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9th Grade Honors Chandler High School
2015
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ENGLISH 9 HONORS Mrs. Monte
Research Proposal Schedule and Due Dates
All assignments are due when your class hour begins unless otherwise noted. Monday, March 2:
MYP Research Project Introduced
Tuesday, March 3: IB Learner Profile and Thinking through the Literature Due
Wednesday/Thursday, March 4-5:
Narrowed Topic and Thesis Statement Due Friday, March 6:
Interview/Survey Questions CRAAP Test for 2 Articles Due (+ 1 more by EOH) Process Journal Check
Wednesday/Thursday, March 25-26:
At least 1 primary source (interview of survey) Friday, March 27:
All 6 sources printed out (copied from a print source or websites listed for videos)
Tuesday, April 1: Annotated Bibliography Due
Wednesday/Thursday, April 2-3:
Process Journal Check Wednesday/Thursday, April 8-9:
Work on Essay (Computer Lab) Process Journal Check
Friday, April 10:
Printed Essay due to turnitin.com AND printed for class.
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OBJECTIVE: The mission of the project is to develop strong research and synthesis skills in all students by sequencing
the project across a four year span, while increasing motivation through making the topic directly applicable to the career and college interests of individual students.
SPECIFIC GOALS:
Improve the synthesis skills of all students.
Improve the independent research skills of all students. Foster independent intellectual inquiry
Acquaint students with a rigorous, long-term task Prepare students for the demands of post-secondary writing
Develop a portfolio of research based synthesis activities and papers exploring personal interests.
GRADE FIRST SEMESTER SYNTHESIS PROJECT SECOND SEMESTER INQUIRY PROJECT
9
Advertisements: Students will complete a project where they gather five-six different advertisements on a product of their choice and then write a paper synthesizing the philosophy of the product as embodied by these ads.
“Presearch” Students will select a field of interest, research 10-20 hours of material (from varied source types including print, web, video, personal interview) and write a paper summarizing what they have read and how it has changed their view on the topic.
10
Music: Students will complete a project where they gather five-six songs by the same artist and write a paper synthesizing the musician’s philosophy based on the music and lyrics of these songs.
Research: Based off research last year, students will develop a research question of academic inquiry, write a plan for further research, conduct research, and write an annotated bibliography explaining how each source from grades 9 and 10 will aide (or not) in the addressing of said question.
11
Visual arts: Students will complete a project where they choose a visual artist and write a paper synthesizing the artist’s philosophy based off 5-6 works selected.
Synthesis paper: Part A: Students will evaluate their annotated bibliography for gaps and conduct research to address them Part B: Students will compose an essay answering their research question.
12
Essayist: Students will (after much guidance) select a modern writer (newspaper/magazine/web) to follow, selecting five to essays to synthesize into an essay explaining the author’s world view.
Revision: Part A: Based off grade for 11th grade paper, students will develop a revision plan to address specific areas of rubric where adequate progress is lacking. Part B: Students will revise paper and resubmit.
DECONSTRUCT THE PROMPT
Students will select a field of interest, research 10-20 hours of material (from varied source types including print, web, 1 2
video, personal interview) and write a paper summarizing what they have read and how it has changed their view on the 3 3A 3B
topic.
1. Select a field of interest. Be sure that your field of interest is broad enough to research but narrow enough to be considered a good topic.
2. Research 10-20 hours of material. Essentially you should spend about 10-20 hours researching sources OUTSIDE OF
CLASS. You will need a minimum of SIX sources documented on your project. You will need to submit an
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. You will need to PRINT OUT YOUR SOURCES. Your teacher will save them so that you have access to them in your sophomore year. One of your sources must be a PRIMARY source – either an interview
with someone in your chosen field or a survey that you create and give.
3. Write a paper. Your paper must include a SUMMARY of your sources, and you must also explore how the exploration of these sources has CHANGED YOUR VIEW on the topic. This paper should be very brief for freshmen honors
students as they will explore their topic and sources more in depth in the MYP RESEARCH PAPER.
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Directions: Using a scale of 1-10,
rank yourself for each trait below. Use
each number only once and write your number next to the trait.
1 means “This is not at all who I am.”
10 means “This describes me exactly.”
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THINKING THROUGH THE LITERATURE
List a character from literature we have read this year who has the traits listed.
