Presenting facts about a topic... From Reading to Writing What would it be like to live in a different place and in a different time period? Nonfiction history writers and writers of historical fiction such as “A Crown of Wild Olive” help readers understand people and societies of the past. Research Report

Presenting facts about a topic... Research Report They investigate several sources to build complete pictures of their subjects. Writing a research report can help you become familiar with sources of information and learn interesting facts about a subject.

B a s i c s i n a B o x RUBRIC STANDARDS FOR WRITING A successful research report should include a strong introduction and thesis statement that clearly states the topic and the purpose use evidence from primary or secondary sources to develop and support ideas credit sources of information follow a logical pattern of organization, using transitions between ideas use information from multiple sources summarize ideas in the conclusion include a Works Cited list at the end of the report Research Report at a Glance

Find a topic that really interests you by listing historical events or people that you want to know more about. Review the nonfiction and historical fiction selections in your book. Ask questions about the real people or the cultures that are portrayed. 1 Prewriting Writing Your Research Report

Planning Your Research Report 1. Find a focus. Create a cluster diagram of all of the ideas connected to your topic. If there is a lot of information, choose one or two cluster ideas to investigate. Abe Lincoln poor beginnings Presidential Election slavery Civil War

Planning Your Research Report 2. Make a research plan. Write down questions that you want answered about your topic. Which questions are related? Use your questions to guide your research.

Planning Your Research Report 3. Identify your audience. Who will read your report? How much background do you need to include about your subject? What will interest your readers most about your subject?

Planning Your Research Report 4. Define your purpose. What do you want your paper to accomplish? Try writing a thesis statement, one sentence that states what you want to emphasize in your report.

Use the questions that you have written about your topic to guide your research. Add other questions as you find facts that move your investigation further along. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

There are two types of sources—primary and secondary. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report Primary sources offer first-hand information. They include letters, diaries, journals and historical documents. Secondary sources provide explanations or comments on material from other sources. Encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines and other books are all examples.

Evaluate Your Sources Make sure that your source is reliable— accurate and up-to-date. Also, make sure the author presents an objective view before you begin to take notes. Check several sources to see if the accounts agree. Ask the following questions about sources found on the Internet. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

What are the author’s viewpoints and biases? Identify the author’s gender, background, and political beliefs. How do they influence the presentation? What are the qualifications of the author? Is the author from a respected institution? Is he or she a professional or an expert in is or her field? 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

Make Source Cards Using index cards, create a source card for each source you will use in your Works Cited list. List the publishing information in the correct form for each source on a separate index card. Then number the source cards sequentially. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

Take Notes Use index cards to record the information in your sources. Write the main idea of the note at the top of each card, along with the number that you assigned the source on the source card and the page number on which you found the fact. Write just one piece of information on each card. Paraphrase (rewrite in your own words) the fact or idea. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

Organize Your Material Before writing your rough draft, sort your note cards into groups of similar main ideas. Think about the order in which you want to discuss those main ideas. You might choose chronological, cause-and- effect, comparison-and-contrast, problem-solution, or some other method of organizing. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

Create an outline or a cluster diagram to help you decide on the order of the sections of your report. 2 Researching Writing Your Research Report

Using your outline as a guide, begin to write your first draft. In your introduction, start with a question, a quotation, an anecdote, or an intriguing fact. State the topic and purpose of your report in one sentence. This will become your thesis statement. 3 Drafting Writing Your Research Report

Write a separate body paragraph for each of the main ideas in your outline. Begin with a topic sentence and support it with facts and details from your research. For every fact or idea taken from a source, write the author’s name and page number in parentheses immediately following the fact. Use the title of the source and page number if there is no author. 3 Drafting Writing Your Research Report

Conclude by summarizing the importance of your topic or giving your own interpretation of what you have learned. 3 Drafting Writing Your Research Report

TARGET SKILL PRESENTING IDEAS IN A LOGICAL ORDER Choose the order for your details that will make your paper most effective. 4 Revising Writing Your Research Report

TARGET SKILL PRESENTING IDEAS IN A LOGICAL ORDER 4 Revising Writing Your Research Report Chronological order shows the relationship of time and events to each other; spatial order shows the physical location of places or things; and least to most important orders the details from weakest to strongest.

TARGET SKILL CLAUSES AS FRAGMENTS Joining a subordinate clause to a complete sentence can eliminate a sentence fragment. Make sure there are no fragments in your final paper. 5 Editing and Proofreading Writing Your Research Report

When you have finished revising and editing your report, make a Works Cited list and attach it to the end of your paper. 6 Making a Works Cited List Writing Your Research Report