6th Grade English with Mr. T: Greek Gods Research Project

Aims:

IWBAT update my cover page to include a photo.
IWBAT create a bibliography to list all sources to research my god or goddess.
IWBAT finish drafting and begin revising my informational research report about a Greek god or goddess.

Remember, always put ideas in your own words when taking notes.
Plus, remember to cite each source in MLA format!

Citing Sources by BrainPop

Tasks:
1. Homework Check: "The Top of America" (TFK) + Finish Drafting Report

2. Today's Overview:

Review aims and agenda.
Review required assignments (by end of class):

read Chapter 15
finish Quill lessons due on May 19th
update cover page

add a picture of your god or goddess
if you wish, change the size, font, and color of your title

create bibliography

include all sources used to research information about your god/goddess
must use at least four sources (three research + one picture)

if you are not done, finish all seven paragraphs of your research report
if you are done, begin revising your rough draft

3. This Week's Homework: your Greek gods project -- due Thursday, May 22nd

Create a creative way to display information about your Greek god/goddess. Some ideas include:

video
poster, collage, or storyboard
slideshow presentation
flipboard
brochure
diorama
skit
song or rap
webpage
children's book / comic book / graphic novel
map or timeline
something else! use your imagination!

Here are some guidelines:

You should teach us many facts about your god/goddess in your presentation.
Your presentation should last 1-2 minutes (no more, no less).

half will present on Thursday, half on Friday

You must have something to turn in.

Your presentation must be: (this is how you'll be graded)

informative
creative
thoughtful and professional
easy to understand

4. Read The Lightning Thief:

Chapter 15: "A god buys us cheeseburgers" -- pp. 219-241
audiobook: Part 6 -- 0:00 to 35:42 (about 36 minutes)

troubles with audiobook? You can also access the audiobook from YouTube:
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / The Whole Book

5. Quill.org: complete the lesson(s) due this week, from May 19th through May 23rd

6. Update Cover Page:

Add an image to your cover page.

Copy and paste an image from the Internet, or:
Click the Insert menu. Select Image.
Select Search on the left side of pop-up window.
Type in the name of your god or goddess and click Search.
Select the image you like and click Insert.

If you wish, you may change the size, font, and layout of your title.

7. Create Bibliography with Every Source Used (at least three!):

A bibliography is a list of sources used writing a research report.
We will cite every source we use, even if it's one small photo or piece of information. We must do this to show that our writing is credible and to avoid plagiarizing.
We must all cite the sources of any images used.
Generally, we start with the author's name, then the article title, then the publication name and publishing information.

example from Encyclopedia Mythica:

Tuccinardi, Ryan. 'Hestia'. Encyclopedia Mythica. N. p., 1997. Web. 12 May. 2014.

We can use a tool, CiteThisForMe, to help us create our bibliography

Press the logo on the site you want to cite
Click MLA and then Cite this page.
Finally, click Add to bibliography.
In your bibliography, edit the citation to make sure that all the information is correct (click the pencil symbol). Update the title of the article, author's name (if given), etc.

When you have finished creating your bibliography, paste it into your research report.

Go to CiteThisForMe.
Make sure the citation style is configured as MLA (7th edition).
Click Download Bibliography.
Select Copy and Paste.
Select all of the citations. Use Ctrl + C to copy.
Paste the citations onto the last page of your research report, under the heading Works Cited. You should replace (or delete) the helper text. Use Ctrl + V to paste the citations.

Copy and paste your bibliography into the form below, for Mr. T to check:

8. Finish Drafting Your Seven-Paragraph Report:

Open Google Drive.
Find the document called "Greek Gods Research Report" and open it.

You can also find a link to this document in your email (from Mr. T, on 05/15/2014).

Reminders about your report:

The report should be SEVEN PARAGRAPHS.
Each paragraph should be at least five sentences.
Don't just list information! Make your voice come through in writing. Make it flow naturally. Make it interesting.
We are keeping this professional. Don't change the font, text size, or colors.
Formatting: Keep your report double-spaced. Don't add extra spaces between paragraphs. Indent each paragraph with the TAB key. Add one space after each period.

Note: If you are not finished researching, you must do this first.

Use any of the sources (below), listed A through L.
Takes notes in your graphic organizers.
Next to each note, write the source code to indicate this information came from (A for Encyclopedia Britannica, B for Encyclopedia Mythica, C for The British Museum, etc. -- see resources list below and match with the letter shown in the list).

9. Review Criteria for Success:

	3	2	1
expectations of the project	exceeds expectations: includes 7 or more paragraphs with abudant information about the god	meets expectations: includes 7 paragraphs with sufficient information about the god	does not meet all of the expectations of the project
use of information	accurate, relevant, and paraphrased information from sources makes the report clear, effective, and informative	information from print or online sources gives sufficient information about the god	information is lacking, incomplete, or plagiarised, or does not clearly relate to the content of the paragraph/report
fluency	writing is interesting and easy to read aloud, with ideas flowing smoothly from one to the next	writing is somewhat interesting and easy to read; may lack effective transitions or variety	writing is choppy or lacks student's voice; sentences may be formulaic or repetitive
bibliography / works cited	four or more sources are correctly cited in MLA format	citations are not in correct MLA format, or lacking one source	citations are incomplete or missing
conventions	strong use of conventions (capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar)	contains errors but the writing is still easy to understand	contains many errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, or grammar
presentation	writing is consistently neat and professional, using proper MLA formatting; the cover page is complete and attractive	writing is mostly professional; the cover page is complete	writing is not professional or includes many formatting errors; the cover page may be missing or lacking information or an image
on-time		work was completed and submitted on-time

10. Begin Revising Your Research Report:

Make your report more detailed.

Look for short paragraphs and research more information to add in these paragraphs

Be sure to cite these additional sources and add it to your bibliography!

Make your writing more interesting.

Don't list facts!
Add short myths/stories to better explain your facts.
Add transitions to help guide from one idea to the next, and from one paragraph to the next.