Shelby County Schools:
Writing the Research Paper:
A Guide for Teachers
Updated: June 2010
Research Paper Committee:
Mary Ann Cole – Librarian – Houston Middle School
Karen Haggard –Librarian– Arlington Middle School
Dianne Young - English– Bolton High School
Research Paper Wiki URLs:
(Professional Wiki) http://scsresearchpaper.wikispaces.com
(Student Wiki) http://scs-student-researcher.wikispaces.com
Shelby County Schools:
Writing the Research Paper:
A Guide for Teachers
Introduction
This manual provides English/Language Arts teachers with an updated guide for successfully teaching the process of writing the research paper. Construction of this guide is based on the Shelby County Schools’ Language Arts Curriculum-Writing Resources, which clearly delineate required topics for the research paper from grades 6-12. In updating this guide, the purpose is three-fold:
1. To organize the research paper document by grade level using the required curriculum topics for writing as the basis for research skills and instruction, and to show the progression from grades 6-12;
2. To provide a curriculum for teaching the elements of the research process at each grade level, along with ample resources for teachers, including lesson plans, hand-outs, rubrics, both general and grade-specific websites, and an SCS research paper wiki;
3. To streamline the research paper guide by organizing Grade or Course Level Expectations, SPIs, and Checks for Understanding for easier lesson planning and implementation.
Contents
Research Paper Standards
Research Paper Minimum Requirements Chart
Tried & True Tips for Successfully Teaching the Research Paper
The Research Paper Wiki
Honor Code Statement
Parent/Student Letter Communicating due dates, expectations, etc.
Standard 4-Research: Grade 6-Process/How-to Paper
Standard 4-Research: Grade 7-Biographical Paper
Standard 4-Research: Grade 8-Historical Paper
Standard 4-Research: Grade 9-Character Analysis
Standard 4-Research: Grade 10-Comparison/Contrast Paper
Standard 4-Research: Grade 11-Literary Analysis Paper
Standard 4-Research: Grade 12-Positional Literary Analysis Paper
Research Paper Standards
With the addition of required research paper instruction at the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade levels, systemizing some basic expectations and/or standards helps eliminate some questions and areas of confusion; therefore, this research paper manual suggests the following standards be employed for the instruction of all grade-level research papers:
Time Frame:
Completing the research paper process takes from 3 to 6 weeks. At the teacher’s discretion, the Research Standard 4 should be built into the existing curriculum.
Honor Code/Plagiarism:
Each student will submit an Honor Code Statement of personal responsibility with his/her final copy of the research paper. Plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, will result in a zero. It is an academic crime. However, after plagiarism has been determined, a student may rewrite and submit his/her paper within 5 school days from the date of the student-teacher-parent conference. This can be a phone conference if the parent cannot attend in person. The parent must be made aware that the student has 5 school days to re-submit the paper for up to 70% of the research paper grade.
Late Papers:
Ideally, no final drafts of the research paper should be turned in late; however, teachers and administrators recognize that Shelby County School policy must be followed.
Excused Late papers:
Based on SCS Policy 6307, “In the event of an excused absence, students are expected to make up work missed within a reasonable time.” General practice in Shelby County Schools has been that the student has as many days as he/she was absent to make up academic work. The make up day count begins the first day back from an excused absence.
Example: Paper is due on the 10th and the student is out the 9th, 10th and 11th for a valid excuse. The paper is due no later than the 14th for full credit.
Unexcused Late Papers:
A paper will be deemed unexcused-late and the student’s final draft grade will be penalized when:
• student’s absence is not determined to be excused per SCS policy; or
• student is absent without an excuse.
• a student attends class on the due date but does not turn in the research paper.
For each day late, the final draft grade is decreased by 10% for up to three (3) days late. No unexcused late final draft of the research paper will be accepted three days beyond the due date.
