35 Writing Research Reports

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Page 255 from Writers Express

Prewriting: Gathering Information

Help your students form research questions about their topics. Make special note of the featured tip from this page. Students should avoid asking "yes" or "no" research questions; these questions won't help them gather information about their subjects. Instead encourage students to list research questions that begin with what, how, who, when, and why.

After students list their open-ended questions, review the common characteristics of scientific research reports. (These same characteristics are shared with general research reports.) The characteristics and questions may prompt students to add items to their initial lists of research questions. Make sure they know they can add research questions throughout the writing process.

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Page 256 from Writers Express

Prewriting (Continued)

Lead your students through the tips for finding and evaluating sources of information. Stress the importance of using a variety of sources from different formats. You may encourage students to use at least one print source for every two or three digital sources.

At this point you can help students understand the strengths and weaknesses of digital sources by using the tips in "Researching Online" on pages 299-304.

As students interact with sources, have them use a gathering grid to keep an organized list of information and source details. (Download and distribute the gathering grid available on the next page.)

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Page 257 from Writers Express

Sample Gathering Grid

Review the sample gathering grid with your students. Demonstrate where to put the topic, research questions, source information, and research answers.

A sample gathering grid template is available with this page.

Downloads:

Research Paper Gathering Grid.docx

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LA 4.2.1, LA 4.2.1.a, LA 4.2.1.e, LA 4.2.1.f, LA 4.2.1.g, LA 4.2.1.h

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Page 258 from Writers Express

Prewriting: Recording Information

Introduce your students to further note-taking strategies. First, demonstrate how to use note cards to organize source information. Point out the important parts of a note card—research question, fact, source title, source author, and source page number.

Once your students understand how to set up note cards, lead them through the process of using direct quotations. Point out that they shouldn't overuse exact quotations in their papers. Whenever possible, they should summarize the source material in their own words. (The related minilesson can help students hone this skill.)

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LA 4.2.1, LA 4.2.1.a, LA 4.2.1.e, LA 4.2.1.f, LA 4.2.1.g, LA 4.2.1.h

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Page 259 from Writers Express

Prewriting: Organizing Your Information

Have your students create a writing plan using the PAST method. Then have them create an outline for their papers. Discuss the different levels of the sample outline. In particular, point out how the research questions are organized in the middle part. Tell students that each question could become the topic of a middle paragraph in their reports.

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LA 4.2.1, LA 4.2.1.a, LA 4.2.1.e, LA 4.2.1.f, LA 4.2.1.g, LA 4.2.1.h

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Page 260 from Writers Express

Writing: Developing Your First Draft

Now that your students are ready to begin writing, remind them about the goal of research papers: to share information and knowledge. Stress the importance of paraphrasing (using their own words to explain ideas) and crediting sources of information (see page 268). You might also give a short lesson on avoiding plagiarism.

Afterward, introduce different beginning strategies. The writer on this page grabs attention with an anecdote, a little story about the topic. You can also refer to the beginning strategies on page 251 of the report writing chapter.

Then spend some time showing students how to form a focus statement. This is the central idea of the research paper. It includes the topic and a special feeling or idea about it. (The "Forming a Focus" minilesson available with this page goes into greater depth on the topic.)

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Page 261 from Writers Express

Writing (Continued)

Review the purpose and tips for writing the middle part of a research report. This is where students will unpack the information they researched during prewriting. Stress the advice from the first paragraph: Simply listing facts would make the report sound like a shopping list. Instead, the middle part needs to explore the facts in clear, colorful paragraphs.

Lead your students through the tips for elaboration. Use the minilesson as an extension activity to help students develop elaboration skills.

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LA 4.2.1, LA 4.2.1.a, LA 4.2.1.e, LA 4.2.1.f, LA 4.2.1.g, LA 4.2.1.h

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Page 262 from Writers Express

Writing (Continued)

Lead students through the remaining tips for developing ideas in the middle parts of their reports. Then share strategies for creating strong endings.

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LA 4.2.1, LA 4.2.1.a, LA 4.2.1.e, LA 4.2.1.f, LA 4.2.1.g, LA 4.2.1.h

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Page 263 from Writers Express

Revising and Editing

To help your students revise and edit their papers, review the checklist on this page. Make sure students understand that it might be necessary to do additional research to fill in gaps in their reports. Assure them that this is a common part of the writing process and can greatly improve their papers. Download and distribute the research report revising and editing checklist.

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Research Report Revising and Editing Checklist

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Revising Editing

Page 264 from Writers Express

Sample Research Paper

Present the sample research paper to students. Have your students read the sample silently or ask for volunteers to read each page out loud to the class. After the reading, discuss the side notes for the paper.

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Page 265 from Writers Express

Sample Research Paper (Continued)

Note the graphic on the page. Students can add relevant graphics (photos, illustrations, charts, tables) to their own reports, but only if the graphics will improve the readers' understanding of the topic.

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Page 266 from Writers Express

Sample Research Paper (Continued)

Use the side notes to point out key features of the model research paper.

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Page 267 from Writers Express

Sample Research Report (Continued)

Read through the final page of the research paper.

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Page 268 from Writers Express

Citing Sources

Carefully lead students through the guidelines for citing sources. As an alternative to a formal works-cited page, you could have students complete an informal list of source information. In this case, have them include the author, title, and page number for print sources and author, title, and URL for digital sources.

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LAFS.4.W.3.7

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110.6.b.13

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LA 4.2.2.c, LA 4.2.2

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