Unit 3: Research Writing

Lesson 1: Pre-Writing for Research

Lesson 1: Pre-Writing for Research

Lesson 3-1

Lesson Overview

Key Terms

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding the pre-writing and preliminary research phase of a research paper

Course Textbook

Read the Unit 3 Project Preview

 

Other Interactive Materials - Research Topic Websites

Lesson 3-1

In this lesson, you'll begin working on a comparing and contrasting research paper. You can compare two genocides, two types of music, two kinds of food, two kinds of sports or two types movies. Pick a topic that interests you. Ask the teacher if you are interested in another topic for approval. The research process will be the same for any topic you decided to compare/contrast. Follow these steps to success:

  1. Think about the Unit Project, which will be a research paper comparing and contrasting the Holocaust to another genocide or two types of music, food, sports, or movie. Preview it in the Reading & Discussion Sidebar (1 day).
  2. Learn more about pre-writing in Learn More(1 day). 
  3. Read some of the websites related to your topic in the Interactive Materials to get started for ideas.  (1 day).
  4. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 3 Lesson 1' (3 days).
  5. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day).

 

Learn More

Before you start working on your research project, it's important to learn about 'prewriting' and why it matters. Prewriting is the first step in the writing process. It's when you brainstorm, plan, and organize your ideas before you actually start writing. It's kind of like getting everything ready before you begin building something. Read these sources to learn more about prewriting. 

Learn more about Pre-Writing:

Journal Activities

Respond to the following prompts in your Course Journal:

  • Which topic will you be researching?
  • Do some preliminary research on the topic and upload notes and sources. Make sure to have a minimum of 5 - 10 sources.
  • Focus on specific points you are interested in comparing and contrasting of the topic.  Be as specific as possible.
  • Use one of the pre-writing strategies learned to begin writing your research paper.

Prewriting Slideshow

Interactive Activity (Click on Image to Begin)

Different types of pre-writing

Steps of academic writing

Lesson 2: Research and Finding Sources

Lesson 2: Research and Finding Sources

Lesson 3-2

Lesson Overview

 

Key Terms

What You Will Learn

 

  • Understanding how to select appropriate resources 
  • Understanding how to evaluate resources 
  • Understanding how to take research notes

Project Preview


Read - Unit 3 Project Preview

and

MLA Style Guide

 Interactive Materials: 

Lesson 3-2

In this lesson, you’ll begin working on searching for sources for your research paper. Follow these steps to success:

  1. Watch two videos in Video on how to evaluate resources for your research (1 day). 
  2. Begin doing research searches on your topic of choice. Do a “Power Skim” by reading the title and subtitle, abstract, introduction, first sentence of each paragraph, and the conclusion. If it is a good source, take notes on it in your general, with the citation. Be very careful not to plagiarize! (3 days). 
  3. Learn about how to write notes and conduct research in Interactive Materials (1 day). 
  4. Review how to cite in MLA format and visit Citation Machine in Interactive Materials to learn how to easily make citations (1 day).
  5. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 3 Lesson 2' (3 days). 
  6. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day). 

Learn More

Learn more about selecting appropriate sources for Research:

Journal Activities

Complete the following activities in your Course Journal:

 

  • Research five to ten sources for your research paper 
  • Evaluate the reliability of each source 
  • Make notes for your research paper using this chart - How Your Notes Should Look

Videos 

How to Evaluate Sources

Method for Evaluating

 

Research Tips Slideshow

Interactive Activity (Click on Image to Begin)

Works Cited Page for MLA

Evaluating Research Sources

Lesson 3: Organization

Lesson 3: Organization

Lesson 3-3

Lesson Overview

Key Terms

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding how to write a proper thesis statement
  • Understanding how to write a detailed outline
  • Understanding point by point structure

Course Textbook

Read Unit 3 Project Preview

Interactive Materials:

Lesson 3-3

In this lesson, you'll work on your thesis statement and outline for your research paper. Follow these steps to success:

