Research Paper Proposals - Amazon S3



Research Paper Proposals

For 9th-12th Grades

Developed by

Shanna Mellott

[pic]

November 10, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

This document contains proposals for aligning the research paper formats between 9th-12th grades. The senior paper that we have now is college ready; however, there is no scaffolding of the information for each grade level. In my opinion, the senior paper should not be restricted to the English class; it should involve every teacher and class in the high school. I contacted Dr. Kingsley from Cameron University and Cindy Ross who taught senior English here a few years ago and who is now at the University of Oklahoma to help in the process to make the research papers college ready. I also read through the information provided by High Schools that Work and Great Expectations.

I found out that both universities require their students to use a formal outline, the MLA format, annotated bibliographies, and the argumentative modes of writing. The depth of the requirements depended on the professor; some professors require less work than other professors. At Cameron University, students have to go through the process of the Capstone which requires them to reflect and write about what they have accomplished while attaining their degree. I suggest that we require our students to build a academic portfolio of their work to give them a way to see what they accomplished at the high school level; therefore, all the proposals will contain a portfolio recommendation. Even though the two proposals are directed to the regular English classes, recommendations will be given to show how to incorporate the ideas for A.P. students, students who attend SCORE, students who take a college English course, and new students.

With aligning the research paper formats and making them college ready, I hope that our students become more self-sufficient. As they go through high school, the need to be spoon-fed the information should dwindle. They should become independent learners as they go through high school, so they will be successful in college. We can just stay with the status quo and get the same results or make some adjustments to help our students achieve at the higher level of education.

Sincerely,

Shanna Mellott

English Teacher

Reading Specialist

@lsmellott

smellott@cache.k12.ok.us

Career Pathway Proposal

Even though college students write argumentative research papers, that is not the only mode of writing that they do in the class. Therefore, this proposal incorporates all the modes of writing. When students graduate from high school, they shouldn't just receive a diploma and wonder what they will do next with their lives; therefore, they should create a plan in high school. This proposal emphasizes the MLA format for research papers, annotated bibliographies, effectively documenting citations, and creating a works cited page. All of the writing assignments will be placed in a portfolio. This proposal also requires the help from other teachers; remember when we had Teachers as Advisors at our school. I think that idea would work for this proposal.

English I:

Modes of Writing: Expository, Persuasive, Narrative, Argumentative, and Reflective

Length of Research Paper: 2-3 pages

Length of Essays: 1-2 pages

Number of Sources: 1-2

Description

At the 9th grade level, students should explore possible career choices, colleges that they might want to attend, understand what it takes to be a successful student and employee, and create an initial path to follow through high school. The research is ongoing throughout the school year, and the students write the different essays about ideas they learned. The reflective essay should be required at the end of both semesters, and the students add all of the essays into their portfolios.

For the finale, the students use one of their writing assignments to help them plan a presentation at the end of the second semester. The presentation should not be just a board with the information; we need to encourage them to incorporate various types of technology. The presentation should last between 5-10 minutes, and the audience should be students from other classes and teachers. The teachers will be assigned the task of scoring the presentations which will be averaged in with the teacher's grade.

English II:

Modes of Writing: Expository, Persuasive, Narrative, Argumentative, and Reflective

Length of Essays: 2-3 pages

Length of Research Paper: 4-5 pages

Number of Sources: 2-3

Description

At the sophomore level, students should reflect on what they accomplished in 9th grade, explore other career choices, research colleges and make a college visit if that is their path, interview college professors and employers, and learn how to fill out job applications and practice interviewing for jobs. As the students research the information, they write the different essays. The reflective essay should be required at the end of both semesters, and they will add all their information into their portfolios.

For the finale, the students present one of their writing assignments in a presentation which should be given at the end of the school year. The students should be encouraged to use various types of technology. The presentations should last 10-12 minutes, and the audience should be teachers, students, and administrators. Teachers will score the presentations, and the scores will be part of the overall grade for the presentations.

English III:

Modes of Writing: Expository, Narrative, Persuasive, Argumentative, and Reflective

Length of Essays: 2-3 pages

Length of Research Paper: 5-6 pages

Number of Sources: 2-3

Description

At the junior level, you have some students who attend college, several students who choose to attend career-tech, and many students who have jobs; therefore, the essays and research paper should reflect these ideas. Students should write about their experiences at career-tech, college, and a job, visit a college, reflect on what was learned, and make a plan of study for the college level, and prepare for the senior level of high school.

For the finale, the students reflect on their strengths/weaknesses, where they are, what they have accomplished, and where they need to go to complete their path. A committee of teachers, administrators, and retired teachers could be the audience. The committee could give the presentations a score, and then that score would be averaged in to make the final grade.

English IV:

Modes of Writing: Expository, Narrative, Persuasive, Argumentative, and Reflective

Length of Essays: 2-3 pages

Length of Research Paper: 6-7 pages

Number of Sources: 4-5

At the senior level, students are on different paths. They have to finish their portfolio, know the classes they have to take to receive a college degree, apply for scholarships, work jobs, and pay bills. All of these ideas should be the topics for their essays, but the research paper should go a different direction. During this year, they have to go out and do something with what they have learned, such as through a service project, a study, or an experiment. The research paper is based on the service project, and the students write a proposal letter, create an annotated bibliography, and use the MLA format for the research paper requirements.

