (handout)
• Reviewed note cards (what they are and how to make them) (PowerPoint handout, a copy is below)
• Made practice note cards using one of their sources.
• Began making note cards with pieces of information from sources. This information will make up much of the research paper.

Outline Brainstorming handout includes the following for 5 different paragraphs.

• Body Paragraph 1. This paragraph will be about ______________________________ Some information to be included is…

"How to Create Note Cards" handout -

Front (click to see larger image):

Back:

Students should make corrections to the last 2 slides - cross out the information about quotes.

After reviewing note cards, students...

• Created practice cards using their own source #1.
• When they finished these practice cards, they were to begin making note cards for each of their sources. They should take it one source at a time!
• Students must have at least 50 note cards; they will probably have more. If they finish 50 before getting through all 6 sources, they should continue making more. Note cards MUST be made for information from ALL sources! It's better to have too much information than not enough!!!!!
• Students who didn't have note cards with them today were instructed to read their sources and highlight information that they want to make note cards on. This will save them time later.

What to expect through April 2: From now until spring break, students will pretty much be working at their own pace. They should keep up with the schedule as best as they can. Many students have not even started on their note cards. If they have not finished them before next class, they will not be working on a computer. (We will be in the computer lab every day until spring break.) They are expected to bring their note cards and sources everyday to class! Students who don't have note cards completed by the end of next class will lose points for the note card grade! If rough drafts aren't completed before spring break, students are expected to have the draft finished when they return after spring break. They will then revise and edit their rough drafts, then prepare the final draft.

23 March: Research Day 6, Annotated Bibliography

1. Today students were to type their annotated bibliographies and turn them in at the end of class. (This is the 3rd and final major grade of the quarter.)
2. They were directed to a sample document on the Y-Drive. This document is already formatted correctly, so students just need to replace the sample material with their own.
3. Bibliography entries and annotations are to come one after the other (don’t put them on separate pages). They will be in alphabetical order according to the bibliography entry (either author's last name or the title of the article/webpage if there is no author).
4. For students who didn't finish: If they finished at least half of the assignment (3 entries and annotations), they were told to print those and turn them in. They now have the opportunity to finish all 6 and turn the final annotated bibliography in on Wednesday for no late penalty.

Next class, students will be back in the classroom working on the outline and making note cards with information from their sources. They should bring at least 50 3x5 index cards and copies of their sources.