INQUIRER:
KNOWLEDGABLE:
THINKER:
COMMUNICATOR:
PRINCIPLED:
OPEN-MINDED:
CARING:
RISK-TAKER:
BALANCED:
REFLECTIVE:
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9th Grade focuses on Objective A only. Next year, you will focus on Objectives B, C, and D.
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Generate a topic by choosing a bullet point that is meaningful to you. Figure out what you could research and where you want to go with a possible project.
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DANCE SAMPLE
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PROCESS JOURNAL
Students must maintain a record of progress throughout the project.
For both the community project and the personal project, students should carefully select evidence from their process
journals to demonstrate development in all criteria. These extracts are submitted as appendices of the report or presentation at the conclusion of the project. The student should take responsibility for making the appropriate extracts
available to the supervisor.
Students working individually should select a maximum of 10 individual extracts to represent the key developments of the
project. Students choosing to work in groups on the community project will submit a maximum of 15 process journal extracts.
The student should select extracts that demonstrate how he or she has addressed each of the objectives, or annotate
extracts to highlight this information.
An extract may include:
visual thinking diagrams
bulleted lists
charts
short paragraphs
notes
timelines, action plans
annotated illustrations
annotated research
artifacts from inspirational visits to museums, performances, galleries
pictures, photographs, sketches
up to 30 seconds of visual or audio material
screenshots of a blog or website
self and peer assessment feedback.
Materials directly relevant to the achievement of the project should also be included in the extracts, as appropriate. For
example, if the student has produced a questionnaire or survey that has been described and analysed in the report, he or she could include a segment of that completed survey. An individual extract may include any of the formats that the
student used to document the process. Extracts should simply be supporting evidence of the process and will not be
individually assessed.
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RESEARCH TOPICS
The hardest part of your research paper will most likely be picking a topic and then narrowing it down to something that
is “researchable.” As you are beginning your research, you should be thinking about how to narrow down your topic into something manageable and how you can relate it to the MYP areas of interaction.
How to Narrow Your Topic
Example: I'm thinking of doing a paper on fashion. This topic could develop in many different ways.
Hint: Ask Yourself Questions About Your Topic:
What do you know about it? What don't you know?
What aspects of your topic interest you: historical, sociological, psychological, etc.?
What time period do you want to cover?
On what geographic region do you want to focus?
What kind of information do you need?
A brief summary or a lengthy explanation?
Periodical articles, books, essays, encyclopedia articles?
Statistics?
SAMPLE TOPIC NARROWING CHART:
General Topic: fashion
Time span: 1920s
Place: US; urban; big cities (not rural)
Person or group: youth; college age
Event or Aspects: sexual attitudes; behavior; sociological
THESIS STATEMENTS
Subject + Attitude Adjective + Target population
1. What is the issue?
2. Who does the issue affect?
Topic: Cancer prevention
How does cancer form in the body?
What is cancer
What can everyone do on a daily basis to decrease her chances of cancer?
Cancer is a disease that does not discriminate against its victims and in order to combat this deadly villain, society needs
to be aware of the development and prevention surrounding this on-going epidemic.
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MYP – PRIMARY RESEARCH
SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
1. Who could you possibly interview for this project? (either give names or positions)
2. How will you contact this person (or people) for an interview?
3. What information can you gain from this person (or people)?
4. List five specific questions you might ask your interviewee:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
SURVEYS
1. What type of survey are you going to give? (Attitudes, information, etc.?)
2. Who are you going to administer the survey to? Why?
3. What information do you hope to gain from the survey?
4. What are three possible questions you might include in your survey?
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CRAAP Test
Answer each of the questions below to evaluate each of your sources on the following pages. Then assign a score on a scale of 1-10 for each CRAAP category below. By scoring each category on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 = worst, 10=best possible) you can give each source a grade on a 50 point scale for how high-quality it is:
45 - 50 Excellent | 40 - 44 Good | 35 - 39 Average | 30 - 34 Borderline Acceptable | Below 30 - Unacceptable
Currency: the timeliness of the information
When was the information published or posted?
Has the information been revised or updated?
Is the information current or out-of date for your topic?
Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs
Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
Who is the intended audience?
Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
Authority: the source of the information
Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
Does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? examples: .com (commercial), .edu (educational), .gov (U.S. government), .org (nonprofit organization), or .net (network)
Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content, and
Is the information supported by evidence?
Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
Does the language or tone seem biased and free of emotion?
Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?