  1. Write your thesis statement for the research paper. This must be objective and based on your research, not personal opinion. This statement must include 1) the topic being discussed, 2) the main points of the paper, and 3) important comparisons/contrasts.
    • Example: The leadership structure and political leanings of the Khmer Rouge closely mirrored that of the Nazi party, and allowed for genocide to occur with little resistance from the general public.
    • Example: Basketball and soccer are two popular sports around the world that people love to play because they involve strategic thinking and team motivation.
    • See more in Interactive Materials(3 days).
  2. Write an outline for your paper using a “point by point” structure. The Introduction should show the thesis statement. Body paragraphs should show specific aspects that will be compared and contrasted. The Conclusion should show why the topic is important. See more in Interactive Materials (3 days).
  3. Learn more about creating a Works Cited page and using in-text citations in Interactive Materials (1 day).
  4. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 3 Lesson 3' (1 day).
Learn More

Learn more about Writing a Thesis Statement:

Journal Activities

Complete the following activities in your Course Journal:

Videos 

Thesis Statement

Outline

MLA

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Interactive Activity (Click on Image to Begin)

MLA In-Text Citations

Thesis Statement

Lesson 4: Drafting

Lesson 4: Drafting

Lesson 3-4

Lesson Overview

 
 

Key Terms

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding how to bring a thesis, outline, and research together into one rough draft
  • Understanding how to edit a rough draft

Course Textbook 

Read the Unit 3 Project Preview

Interactive Materials:

Lesson 3-4

In this lesson, you'll write a rough draft of your research paper.  Follow these steps to success:

  1. Learn more about writing a rough draft in Learn More and Interactive Materials(1 day). 
  2. Review how to create a Works Cited page and do in-text citations (1 day). 
  3. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar, which includes writing a rough draft of your paper. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 3 Lesson 4' (5-7 days).  

Learn More

Learn more about the Stages of Writing:

 

Journal Activities

Respond to the following prompts in your Course Journal:

  • Write a rough draft of the research paper. It should follow the guidelines of the Unit Project. Make sure to include citations.
  • Run the draft through Spell Checker and Grammar Checker before uploading.

Videos

MLS Works Cited Page

 

Writing the Rough Draft

 

Interactive Activity (Click on Image to Begin)

Steps of Writing a Rough Draft

Rough Draft Guidelines

Lesson 5: Revising and Editing

Lesson 5: Revising and Editing

Lesson 3-5

Lesson Overview

 

Key Terms

What You Will Learn

  • Understanding how to critically read and revise a rough draft

Lesson 3-5 

Column

Unit 3 Project Preview

Lesson 3-5

In this lesson, you'll revise your rough draft.  Follow these steps to success:

  1. Learn more about revising and proofreading in Learn More and Interactive Materials (1 day). 
  2. Complete Journal activities in the Sidebar. Upload all the activities under one entry in the Journal tool, called 'Unit 3 Lesson 5' (1 day). 
  3. Take the Practice assessment under the Tests & Quizzes menu (1 day). 

Learn More

Read more about Revising:

Interactive Materials:

Journal Activities

Complete the following activities in your Course Journal

  • Reflect on your rough draft.
  • What is your favorite part?
  • What do you like the least?
  • Was it successful?
  • Did you include MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page? Explain.
  • Write about 200 words.

 

Interactive Activity (Click on Image to Begin)

Arms and Cups Method

Proofreading Tips

Unit 3 Overview: Research Writing

Unit 3: Research Writing

Unit 3 Overview

In this unit, you'll begin working on a research paper comparing The Holocaust to another genocide and other topics to choose from such as comparing two types of Music, Food, Sports, or Movies. 

This paper will be informative in purpose, and you will use a comparison/contrast structure. The first step of every research paper is to determine your subject. You’ll find resources on choosing another genocide or the types of music, food, sports or movies you are interested in comparing and contrasting. Before you start working on the paper make sure to read the lesson Conducting Research Overview as it will give you an overview of the research process. 
Once you've decided on the two genocides or the two types of music, food, sports or movies you will be writing about, the next step is to narrow down your topic. You obviously cannot write about everything about the two genocides or types of music, food, sports or movies in one short paper. You may choose one of the topics below, or you may decide on your own points to compare and contrast. If you are not sure, ask the teacher.

Examples of points to compare for the Genocide research paper include:

  • Reasons why the genocide occurred
    • Government structure?
    • Outside influence or interference?
  • Important people
  • Media response
  • Rhetoric used to justify the mass killings
  • Types of people targeted
    • What aspects of their identity put them in danger?
  • Resolution
    • What stopped the killings, if anything?
  • World response
    • Did the genocide cause any global, national, or local changes? 

