EDU 553�Computers in the Classroom
Assignment: A10�Curricular Unit
How to Write a History Research Paper
Unit goals: Students will acquire skills they need to write History research papers.
Grades: 6-10
Lesson plans:
Lesson # 1. Learning How to Create a Work Schedule-time management
A good video to show the students on time management
http://www.homeworkandstudyskills.com/
Lesson # 2. Brainstorming a Topic
Class discussion on topic ideas, break into small groups, then individual work
Lesson # 3. How to Tell the Difference Between a Primary Source and a Secondary Source
How to distinguish between a primary source and a secondary source
http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/primarysecondary.html
What is a primary sources, primary sources on the web, evaluating primary sources, citing primary sources
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/
Primary sources online
http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html
How to read a secondary source
http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/reading/secondary/html/ReadBook.shtml
List of what can be considered a primary source and a secondary source
http://www.graphic.org/resources.html
Lesson # 4. Researching Information Online
Lesson # 5. Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
See lesson below
Lesson # 6. How to Take Notes!
Taking Notes from research reading
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/notes.html
More on taking notes
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW
Lesson # 7. How to Cite Sources Properly and Create Footnotes/Endnotes
Citing sources website
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/works_cited
How to create footnotes and/or endnotes
http://www.aresearchguide.com/7footnot.html
Lesson # 8. Developing a Thesis Statement
Developing a thesis statement
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/advice/developing_a_thesis.htm
How to write a thesis statement
http://www.nv.cc.va.us/loudoun/english/writingCenter/resources/handouts/General%20Writing/thesisstatements.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/thesis.html
Online Writing Assistant
http://www.powa.org/thesis/index.html
Lesson # 9. Supporting Your Statements with Evidence
Lesson #10. Creating Research Paper Outlines
Lesson #11. Developing Topic Sentences
Lesson #11. Editing Papers
Online History Sources for Students:
Internet History sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
Lesson plan websites
http://besthistorysites.net/index.shtml
http://www.education-world.com/
http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/redirect.jsp
Software: Microsoft Word - word processor
Footnotes/endnotes
Connection to Connecticut Standards and Frameworks
K-12 Historical Thinking
Students will develop historical thinking skills, including chronological thinking and recognizing change over time; contextualizing, comprehending and analyzing historical literature; researching historical sources; understanding the concept of historical causation; understanding competing narratives and interpretation; and constructing narratives and interpretation.
Content standard #1 Historical Thinking
5-8
Formulate historical questions based on primary and secondary sources, including documents, eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, graphs, diagrams and written texts;
Gather information from multiple sources, including archives or electronic databases, to have experience with historical sources and to appreciate the need for multiple perspectives;
9-12
Formulate historical questions and hypotheses from multiple perspectives, using multiple sources;
Gather, analyze and reconcile historical information, including contradictory data, from primary and secondary sources to support or reject hypotheses;
Language arts
Employ research skills: 6-12
1. frame their own questions to direct research and raise additional questions generated by the research;
2. synthesize and evaluate information from multiple sources to answer their own questions;
3. evaluate the validity and authenticity of sources;
4. produce research reports that are accurately documented and in the appropriate format; and
5. use available technology to research and produce an accurately documented end-product.
1. generate questions and determine which primary and secondary sources are appropriate to the task, and integrate and elaborate upon this information in a final product;
2. evaluate the validity of sources to authenticate research and answer questions generated; and
3. engage in research by using written auditory and visually based media.
recognize that readers and writers are influenced by individual, social, cultural and historical cont
5-8
1. analyze an author�s bias and how it influences meaning; 2. interpret and evaluate the influence of culture, ethnicity and historical eras on the themes and issues in literature; 3. discuss how the experiences of a reader influence the interpretation of a text; 4. discuss how books they read influence what they think and experience; 5. analyze and evaluate themes and connections that cross cultures; 6. evaluate an author�s values, themes and beliefs included in many texts; and 7. construct meaningful and specific individual connections to a variety of texts in order to make associations between the text and their views of the world.
9-12
1. identify the various influences on authors and analyze and evaluate their impact on text; 2. evaluate how elements of bias in nonfiction influence meaning; 3. read classic and contemporary texts and conduct related research to analyze the cultural influences of a time period on its works; 4. understand and appreciate that literature represents, recreates, shapes and explores human thoughts and experiences; and 5. analyze and evaluate the basic beliefs, perspectives and assumptions underlying an author�s work.
LESSON #5 Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
AUTHOR: Larry Nickell, Karval, / http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sst/sst161.txt
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 7-12
Goal: When reading a source for a History Research paper students will be able to determine if the information in the source is fact or opinion.
Objectives:
1.Students will be able to pick up clues in the wordage of a sentence to determine if it is factual and be able to give reasons for their feelings.
2.It should help students explain the difference between statements of hard fact as found on the front page of a newspaper from that of the editorial page.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS: None are needed except a generated list of facts and opinions that can be presented as a quiz in which the student can mark whether it is one or the other bu marking it either with an "O" or an "F".
Time: 45 minutes
Procedure:
1. Make a list of short sentences pulled from the History text.
2. Discuss with the students what an opinion is and what a fact is. An opinion will involve a judgment about the worth or value of something, whereas a fact has evidence to prove it. Explain that a fact as presented may be false, but it can be proved to be so. If judgments are based on faulty assumptions or facts that the resulting actions taken in response may be askew. Opinions will be deduced as involving an interpretation or explanations for something or some happening which may seem logical but may have legitimate variations of interpretation.
3. Present the list of statements as a quiz (non-graded) and have the students write whether they think it is a fact or an opinion. It is helpful, if on three of the statements of more importance, to have the students explain why the statement, in their view, is a fact or an opinion. For instance, one of the underlying beliefs of the American system is that "all men are created equal." Is it a fact or an opinion? Of course, since it involves belief, it is an opinion. The students could have fun or might find it interesting to figure out what the phrase means and they could also give other beliefs held by different societies about how "man is created."
4. As the list is reviewed, make comments as to why a statement is a fact or an opinion and solicit comments from the students as to how they perceived the statement. One of your primary roles in this assignment is to be able to discern fact from opinion yourself.
Assessment: Design another list of facts and opinions and give it as a test (this one counts as a grade).
Assessments:
Participation in discussions
Rubrics:
Time management
Research skills
Writing Skills
Citing properly (endnotes/footnotes/works cited)
Thesis Statement
Test understanding of difference between primary source and secondary source
Self editing and Peer editing worksheets
Note taking skills
