McGill

Research Papers and Your Role In Them

Students in Mr. McGill's class are embarking on the journey that is the research paper.  While this task involves many processes, one of the most difficult things about writing a research paper is determining the subject on which you wish to research.

Over the past couple of weeks, students have had the task of doing preliminary research on a topic of interest.  Experience has taught me that students will be more interested in doing the reseach if they choose the topic.  By taking time to find out some information on their topics, some students have learned that their topic is too limited or too broad.  This is actually a good narrowing-down experience. 

Once they have determined a research topic, they should notify me for approval.  When I have approved the topic, they may begin the process of finding sources of information.  These sources can be reference books, nonfiction texts, biographies, periodicals, online resources, and even first-hand interviews. 

Of course, the easiest way to quickly research a topic is via the internet.  On Wednesday, November 28, Ms. Haas met with our class to talk about the research process.  She gave them small, yellow slips of paper with the domain name of the Cobb Virtual Library.  This is found at http://cvl.cobbk12.org/.  The slip also details the username and password.  If your child has lost theirs, email me and I can give you the username and password.  Extra slips are also available at the media center and in our classroom. 

That said, bound materials still tend to be the most reliable sources of information.  We have discussed that online sources are subject to inaccuracies, opinions over factual information, and a lack of scrutiny by a publisher.  Encourage your child to use biographies and other nonfiction books, their textbooks, (when applicable) and periodicals to help them locate the information they wish to share in their papers.

We will be reviewing the proper note-taking and notecard procedures for research next week, and will have a future deadline for collecting these notecards.  In this way, it can be better determined whether further research is warranted or if some information needs to be set aside.  Focusing the main idea of any written work is a sizable task, but to do so with a research paper is even greater.  It's like a smorgasbord, only with the tasty bits being events or ideas. 

Your role in this, as parents, is to help guide your child toward successfully completing each step in the process.  This does not mean that you do the locating and reading for them, but instead that you help them decide what is the main message they wish to convey in their research paper (what do they wish to teach others about?).  If they are researching Abraham Lincoln, they should give some thought to whether they wish to address his whole life or mostly his presidency.  This will determine the way they approach locating and reading the sources they will use. 

They need to ask essential questions such as, "What is interesting or important about this topic?" and "What do most people need to know about this topic to truly understand it?"  A research paper needs to answer these key questions.  You as a parent can use these questions to redirect your child if they are stuck on information that you recognize is unnecessary.

They should not shrug you off, as I have shared with them that you can be of great help to them.  Likewise, they should not rely on your personal expertise.  If your child has a problem or a question that they themselves cannot answer using the materials provided, please have them ask me about this problem when they return to school.  It is, after all, their paper.  It should be primarily their concern!

In the papers that were sent home on Tuesday afternoon of this week, a rubric for the final draft of the paper can be found.  It is useful to review this to determine how the points are weighted for the grade.  As I stated earlier, the final due date is to be announced in the near future.

As always, if you have questions about the paper, please email me at christopher.mcgill@cobbk12.org .

Sincerely,

Alex McGill

One Method for Improving Fact Rapid Recall

For some students, one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome is the ability to recall facts in the four basic mathematical operations.  To better help students practice their fact memorization, we began minute-long drills last month called "Mad Minutes".  This program is, in fact, a program designed to help students increase their recall of facts in a short amount of time. 

You should have seen some of these pages coming home prior to Thanksgiving.  They have rows of ten problems which are the same operation.  Most recently, students took home 40 subtraction problems to do in one minute.  The guidelines for completion remain as follows:  1.  A timer is set for one minute.  2.  The student works left to right, top to bottom (preferably without skipping during their answering).  3.  When the minute timer rings, the student's pencil stops.  4.  The answers are checked by the student or the parent (or co-worker).  The results are then graphed on the page sent home (a new one went home this week). 

The object of the test is to improve by increasing the score of a student's results by one point each day.  Points are awarded from the beginning of the top row until the student misses a problem, until they leave one out, (from skipping) or from finishing.  It is possible to complete the page but only earn one point because one misses the second problem (this is painful, but it has happened before!). 

By graphing, students will have a visual representation of their progress.  With this, they can reflect on their performance, set goals for improvement, and otherwise pat themselves on the back for a job well done.  This is a great tool for anyone who has felt frustrated by working only with flashcards or with doing practice problems without an immediate "purpose".

As students progress through the standards in math, it becomes more important all the time to have a firm grasp of basic facts to 18 in addition/subtraction, and to the 12's in multiplication/division.  Time spent hopefully guessing and counting on fingers distracts the student from the larger, more complex concepts being presented. 

As we work in fractions, decimals, and percentages, it is apparent that those who have their facts mastered (and are able to apply them to new tasks) have a distinct advantage over those who are still waiting for this ability to develop on its own. 

Please reflect with your child on his or her progress.  Share any insights you have or ways you have been taught to think about these facts with them.  They will feel better about themselves, and they'll definitely appreciate your help!

Previously, I had asked students to have parent signatures on Mad Minutes to verify that they had not been done "on the bus."  At this point, I'm asking that parents sign the graphs when they are completed, to verify that the students have actually completed the Mad Minutes and have earned the scores they have graphed.  My intent is to put the student in the position of monitor of their own progress.  Thank you for all your support!

Sincerely,

Alex McGill