Examples of points to compare for the topics of Music, Food, Sports, or Movies:

Music

  • Types of songs
  • Types of singers
  • Styles of music

Food

  • Foods eaten in different cultures
  • Cooking styles
  • Tastes of food

Sports

  • Equipment used
  • Rules of a sport
  • Popularity of a sport
  • Comparing two sports

Movies

  • Styles of movies
  • Types of actors
  • Educational movies vs Entertainment movies

Journal Requirement

The journal is an essential part of tracking your progress and checking for your understanding of concepts in English classes.  These are best completed as a Word Document or converted to PDF so that you can keep your work in a folder as well. Doing all the journal lessons in this unit is extremely important because they help you learn how to write a research paper by guiding you through each step of the research process. When you get to the last lesson you will have a rough draft of your paper.

Journal Activities are required and should be completed in your Course Journal. These assignments are worth 10% of the unit project grade, and include summaries, textbook questions, and vocabulary.

Note: Even though the information in the lessons is related to writing a research paper about genocides, it can still apply to any topic you select.

Continue to the next page

Unit 3: Project Preview

Overview

You will be submitting the final version of the research paper you’ve been working on throughout the unit. In this paper, you’ll compare two items from the topics provided using a point by point outline.  This is an informative paper, where meaning is built through comparison/contrasts points of the topic and understanding its importance. You will use credible sources, citations, and transitions words to make the comparisons in the paper.

Getting Started (Submit to Journal)
  • Choose a topic to compare and contrast
  • Do some initial searches and evaluate the quality of sources
  • Take notes and record citations for sources
  • Write a thesis statement
  • Write an outline
  • Write a rough draft
  • Spell/Grammar check the rough draft and revise
  • Reflect on the rough draft

What to Write

Introduction

  • Thesis statement
  • Preview the points that will be compared or contrasted of the topic

Body Paragraph #1

  • Introduce the first point on which the topic will compare/contrast
  • Provide evidence, supported by in-text citations from the credible sources

Body Paragraph #2

  • Introduce the second point on which the topic will compare/contrast
  • Provide evidence, supported by in-text citations from the credible sources

Body Paragraph #3

  • Introduce the third point on which the topic will compare/contrast
  • Provide evidence, supported by in-text citations from the credible sources

Conclusion

  • Discuss the significance of understanding the topic
  • What is the overall meaning of your paper

Length

  • 1250 - 1750 words

Remember:

  • Use transition words to make comparisons and contrasts in the paper. Use this website to help you https://papersowl.com/blog/transition-words-for-compare-and-contrast-essay 
  • Make sure to properly credit your sources within your paper using MLA in-text citations and include a Works Cited page at the end, listing at least five credible sources, to avoid losing significant points.
  • Format your paper using MLA style.
  • Your final draft should be saved and submitted as a Word or PDF file. It should be in 12-point font in Times New Roman. 

10% of your grade will be on grammar and mechanics. Write as clearly and correctly as you can. This means that 90% of your grade is based on your ideas ­ however, you will not earn an A if you do not proofread carefully and check for errors.

Most importantly, remember this is a culminating project for your Research Unit. Your essay should show everything you have learned throughout the class.

Teacher Survey

Teacher Survey

 

Survey

Instructions

Students must complete the following teacher survey to help us continue providing excellence from our educators.

IMPORTANT

NOTE: To receive credit for this survey, you will need to Save the Thank for You participating page as a PDF and upload it to your journal.

End of Second Semester Surveys

End of Second Semester Surveys

Required to Submit

Please go to your journal and write the date and time you submitted the video and form survey. You must provide a link to the video to complete all requirements for this course.

Video Survey

Record your video online

Video Questions

  • List the three most important things you learned from this course.
  • What didn't you like about this course?
  • Are you happy with your grade?
  • What would you change about this course? What would you add; what would you take away?
  • What would you change about the teacher of your course?
  • Would you recommend this course/school to your friends?

