35 Writing Research Reports

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Writing Research Reports

Start-Up Activity

Tell students you want them to share one interesting thing they know about the planets in the solar system. Have one student at a time come to the board and write a fact, followed by the student's name. Once you have gathered enough interesting facts, ask students to select some of the facts and write a paragraph about the planets. They should put the facts into their own words and indicate which student shared the fact (for example,  "Jim notes that Saturn is not the only planet with a ring system.")

After some students share their paragraphs, tell them that they have just performed the basic actions of creating a research report: They gathered information, organized it, and reported on it, citing sources. In this chapter, they will be doing much more research, note taking, and reporting.

Think About It

“The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before.”

—Thorstein Veblen

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 302 from Write on Course 20-20

Writing Guidelines: Research Reports

To help your students find a specific topic for their research reports, give them a general subject area and have them write it in the middle of a piece of paper. Around the subject, they should cluster more specific ideas. Have them continue until they have brainstormed a topic that truly interests them.

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Page 303 from Write on Course 20-20

Gathering Your Information

After your students have chosen a topic for their research reports, have them write down as many questions as they can about the topic. Inspire them to write questions that really interest them, since these questions will become the basis of their research. Students can then transfer each question to the top of a note card, or can transfer each to a quarter of a notebook page, or can work with them in a computer file.

Regardless of the system that students use, they should take their questions along with them as they perform research in the library and online. Whenever they find an answer to a question, they should write down the answer and the source.

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Page 304 from Write on Course 20-20

Prewriting—Organizing Your Information

After students complete their research, present to them the material on page 304. Help them transform their many notes into a rough outline and then a more polished outline.

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Page 305 from Write on Course 20-20

Considering Your Audience and Writing the First Draft

Use the top part of the page to help your students think about what their readers need to know about the topic and what they will want to learn about it.

Then, when students are ready to begin drafting, present the material on the bottom half of the page. Before they get started, though, demonstrate the three ways of giving credit shown on page 306.

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Page 306 from Write on Course 20-20

Writing—Giving Credit for Information

Reiterate to your students that they must credit sources of information. Then present to them the method by which you want them to do so: hyperlink, bibliography, or text citations (Modern Language Association style). If you choose MLA style, you should also cover the material on pages 308 and 309 before students begin to write their first drafts.

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Page 308 from Write on Course 20-20

Adding an MLA Works-Cited Page and a Title Page

If you are having students use MLA style for documentation, present the basic formats for books, magazines, and Internet sources. Point students to the samples of print sources on page 309 and digital sources on page 310.  Also, show students page 315, which includes additional examples and side notes about their features.

Remind students that the most important reason to cite sources is to avoid taking credit for other people's ideas (plagiarism). However, citation is also important because it shows that you've done your research and it allows readers to explore further into your topic.

Present the material under "Adding a Title Page," unless you have different requirements for this element.

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Page 311 from Write on Course 20-20

MLA Research Paper

Use this paper to point out the key features you wish to see in your students' reports. Ask your students afterward to read the paper to themselves for inspiration about engaging ways to convey their information.

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Page 315 from Write on Course 20-20

Works Cited

Use this page to point out the formatting and other features of a works-cited page in MLA (Modern Language Association) style.

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