Purpose: the reason the information exists
What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
Note: If you end up with an unacceptable article to use for research, you will need to find
another source. I will have additional copies of the CRAAP test on my teacher page if you need
them, or you may answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper.
Be sure to use only good sources. Skimping on this portion of the project now will only make
your research later that much more difficult as you will need to re-research.
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SOURCE 1 CITATION:
Currency: The timeliness of the information. SCORE: /10
1. When was the information published or posted?
2. Has the information been revised or updated?
3. Is the information current or out-of date for your topic?
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs. SCORE: /10
1. Does the information relate to your thesis or answer your question?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. Is the information at an appropriate level (i.e. not too elementary or advanced for your needs)?
4. Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
Authority: The source of the information. SCORE: /10
1. Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
2. What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
3. What are the author's qualifications to write on the topic?
4. If you found the information on the web, does the URL reveal anything about the author or source? examples: .com
.edu .gov .org .net
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content. SCORE: /10
1. Is the information supported by evidence? How?
2. Can you verify any of the information in another source or from personal knowledge?
3. Does the language or tone seem unbiased and free of emotion?
4. Are there spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?
Purpose: The reason the information exists. SCORE: /10
1. What is the purpose of the information? to inform? teach? sell? entertain? persuade?
2. Do the authors/sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
3. Is the information fact? opinion? propaganda?
4. Does the point of view appear objective and impartial? Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?
TOTAL: /50 go onto the back of this page
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SUMMARIZE the information found in this source.
EVALUATE the information found in this source. Explain how you can effectively use it within
your research.
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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alphabetical list of sources that summarizes and evaluates sources. Tips:
• Locate a variety of sources on your topic • Don’t include sites like Wikipedia
• Format sources correctly • Consider each source in depth and figure out how it fits with your topic
• Offer a brief summary and an evaluation of each source
• Explain where you will be able to use the source within a larger context • Be careful not to plagiarize
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY SAMPLE
Joe Smith
Mrs. Monte
Honors English 9
12 April 2015
Anorexia: Annotated Bibliography
Jones, Mary. Personal Interview. 09 Apr. 2015.
Ms. Jones told me about her experience with animal cruelty. She was most helpful and honest when she
told me… (give specific details and examples). This is a good source because... (evaluate the source and
why it is good). I will use her information for my third body paragraph in investigation.<-- be sure to
explain where you will use this in your paper.
Neubauer, Bonnie. Animal Cruelty. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest, 2006. Print.
Here I am going to write my summary Next I am going to assess my book. Is it good, or not so good.
Lastly, where and how am I going to use this source in my paper.
"Vivisection." Animals Today Online.. 05 Mar. 2009. Web. 09 Apr. 2015.
Summary, Eval, Where to use.
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HONORS 9 MYP RESEARCH PAPER OUTLINE
I. Introduction (write this paragraph in its entirety)
What is your topic? Why did you choose this topic? How does it relate to your life, your future and/or your interests? Which of the global contexts did you select to develop your topic and why?
II. Techniques (write this paragraph in its entirety) Describe the techniques you used to conduct your research. What resources did you consult and why (if websites,
what kind and why were they helpful); how did you decide on an interview/survey and how did it aid in your research (what did it allow you to understand)? What did you learn about the process of research and your
personal research skills? How did you find primary sources and why did you choose the research methods that you did?
III. Investigation For this portion you are going to create and submit a written outline. This is the main body of your paper and it
will resemble the format of the research papers you have completed in the past. It should be five to six paragraphs long as you will be presenting four or five of the most important things to
know/understand about your topic. You will present the research you found and what you learned about
your topic. You will also present the information from your sources (citations), including your primary source and/or the survey or interview you conducted. The format is as follows:
I. Grabber
A. Background info about your topic B. Brief statement about the relevance of your topic (why does this matter)
C. Thesis statement containing the 4 or 5 imp. aspects of your topic
II. Topic Sentence
A. Intro to 1st citation B. Quote #1 (citation)
C. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
D. Intro to 2nd citation E. Quote #2 (citation)
F. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence G. Transition Sentence
III. Topic Sentence A. Intro to 3rd citation
B. Quote #3 (citation) C. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
D. Intro to 4th citation E. Quote #4 (citation)
F. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
G. Transition sentence
IV. Topic Sentence A. Intro to 3rd citation
B. Quote #5 (citation)
C. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence D. Intro to 6th citation
E. Quote #6 (citation) F. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
G. Transition sentence
V. Topic Sentence
A. Intro to 3rd citation B. Quote #7 (citation)
C. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
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D. Intro to 8th citation
E. Quote #8 (citation) F. Relevance of your quote; relate this to your thesis & topic sentence
G. Transition sentence
VI. Conclusion
Using letters to represent your sentences (see above) you are going to outline your conclusion. This paragraph should be at least 8 sentences. Sum up your research and main points and discuss what you learned overall
and how this project has influenced you as a learner. Leave your reader with some final ideas about how you could take this research to the next level. MYP students should focus on how you will develop this research into
a personal project, including how you will create the physical project.