Options

Here are some options to use for making a video:

  1. Use your phone's camera, then upload the file to Google Docs, Sharepoint, YouTube, or any other online cloud. Afterward, you can share your link in the answer box (be sure to edit your video's settings to make it 'viewable' by others.
  2. Use https://webcamera.io/, which works online with your computer's webcam. Once finished, you can download the video to your computer, attach it below, and submit it.
  3. Create a video on www.voicethread.com. Note that by using this option, you will be able to create up to 5 free videos. When you reach your quota, you will need to remove older videos. After you create your video, please share the link in the answer box below. Check your video's settings to make it 'viewable.'

Proceed to the Next Page

End of Course Survey

 

Survey

Instructions

To finish the course, students must complete the following survey to provide us with the corresponding information to better contribute to their education. 

IMPORTANT

NOTE: To receive credit for this survey, you will need to Save the Thank for You participating page as a PDF and upload it to your journal.

Unit 3 Research Writing Project

Unit 3: Research Writing Project 

Project Rubrics

Unit 3: Research Writing Project

Before you start working on writing the Research Paper make sure to go through the journal activities. They will take you through the research process and help you start writing your paper. Remember the journals are 10% of the final unit project.

For this project, you will be writing a research paper comparing and contrasting a topic of your choice.

Select one of the topics to compare and contrast:

  1. Two genocides,
  2. Two types of sport
  3. Two types of food
  4. Two types of movies
  5. Two types of music.

This should demonstrate everything you have learned throughout this unit and this course. If you have done the journal work you should have a rough draft of your paper.

You should make changes and fix mistakes in the rough draft before you finish. This will turn it into the final draft that you can submit. If you've been following the steps, you should be at this stage now.

Your paper must use a minimum of five credible resources. Your sources must be credited in­-text and appear on a Works Cited Page.

  • Click on the link in the Red Box to view the Project Rubrics for this project.

Journal Attachment Update August 2025: Students are required to attach all journals from this Unit by selecting each journal in the “Attach Journal” table. If you fail to complete and attach all journal work for this Unit through this method, a point deduction will occur on this Unit Project.

SAMPLE PAPER

THIS IS A SAMPLE PAPER TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR ASSIGNMENT

CLICK HERE

COPYING ANY PORTION OF THIS PAPER WOULD BE BLATANT PLAGIAIRSM

Proceed to Project Assessment Tab

You will find the project assessment under the blue tab on your left.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your teacher. 

 

DO NOT type your assignment in the STUDENT FEEDBACK section or it will be rejected.

Attach your assignment as a Word or PDF document using correct MLA format in the ATTACHMENTS section.

 

Conducting Research Overview

Read this lesson prior to continuing through this Unit

Conducting Research Overview

Overview

In this lesson, pay attention to:
  1. How to view internet sites with a critical eye to help you become a more efficient and effective researcher.
  2. The differences between internet and the traditional types of research.
  3. The ways to avoid plagiarism.

Conducting Research

In this lesson, you will learn how to conduct research. This is important because you will be completing several assignments in this course that will require you to conduct outside research using various sources. In this lesson, we will also cover several aspects of research including how to locate reliable sources, differences between primary and secondary sources, and properly cite your sources using MLA-style citations.

To think like a true writer, you will need to develop a strong familiarity with research and know how to find information that is useful to the subject that you are studying. 

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Part 1 - Locating Reliable Sources 

Overview

Part 1 Covers Information on

• Using search engines to find resources
• Using credible websites
• Cations of resources
• CRAPP Test

How to Locate Reliable Sources

An important aspect of locating a reliable source in English is knowing what question to ask. Research is often guided by a question that you will be attempting to answer. You can then use this question in search engines such as google to pull up relevant websites. Let’s say that you are conducting a research project about the Crusades. There are several questions that you could use to pull up information on that subject.  

You might begin by searching a general search inquiry using just the term “Crusades” on google. It will pull up a variety of results such as the following: 

 

Next, you might try to find some more targeted information about the Crusades. For example, if you were going to give a background on the causes of the Crusades, you might instead try typing: “What were the causes of the Crusades?” You can see in the image below that this will deliver results that elaborate more on the topic of the Crusades and that link to several different websites with relevant information.

