Writer's Block Blues...

Here's my best shot at a one-handed pep talk!  I have corresponded with a few of you about how and where to search for sources and even how  to find a point or direction in your search.  Take heart!  Don't give up!  Attitude is crucial to success!

First, remember that before you can begin drafting, you have to do a lot of reading.  That's what researching is all about:  searching, reading, searching again and more reading, and so on.  It isn't until I begin to dig into a topic that I know which of my books and articles are useful.   Don't forget you can also use other kinds of sources, like film, interviews, and more.

Don't cut this part (reading and searching) short so you can begin writing the paper.  Knowing how to efficiently search is a talent that you'll use in the future.  Some of you who are having trouble finding sources will benefit by playing with the words you type in the search bar, both on Google and our databases.   Remember the tips our librarians gave us about making advanced searches, and also their presentation about how to "Search Like a Boss" on Google, if you use that site.  Sometimes it takes a lot of patience and perseverance.

That said, please give Ms. Reaves a warm welcome.  This portion of the project is her forte!  We will be in close communication to serve you our very best!  You've had quite a bit of class time to work on this project, but it takes discipline to stay on task.  This also takes time outside of class.  I am hoping that with a quiet, diligent group of students in class, you can draft and conference and revise and so forth.   I hope in the next three classes before spring break, you can finish up your research papers.  Won't that be something to celebrate?

Guidelines for Research Paper, Due Dates, and a Bit of Regrouping! Teamwork!

I hope this post and the post before this help clear up concerns you may have about grades and due dates for our upcoming project.   Because some of you have missed class due to activities that have caused your absence from class, and because of snow days and my absence,  the first area of concern is due dates.  I hope this helps, but I'm extending due dates for the annotated bibliography. 

I'll give bonus points to those of you who moved heaven and earth to hand in your annotated bibliography on time, and I'll accept and grade bibliographies next week in an effort to provide enough time for reading.  I'll ask the substitute to mark those that were turned in this week.  You'll need to hand in bibliographies before the next due date, which is the first draft of your research paper due Thursday, February 26th.



Guidelines for the research paper:

• 4 to 5 pages MLA format
• Minimum of three sources used with at least one citation for each of your three sources. This could be a paraphrase or direct quote for each.  Aim for a minimum of one direct quote.  You will no doubt use more.  Remember, you will write other pieces which can be informed by your other sources.  Your minimum is five sources for the whole project. 
• Paper to include an introduction, supporting body, and conclusion.
• First draft conference on Thursday, February 26th.  Must be a complete paper, although it will be rough.
• Second draft conference on Monday, March 2.  This draft should include your citations.
• Third draft final packet due Wednesday, March 4.

Because I've been grounded until the cast comes off (right after spring break), I've been worrying about how to help you with the writing.  Great news:  Ms. Reaves has agreed to come back on Wednesday, February 25th until my return, and she is looking forward to working on this project with you! 

Have fun researching, my friends!

An Update From Home...Miss You!

Nothing like a snow day or two!  Congratulations, seniors, on shortening your semester!  As for me, I'm "on the mend" and working with the one-handed, hunt-and-peck system on the keyboard.  You don't want to hear about my silly accident, but it's enough to know that I broke several bones in my left arm/wrist/hand and am grounded now!

Olaf needs an arm,too!

What's due, you ask?  You've missed a class period, so I hope you have found and summarized your sources for your research. Your annotated bibliographies are due at the end of class today. You should be able to trade and conference your work today. Refer to the Purdue Owl for directions to the annotated bibliography. Remember we wrote annotated bibliographies first semester, so you also should still have those directions and samples!

This picture is for you, Noah!

Hand in your work at the end of class.  Let me hear from you if you have a problem.  You know you can use the comment box here, and that way maybe someone else from class can help you, too.

You can use class time to work on your first draft of your research paper.  Bring your printed articles or books or flash drives to class so you can get credit for your efforts during class. First draft conferences of the research paper will be next Thursday.  Come prepared. A completed first draft is a complete paper, not a one-page brief attempt!

Sorry I'm not there.  Let me hear from you if you have questions.