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CHECKLIST FOR RESEARCH PAPER
Correct MLA format Double spacing
Title page Each page has a running header last name and page number
Times New Roman 12 font
Subtitles o 1. Introduction
o 2. Techniques o 3. Investigation
o 4. Analysis o 5. Conclusion
Separate page for Works Cited
o Last name page number o Works Cited centered
o Your entries start on left margin and second, third, etc line indent 5 spaces o Alpha order (author or title)
o Annotations have been removed
Citation formatted correctly o Package quotes, paraphrases, textual ref.
o Two citations (at least for each body paragraph of investigation section “direct quote” (author 123).
Paraphrase (author 123). “direct quote” (“first three words of source if no author…”)
Paraphrase (“first three words of source if no author…”).
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IB RUBRIC
A: Understanding
and interpretation:
How well does the
student’s
interpretation reveal
understanding of the
thought and feeling
of the passage? How
well are ideas
supported by
references to the
passage?
1
There is basic
understanding of the
passage but virtually
no attempt at
interpretation and
few references to the
passage.
2
There is some
understanding of the
passage, with a
superficial attempt at
interpretation and
some appropriate
references to the
passage.
3
There is adequate
understanding of the
passage,
demonstrated by an
interpretation that is
supported by
appropriate
references to the
passage.
4
There is a very good
interpretation of the
passage,
demonstrated by
sustained
interpretation
supported by well-
chosen references to
the passage.
5
There is excellent
understanding of the
passage,
demonstrated by
persuasive
interpretation
supported by
effective references
to the passage.
B. Appreciation of
the writer’s choices:
To what extent does
the analysis show
appreciation of how
the writer’s choices
of language,
structure, technique,
and style shape
meaning?
1
There are few
references to, and no
analysis or
appreciation of, the
ways in which
language, structure,
technique, and style
shape meaning.
2
There is some
mention, but little
analysis or
appreciation, of the
ways in which
language, structure,
technique, and style
shape meaning.
3
There is adequate
analysis and
appreciation of the
ways in which
language, structure,
technique, and style
shape meaning.
4
There is very good
analysis and
appreciation of the
ways in which
language, structure,
technique, and style
shape meaning.
5
There is excellent
analysis and
appreciation of the
ways in which
language, structure,
technique, and style
shape meaning.
C: Organization and
development: How
well organized,
coherent, and
developed is the
presentation of
ideas?
1
Ideas have little
organization; there
may be superficial
structure, but
coherence and
development are
lacking
2
Ideas have some
organization, with a
recognizable
structure; coherence
and development are
often lacking
3
Ideas are adequately
organized, with a
suitable structure;
some attention is
paid to coherence
and development.
4
Ideas are effectively
organized, with very
good structure,
coherence, and
development.
5
Ideas are persuasively
organized, with
excellent structure,
coherence, and
development.
D: Language:
How clear, varied,
and accurate is the
language? How
appropriate is the
choice of register,
style, and
terminology?
1
Language is rarely clear
and appropriate; there
are many errors in
grammar, vocabulary
and sentence
construction, and little
sense of register and
style.
2
Language is sometimes
clear and carefully
chosen; grammar,
vocabulary and
sentence construction
are fairly accurate,
although errors and
inconsistencies are
apparent; the register
and style are to some
extent appropriate to
the task.
3
Language is clear and
carefully chosen, with
and adequate degree of
accuracy in grammar,
vocabulary and
sentence construction
despite some lapses;
register and style are
mostly appropriate to
the task.
4
Language is clear and
carefully chosen, with a
good degree of accuracy
in grammar, vocabulary
and sentence structure;
register and style are
consistently appropriate
to the task.
5
Language is very clear,
effective, carefully
chosen and precise, with
a high degree of
accuracy in grammar,
vocabulary and
sentence construction;
register and style are
effective and
appropriate to the task.