You might ask yourself, “How will I know which websites are reliable for research?” This is a good question to address. There are several ways that we can determine whether a website is reliable. As a general rule, Encyclopedias, academic journals, and other professional resources are reliable since they are edited by professional writers and are reviewed for errors regularly.
This also includes educational websites (.edu) and some well-known organizations (.org). You will see in the results above that there are also links to english.com, which is also a professional website edited by the History Channel.

In general, if the organization that you are taking the information from is well-known and credible, then the information will be credible. Most professional organizations and companies will have their websites edited and checked for errors. This does not necessarily mean that all websites associated with a company will be reliable. For example, you may find information about Ancient Egypt on a travel agency website that is selling tours to Egypt. This company’s goal is to sell a product, so they may not reliably be checking the information on their website to make sure that it is factually accurate. The person who is writing the content here is likely a travel agent instead of a professional historian or writer.

You will also want to be careful with some well-known organizations such as Wikipedia. This is a website that serves as an excellent reference since it has many articles that discuss many topics. However, whenever using Wikipedia as a resource you should check an article’s citations to make sure that it is citing reliable resources. You will also encounter many articles here with messages at the top saying that the article needs additional citations or editing, signifying that this would not be a reliable article to use for your research.

Another hint that you can use to determine if a website is reliable is the quality of the website itself. Pay attention to see if the webpage is outdated or unprofessional looking. Reliable organizations will generally put time and effort into producing a professional-looking website. 

 

 

 

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Part 1 - Locating Reliable Sources (cont.)

CRAAP Test Information

Another hint that you can use to determine if a website is reliable is the quality of the website itself. Pay attention to see if the webpage is outdated or unprofessional looking. Reliable organizations will generally put time and effort into producing a professional-looking website.

A tool that you can use to evaluate your potential sources for reliability is the CRAAP Test. This is an acronym that you can use to while evaluating source information. You should consider each of the following to determine whether a source is truly reliable.

C- Currency

R – Relevance

A – Authority

A – Accuracy

P – Purpose

 

 

 

Evaluating Information (CRAAP Method)

 


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 Part 2 - Primary vs. Secondary Sources

In the study of english, we rely on two different types of sources in our research. These two types are known as primary and secondary sources. 

Primary Sources

Primary sources are sources written by people who witnessed a historical event. They are a great way to get firsthand information about a subject that you are writing about. For example, if writing a research paper on World War Two it might be useful to read a letter or book written by someone who fought in the war. Primary sources also include conversations or interviews with people who witnessed the event. This can provide a unique perspective on any topic. However, keep in mind that primary sources can be biased, as everyone has their own unique perspective and experience that might be different than others who witnessed that event. 

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are sources written about an event or topic in english by people who did not witness it firsthand. The majority of resources for english are secondary sources. These can range from newspaper articles to websites, blogs, academic journals, and encyclopedias. Secondary sources often rely on primary sources for information as well as other secondary sources. For example, a book published in the 1950s about Medieval Europe would be a secondary source. This book might utilize information from previous books published in the 1800s and expand upon the arguments made by those earlier sources. 

 
 

Source Types: Why they Matter

Both primary and secondary sources have their uses in research. To learn more about these types of sources and when to use them, watch the video to the right.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources: The differences explained

 

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Part 3 - Citing Your Sources 

MLA Works Cited Page

Tips: What to do when starting your research
  1. Start your research.
  2. Choose a topic.
  3. Evaluate your sources.
  4. Discuss your topic.
  5. Interpret what you read in your own words (from the source).
  6. Create a Works Cited page.

Source Citation Information

Once you have located all your sources, it is time to cite them. For each of your projects, you will be required to produce a works cited page in MLA format. You will then attach this page at the end of any essays or copy it into the final slide(s) of your presentations.

You might ask why it’s necessary to cite your sources in a specific format. This is in order to prepare for future academic work. If you choose to pursue a college education, you will need to know how to cite your sources properly in different formats. In the academic world, each major content area has its own style of citations that it utilizes. These include Chicago Style, which is common in english, APA, commonly utilized in the sciences, and MLA, which you will be utilizing here.

 Below you will find an example of how to format your sources using MLA-style citations. You can use this image as a guide for what information you should include in your citations, and also review the websites attached below for more specific details about MLA-style citations.

Additional MLA Citation Resources

MLA Formatting and Style Guide

 

MLA Citations (8th Edition)