A Note About the Research...

It's Friday, and many of you are checking out books related to your research topics.  I hope this trip to the library helps you make the connection between research and fun!  Yes, it can be fun... Think about the number of times a day you make a quick check online for information on a myriad of topics.  I do. What I'm hoping for is that the topic you choose leads you to riveting reading, reading that you really want to do.

Next week's classes are devoted to reading workshop.  Bring your research materials with you to class.  If you have a topic the school system will be likely to block because of content, print it out at home or bring it on a flash drive to print for class.  Come prepared!  You'll get workshop participation points just for coming in prepared and working, reading, and writing quietly, making notes for your project.

The first due date is Feb 11th for the annotated bibliography writing conference.  The final draft of the annotated bib will be due on February18th.  You'll remember you wrote an annotated bib first semester.   You will briefly summarize your sources, how they fit your topic and how you will use the information.   You will place your sources in alphabetical order according to the first word in the citation.

So happy reading!  Stay focused.  Consider this to be homework.  There's no way you can accomplish all of our goals by counting on class time only to complete the assignments.

Panning for Ideas, Finding Sources, and Narrowing the Topic...

We have some very interesting reading to do in the next few weeks.  It'll be a joy to see what comes of your topics; there is such a wide variety.  We cover everything from the animals and entertainment to closed adoptions, from gender equality to poverty and education, and from atrocities of the Holocaust to Disney princesses. Gosh, the list goes on, and I'm so pleased to think these are topics you want to learn more about.

I realize that requiring a primary source seems to baffle some of you, but I don't want that to keep you from the topic you would most like to learn about.  With your list of topics, I began to explore book titles, and I've asked the librarians for help.  Wouldn't it be more interesting to start off with a book, fiction or non-fiction, related to your topic?  For example, A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, would be an interesting place to start for the topic of boys in war.  For poverty and/or education, I am Malala may illuminate the importance of equal access to education.  We (librarians and I)  are compiling a list of books and ideas.

In the meantime, we will return to grammar today with a study of the comma and also parallel structure.  Friday your 2nd writer's notebooks are due.  In an effort to continue the idea of choice, I am offering the choice of a writer's notebook installment of 8 pages (or 4 front and back) or a reading response on a book of your choice.  By the time we get to next Friday (February 13th ), I hope you'll have a book related to your research topic that you could use for a book response.  At least we can try.  At any rate, your reading will no doubt be related to your research topic!

Meantime, happy reading, writing, and researching!

MULTI-GENRE RESEARCH PAPER

            Monday's class will be devoted to the project proposals.  Your task will be to read each project proposal and make thoughtful, helpful comments.  Ask questions if you need further explanation.  Make suggestions for sources and share any connections you have.

           This project provides a chance to pursue a passion in your intellectual/emotional/spiritual life, a chance to strive to answer a question involving a topic of consuming interest to you and to communicate your learning through a multi-genre research project, where you get at the factual, the emotional, and the imaginative.  

            
            Choose a person, idea, topic, trend, era, cultural phenomenon, movement, thing, place . . . and become the quintessential mad researcher!

Required Research Sources Of Your Inquiry:

·        At least one book (or two, or three. Read fast, become an expert)

·        Articles

·        Primary material:  interviews, testimony, observations

·        Internet sources*

*The Internet contains the good and the bad, so be careful.  We have wonderful databases available; there are also shallow, misleading websites. Evaluate the quality and the depth of what you find.  You can't simply paste material from a website into your paper.  This is a chance to challenge yourself, to stretch and refine your writing skills and powers of communication.

Pieces your multi-genre project must contain:

·        Brief informational research essay, four to five pages.  Make this vivid, informational, straight-ahead writing.  Boil your topic down to essentials.   

·        Preface/Introduction/Dear Reader

·        A visual element/the arts

·        Works Cited

·        Note Page

·        Unifying elements 

            Include in your paper all six bulleted items. But you’ll need to write more genres than these to create a fully realized mgp.  Wherever else you go in the writing is up to you. Range as widely as you want in creating this paper. 

            Begin your research soon, make it part of your academic life, take notes and gather bibliographic information.