Weight of the Research Project
Individual grades will be given for each element of the process (preliminary research, source cards, notecards, works cited, outline, rough draft and final draft). Grade weights must consider how much time is spent during the nine weeks and must balance accordingly. If the process takes up only three weeks of the nine weeks, then the overall weight of the project should reflect roughly one-third of the total points or percentage the student may earn for the nine weeks. If the project takes six weeks, then the weight should be roughly two-thirds of the total point or percentage earned. The final draft should be weighted more heavily since it is a culmination of the research process.
MLA Handbook:
All grade levels from 6-11 use the MLA Handbook, Seventh Edition as the primary guide for bibliographic formats and citations. The 12th grade may use either MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) style.
Bibliography & Notecards:
All grade levels from 6-10 use bibliography and notecards in order for students to learn how to take and organize notes; however, at the 11th and 12th grade levels, a teacher may choose either bib/notecards or may allow students to submit highlighted, copied notes in place of the traditional bib/notecards.
Wikipedia:
While this guide does not specify types of sources to be used, it does recommend that students employ a variety of “best” sources, including textbooks, books, reliable internet sources, newspapers, or magazines. This guide does NOT recommend or recognize the use of Wikipedia as a reliable source.
Research Paper Minimum Requirements Chart
To provide county-wide uniform expectations, a chart delineates per grade level the minimum length of paper, number of sources and notecards, and parenthetical citations required. The requirements are noted at the top of each grade level’s research section.
Grade / Sources / Pages / Notecards (# of high-lights *) / In-paper citations** / Topics6th / 1-2 / 1-2 / 10 / 2-4 / How-to/Process
7th / 1-2 / 2-3 / 20 / 3-5 / Biographical
8th / 2-4 / 2-3 / 30 / 4-6 / Historical
9th / 2-4 / 3-4 / 30 - 40 / 6-8 / Literary Character Analysis
10th / 2-4 / 3-4 / 40-50 / 8+ / Compare/Contrast
11th / 4+ / 4-5 / 40-50 * / 8+ / Literary Analysis
12th / 5+ / 4-5+ / 50+ * / 10+ / Position Paper
* in the 11th and 12th grades, teachers have the prerogative to accept highlighted print outs rather than notecards
** includes direct quote, paraphrase and summary as needed to complete the discussion for the topic
Tried & True Tips for
Successfully Teaching the Research Paper
Prior to beginning the research paper process, it is strongly advised that teachers prepare a letter/contract for students and parents that explains the process and due dates. A copy of this letter is attached.
Before beginning the research paper process, assess your students for understanding and knowledge of the research process and selecting reliable sources. An excellent, FREE resource is the TRAILS assessment:
http://www.trails-9.org/index.php?page=home
Currently this site offers assessment for 6th and 9th grade only, but assessments for higher-level grades are expected this fall. There are several forms of assessment at this site that can easily be adapted to a particular grade level. Using this assessment will help you identify and focus your teaching on the areas of the research process for which your students need the most instruction.
Collaborate with other English/Language Arts teachers and the librarian(s) to determine recommended timing so as not to overwhelm libraries.
Work with your school librarian to co-teach the research standards.
Arrange with your school librarian to spend time in the library with your students doing research.
Work with your school technology specialist to teach formatting styles.
Use rubrics for grading. Websites showing rubrics for each type of research paper writing are included for each grade level in this guide and on the wiki. It is helpful to give students a grading rubric early in the research paper process so that they know what is expected of them. A rubric also helps the teacher be more consistent and objective in grading and helps explains a paper’s grade to a student and/or a parent.
The Research Paper Wiki
Please join the research paper conversation! All Shelby County Language Arts teachers and librarians are invited to request to be a Wiki user. Thus, everyone can add valuable information to the site to share with others. The Professional Wiki is for teachers only. Students will not be given access. However, the SCS Student Wiki is dedicated to assisting students with the research paper, though only teachers may add content to it.
(Professional Wiki) http://scsresearchpaper.wikispaces.com
(Student Wiki) http://scs-student-researcher.wikispaces.com
Honor Statement
This statement will be stapled to your submitted research paper. Your paper will not be accepted without this signed statement. If you have someone else type for you, he or she also will be required to sign the honor statement.
