Organizing your Thinking

When is this project due?

• The smart researcher will create a time line for getting things done that allows for all the other time demands of your life ( family, sports, other assignments ) Even if you can't hold exactly to this schedule, it will help you see just how much there is to do.
• Divide your task into: Time to locate information, Time to gather the information (This includes READING what you find), Time to write or construct.

What requirements have been set by the teacher?

• If you are given verbal instructions only, write down what you think you have to do and show it to the teacher to be sure you have it right.
• If this is a group project, you need to plan group time and be clear about your particular task.
• Is your audience your class or some other organization of adults with additional requirements who may not have the background information your class shares?

What will the final product look like?

• Play to your strength - if you have a choice, do what you know you are good at.
• Follow these guidelines for creating and presenting your project.

What are the best resources available?

• In the school library? In the public library? In the world around me?
• Avoid the "internet only" trap. Consider various Reference Tools among the library resources you look for.

How am I going to record my research?

• You need to be able to link all your information to the source it came from and the research question it answers.
• The quick and easy way is to copy or print pages from books or the internet and highlighting the "important facts". There are some problems with this quick and easy way:
  -- Because this means looking at original source when you write, it often leads to plagiarizing.
  -- It also does not connect the information to a particular research question making organization difficult.
• There are many other ways to record your research. Here are a couple:

  Graphic Organizers
  Notecards
  Grid
  Notebook files

How am I going to avoid plagiarizing?

• There needs to be a step between finding the information and sharing the information that involves interpreting, synthesizing, or summarizing the information. This step makes the information your own. Only by writing from your own notes can you be sure you are not plagiarizing.
• Just changing a few words or phrases is still plagiarizing.
• Combining sentences from many sources usually leads to paragraphs that make no sense and is still plagiarizing.
• You need to know that it is very easy for a teacher to locate a source you have copied especially if that source is on the web. The consequences for plagiarizing can be serious.

Now you are ready to gather and record your information

Please send comments or questions to the 4J Web Team.
Eugene School District 4J
200 North Monroe Street, Eugene, Oregon 97402
Phone: 541.687.3123 [TTD 541.687.3447]

Last modified: October, 2003 by Steinke, Ague, Feuerhelm, Maxwell, and Warburg