Extended Research Project - 6th and 7th Grades: The Basics

The Extended Research Project (ERP) for students in the sixth and seventh grades is a project in History class beginning in November in Fall Semester and culminating in a presentation in late March.  Through their work on the ERP, students are able to build their research, writing, citing and presentation skills.

Overall goals are to:

• Choose an historical topic from a prescribed list that is relevant, with available sources, meets the assignment requirements and is of interest to the student
• Research the topic thoroughly
• Learn and use primary and secondary sources
• Learn how to write about a topic with authentic voice and proper citations
• Introduce students to the library databases and resources available to them at WSA
• Learn how to use NoodleTools in order to keep track of works cited
• Learn how to determine if a source is credible and to extract information from that source
• Learn how to find and use sources that are appropriate for the age
• Learn how to present information in an engaging and contemporary method
• Discuss their research with unfamiliar yet supportive audiences

Scope and Timeline:

It is the expectation that the majority of the work on the sixth grade ERP will be done in history class rather than at home.

Fall Semester:  Sixth grade students will learn proper word processing, keyboarding, presentation and web platform skills within the curriculum of their Intro to Technology course.  At the same time, the ERP work will be concentrated in history class with specific writing and grammatical lessons supporting the project taught in English class.

By December:  Students will have chosen their topic, done the bulk of their research, documented the research on NoodleTools, practiced scaffolded writing assignments in support of the project and developed a thesis statement.

During January, February and March: Students will be concentrating on writing about their topics in anticipation of starting to develop a website as the final product. They will use an online webtool such as Weebly to develop a website with the following components included within the framework of their site:

• Home Page
• Background Information of the Event
• Narrative Depiction of Events
• Historical Significance of the Event
• Specific Case Study or Narrative Story Relevant
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

March 27, 2020:  Parents and other students will be invited to an evening event where sixth and seventh grade students will share their projects with attendees. Sixth graders will be expected to sit at a designated computer station with their website available for guests to view and ask questions of the student. Specific teachers, including the classroom teacher will be assigned as “Committee Reviewers” who will assess the students work at that time. 

Overall goals are to:

• Choose a person of note in which to research
• Research the person thoroughly
• Learn and use primary and secondary sources
• Learn how to write a five paragraph (or more) essay with authentic voice and proper citations
• Remind students of the library databases and resources available to them at WSA
• Utilize NoodleTools in order to keep track of works cited
• Practice how to determine if a source is credible and to extract information from that source
• Practice finding and using sources that are appropriate for the age
• Utilize research to prepare an original monologue written from the perspective of that person or someone close to that person
• Present the memorized 3-minute monologue to an audience of parents and peers (and the sixth graders) in costume

Scope and Timeline:

It is the expectation that the majority of the work on the seventh grade ERP will be done in their History and English classes rather than at home.

Fall Semester:  Seventh grade students will re-orient themselves to proper word processing skills and protocols as well as the library databases and the use of NoodleTools.  At the same time, the ERP work will be concentrated in History class with specific writing lessons supporting the project taught in English class.  In addition, the second semester speech class will support public speaking techniques in preparation.

By December:  Students will have chosen their person, done the bulk of their research, documented the research on NoodleTools, and completed a minimum five paragraph essay about the author. 

During January, February and March: Students will finalize their monologues and costumes and spend significant time rehearsing for their monologue.

March 27, 2020:  Parents and other students will be invited to an evening event where sixth and seventh grade students will share their projects with attendees. Seventh graders will be expected to perform the monologue in front of the audience of attendees. Specific teachers, including the classroom teacher will be assigned as “Committee Reviewer’s” who will assess the students work at that time and ask questions after the student’s performance. 

How many sources do I need?

You will learn how to get information from both primary and secondary sources and will need to list those in your bibliography under separate headings for each type.  The guide line is:

• Three Primary Sources of various types including one text, one image and one additional type of your choice
• Five Secondary Sources with at least two books, one periodical (journal or magazine), and three web sites
• Three Photo or Image Sources

Wikipedia is a good place to begin research on topics and to get ideas but Wikipedia will not be an acceptable source in your bibliography.

How will I manage my bibliographic information?

You will use an online platform called NoodleTools to manage your bibliography which also will automatically format the final hard copy version for you. You will have a log in and password that you can use to access NoodleTools from any computer with Internet access. Your log in and password are managed by Susan Trower if you forget them.  Need help knowing how to use NoodleTools?  See the NoodleTools Guide!

How do I sort primary sources and secondary sources in NoodleTools?

Log in to NoodleTools. Click on your NHD project. Enter in the source. After entering it should return you to an overall list of all the sources in the bibliography for this project. At the bottom of the list there is a field that says “Select an attribute”. Click on the source you want to classify and then select “primary” or “secondary” for that source.  Do this for all your sources. Once done with that return to the top of the list of bibliography list. In the upper right corner there is a “Sort” field. As a default, keep the sources sorted “Alphabetic”.  When you are ready to print, sort your sources “primary/secondary” in the Sort field.  Any source not classified as primary/secondary will not show up on the list when it is sorted by “primary/secondary.”  

Where can I get more help with knowing how to use NoodleTools?

A thesis statement is the central idea of your paper and states an arguable opinion. It informs the reader of your focus and gives a general overview of the order of analysis it will follow. It appears in the first paragraph of a paper; on the main page of a web site; clearly articulated in a monologue performance.  It is essential to do preliminary research on your topic before you try to write your thesis or else you will end up with a weak statement.

Your thesis statement must be clearly present with no question whatsoever of its existence. The worst thing you can have is for someone who has seen your website or watched your monologue and left thinking, “It was a nice website (or performance) but what was the thesis statement?”  

The ease with which the Internet makes information available makes sometimes tempts students to borrow information without properly documenting its source. Poor planning and organization can make it easy to lose track of what you read and where you read it. When you present material that contains any ideas that are not yours alone without properly citing or crediting the original author; that is plagiarism.

It is important to carefully keep track of your information and sources in your paper management system as well as build your bibliography “as you go”.

Plagiarism is taken very seriously. Plagiarism can be detected with careful reading, simple Internet searches and plagiarism software. If a student submits work in first draft form that contains plagiarized material, the student’s teachers will make every effort to ensure the student’s understanding of what it is and how to avoid it. If any work is submitted in final draft form containing plagiarized material, the student’s grade will be severely affected.

Students at West Sound Academy will follow the progression of ERP subject areas below:

Grade 6:                 History

Grade 7:                 History or English

Grade 8:                 Science

Grade 9:                 History

Grade 10:               English

Grade 11:               Extended Essay (EE) or Senior Project (SP) in the subject of student’s choice

Grade 12:               Finalization of EE or SP

Georgia Chehade

R1 and R2
Ryan Hall

Email:  gchehade@westsoundacademy.org

Find books, digital resources (ebooks), WebPath Express websites, and Open Educational Resources (OER).

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