As a student in the Shelby County School System, I realize the importance of academic excellence and know that I am expected to demonstrate a high level of personal character and academic integrity. In light of that, I confirm that
_____This paper is entirely my own work.
_____I have done all the readings, research, note taking, and writing required to write the final paper.
_____I have given credit to all materials taken from sources and not considered to be common knowledge.
_____I have not used words, ideas, pictures, or data from any other source or person and claimed them as my own.
_____I have not copied and pasted a passage of text unchanged from any internet or online resource without properly citing the source.
_____I have not copied any word-for-word passages from any printed resource (book, encyclopedia, atlas, magazine, newspaper, etc.) and claimed it as my own.
_____I have used quotation marks to show every phrase or sentence that I have copied directly.
_____I have not paraphrased or quoted any sources not listed on the works-cited page of my paper.
_____I have not cited nonexistent sources.
_____I have not “made up” any information or data for support.
_____I have not used the services of a commercial term paper company or copied any/all of another student’s paper and submitted it as my own.
Plagiarism
_____The subject of cheating, plagiarism, and academic integrity has been explained to me in detail.
_____I know that plagiarism, whether deliberate or accidental, will result in a grade of zero for this paper.
_____I know that having someone else write all or part of this paper for me violates academic integrity, and I will receive a grade of zero.
_____I will gladly supply my teacher with any of my sources.
_____I understand that my paper is due on ______, and that no extensions will be granted for any reason, including absence on that date.
Signed: ______Date:______
If this paper was typed by someone other than the paper’s author, please have the typist sign the following statement:
I verify that I typed this paper and made no corrections, amendments, or revisions to this paper without the indication of the paper’s author.
Signed: ______Date:______
Shelby County Schools offers educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, creed, age, or disability.
Student/Parent Communication Letter
** Substitute your grade-level information where items are bold/italicized.
Date
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Students in Grades 6-12 are required to write a research paper in order to fulfill Tennessee Department of Education and Shelby County Schools standards for writing. **Sixth-grade students are required to write a how-to/process paper. The purpose of the research paper is to give students the opportunity to learn and practice research skills and to incorporate this research into an original paper with no intentional or unintentional plagiarism. This research process will take approximately 3-6 weeks to complete and will comprise a major part of the nine-week grade.
**Your student’s topic for this how-to/process paper:
Handouts, the Holt Elements of Language textbook, teacher notes, and the Wiki page at http://scs-student-researcher.wikispaces.com will help your student learn how to properly complete the assignments.
While the paper is developed in class and in the library, students are responsible for completing various components outside of class and submitting those on assigned due-dates. Every aspect of the project is graded for accuracy.
Required Steps and Due Dates: Supplies:
Preliminary research Due: 4X6 ruled notecards
Source/Bibliography cards (1-2) Due: a 9x12 brown envelope
Notecards (10) Due: rubber band
Outline Due: pen/pencil
Rough draft (hand-written) Due: highlighter
Final copy (1-2pgs.) Due: paper clips
Works Cited page (with final copy) Due:
Requirements:
Format: Typed, double-spaced
Margins: 1” on all sides
Type size: 12 pt.
Font: Times or Times New Roman
In-paper citations: 2-4
Key Facts:
*Each aspect of this paper is graded for accuracy.
*The paper MUST BE TYPED. Computers are accessible in the school library, as well as public libraries.
*For full credit, papers must be on time.
Thank you for supporting your student’s efforts during this project. Please sign below and return to Ms. ______no later than (day, date). If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at (email address) or check my website: (www.)
Sincerely,
Teacher’s name
Date: ______
I have read, I understand, and I will abide by the requirements described herein for the 6th Grade Research Paper. I am aware of the due dates assigned for each component of this paper. I have read, I understand, and I will abide by the Honor Statement (attached), and will attach this Honor Statement to the final copy of my research paper. I understand that my paper is due at the beginning of my English class period on the assigned date.
____________
Parent Signature Student Signature
Shelby County Schools offers educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, creed, age, or disability.