For the finale, the students present their research paper in a 15-20 minute speech. The audience could be committee of teachers, administrators, college professors, and community leaders who score the presentations. The score will be averaged in with the teacher's grade.

Interdisciplinary Research Proposal

The mode of writing for research papers at both Cameron University and the University of Oklahoma is argumentative. Students have to write papers in other college courses besides their composition classes. Therefore, this proposal connects the research paper to other classes besides just English and requires students to write different modes of writing each year. When entering high school, students should begin to build an academic portfolio. They should create plans of study and map out paths to take; each year, they go back and revise their plans. They need to see where they are and where they need to go. This proposal requires the assistance from other teachers who would act as advisors. I didn't add essays to this section, but the English teachers or the other teacher could require students to write essays about other subject areas other than English.

English I:

Mode of Writing: Expository

Length of Paper: 2 pages

Number of Sources: 2

Description

At the freshmen level, the students will choose a topic that connects to Oklahoma history, art, sports, Algebra I, technology, science, or Spanish I. They will conduct research, create an annotated bibliography, introduce the research in the paper, use indirect and direct quotations, explain the research in the paper, and follow the stages of the writing process. The sources should come from a reputable database such as EBSCO host.

For the finale, the students will then demonstrate what they have learned in front of an audience. The audience should be their peers from other classes, not just the students in their class. Since expository writing means to explain, then the students will explain how to make something, what they learned about, what they did, or what they designed using the research. The hope is that the students put their research into action, not just use it to help them write a research paper. Using a power point would be acceptable for the presentation; however, if the students want to use another kind of technology, they must get permission from the teacher. The research paper and presentations will be added to the portfolio.

English II:

Mode of Writing: Reflective

Length of Paper: 3-4 pages

Number of Sources: 3

At the sophomore level, students will choose a topic that connects to U.S. history, Trigonometry, art, band, mythology, technology, or a science and write a reflective research paper about something that was learned in the class. They will conduct research, create an annotated bibliography, introduce research in the paper, use indirect and direct quotations reflect upon the research, and follow the stages of the writing process. Sources should come from a reputable database such as EBSCO host.

The students will prepare a presentation about their reflection; the audience for the presentation should be students and teachers from other classes. Students can use any form of technology, make an artifact, or create a display showing the ideas of the reflection. The teachers will score the presentations, and the score will be averaged in with the final grade. The research paper and presentation will be added to the portfolio.

English III:

Mode of Writing: Persuasive

Length of Paper:5-6 pages

Number of Resources: 3-4 sources

Description

At the junior level, the students will choose a topic that connects to world history, Geometry, Biology, technology, career tech classes, mythology, or Spanish II. They will conduct research, create an annotated bibliography, introduce the research in the paper, use indirect and direct quotations, explain the research in the paper, and follow the stages of the writing process. The students should use a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos when writing their papers. The sources should come from a reputable database such as EBSCO host.

For the finale, the students will give a persuasive speech about the topic. The audience should be other students and teachers, and the teachers should give a score on how well the students persuaded them. The students should break away from the power point presentations and use different ones that would enhance their projects. Incorporating videos, blogs, or apps from the I-pad are acceptable forms of technology. The research paper and the presentation will be added to the portfolio.

English IV:

Mode of Writing: Argumentative

Length of Paper: 6-7 pages

Number of Resources: 4-5

Description

At the senior level, the students will choose a topic that connects to U.S. history, Trigonometry, Forensic Science, college courses, classes at career tech, or Ag. classes. They will conduct research, create an annotated bibliography, introduce the research in the paper, use indirect and direct quotations, explain the research in the paper, and follow the stages of the writing process. The students should use a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos when writing their papers. The sources should come from a reputable database such as EBSCO host.

For the finale, the students will present their argument in front of a committee of teachers, administrators, community leaders, and college professors. The committee members will score their presentations, and that score will be part of the grade for the project. They have to do something with their research and put it into action. Their presentations should use more than a power point; apps on the I-pad should be explored to find one that would work. The research paper and the presentation will be added to the portfolio.

Areas of Concern

A.P. Students: Since the classes are supposed to follow a different curriculum, it should relate some way to literature. The sources could be examples from literature but relate to their career choices.

SCORE Students: Obviously, they will not have a portfolio unless the Career Tech instructor makes them keep one. However, the students do have a choice of the mode of writing, and I suggest that it should be written like the junior level paper. They should reflect on their strengths/weaknesses, what they have accomplished, where they are, and what they need to do to be successful.

College Students: Once the attend college English courses, then their essays become part of their portfolio. Since it is important for students who want scholarships to do some kind of service project, they should design one, implement it, write about it, and present the results.

New Students: They will begin their portfolio when they attend Cache High School. They will need guidance from the advisor and the English teacher.

Teachers as Advisors: These teachers not only help with the research papers at each level but also help students with academic or social issues. When we had this program, some teachers kept up with their students and made sure they were passing their classes.

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