Step1. Identify your topic – What is it that you would like to know more about? This is a topic of your choice about which you can conduct research. Write your topic here.
Step 2. Write at least 5 research questions about this topic. What do you want to know? (Remember question asking words such as who, what, when, where, why, how.) Write your questions here.
Step 3. Identify 3 to 5 reliable sources of information using the EBSCO link on your student home page. This will give you resources that are reliable. You may not use Wikipedia or any other online encyclopedia. This is not a Works Cited list, but we will use information from these links to create your list. Copy and paste the links to your resources here.
Step 4 Take notes to answer your questions. You can take these notes by hand or open a word document, google doc, or open office document. Your goal is to answer each of your research questions. Make sure that as you answer the questions and take notes that you keep track of the source from which you took your information. (This will be important when you put your information together and need the source of your information for your intext citations.) When you have finished taking notes put one or two important facts as your response.
Step 5 Review your notes – What have you learned? Do you have all of the information that you need? Are all of your questions answered? If you see any places where you need more information go back and find it. If you need to use a new resource, be sure that you copy and paste the link in Step 3. Was one of your questions not answered? Should you eliminate it? Is there another question you should ask and for which you are finding information? If you make any changes to your research questions put them in Step 2. Make sure that you have enough information to write at least 5 to 7 good paragraphs. When you are finished with this step, just write a sentence telling one more thing that you have learned about your topic here.
Step 6 Write your thesis sentence. What do you want to prove or show? This sentence will become the last sentence of your introductory paragraph. Write this sentence in your response here.
Step 7 Open a blank document and set up your paper for MLA format before you begin writing your paper.
Step 8 Write your introductory paragraph. Include the following: your topic, an attention getter, and your thesis sentence as the last sentence.
Step 9 – Before you write the body of your paper organize your ideas. Take a look at all of the facts that you have found and written in your notes. You may use a list or an outline to decide which ideas will go in each paragraph. There should be at least 3 body paragraphs.
Step 10 – Write the body of your paper in your open word document. Be sure that you are answering your research questions and giving credit to your sources of information as you go (intext citations). write at least three body paragraphs and included intext citations whenever necessary.
Step 11 – Write a strong conclusion. Make sure that you wrap up everything that you have said. You are to reinforce your thesis sentence, but you are NOT to repeat it. What did you learn from conducting this research? reinforces my thesis and shows the most important things that I have learned in this research project.
Step 12 – Use the insert tab and insert a page break at the end of your last sentence. Now you will add your Works Cited page. You will change the URLs that you have listed above into citations using MLA format.