planning your research essay -...

Planning Your Research EssayLearning Intention – To understand expectations for assessment task.

Your Task This term you have been learning about the fascinating world

of Medieval Europe, their way of life, culture and the events that

have shaped historical and modern society.

Your task is to research ONE of the following events that impacted

and influenced Medieval European society. Your options include, but

are not limited to:

The Fall of Rome

Magna Carta

The Plague

The Battle of Hastings

The Hundred Years War

You are to present your findings in an historical essay.

Research + 600 word

essay (3 mins)

Historical Essay An historical essay describes an argument or claim about

one or more historical events and supports that claim with

evidence, arguments, and references from your

RESEARCH!

The text makes it clear to the reader what the argument is and how it is supported through evidence.

In about 600 words, you need to include an

introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion.

Key DatesRecord the following dates in your diary –

• Begin Research TODAY

• Drafts Due Thursday 9 March

• Final Copies Due Monday 20 March

You will have lessons to work on your assessment and research, but you will still need to work on this at home.

What Will I Have To Do?This might seem a bit overwhelming, but do not fear! When

we break down the task into smaller chunks, you will see it is

very achievable!

1. Pick a topic (an important event in the Middle Ages)

2. Write your focus questions

3. Begin your research

4. Decide on a thesis

5. Plan your essay

6. Write your draft

7. Create your multimodal element

8. Edit your work

If you follow

the instructions

for each lesson, you will do well!

Today’s Task1 – Pick your topic

Remember you have many topics to choose

from – do not feel limited to the options on the task sheet, but remember to seek approval

before deciding on an alternative topic.

Today’s Task2 – Write your focus questions

Focus questions help to guide our research and direct us when we are taking notes. It can be easy to become overwhelmed when researching, so we use focus questions to narrow down our searches.

Writing Focus QuestionsWhen writing your focus questions, you need

to have an idea of what you want to know.

Sometimes it helps to use the 5 W’s –

WHO

WHAT

WHEN

WHERE

WHY

For Example…So, if we were researching the Middle Ages in general, our focus questions might be -

What important events occurred during the Middle Ages?

Who were important figures during the Middle Ages?

Why were the Middle Ages called the ‘Dark Ages’?

When were the Middle Ages?

Where is Europe?

Exit TicketUsing the topic you have chosen, you are to

come up with 4 – 5 of your own focus questions. Remember:

• Make your questions specific to your topic

• Use the 5 W’s to help guide you

• Make sure your questions help you to

complete the assessment task

properly

Planning Your Research EssayLearning Intention – To understand expectations for research and note taking.

Your TaskYour research process accounts for 50% of

your marks, so it’s important you

understand exactly what you need to do –

‘Questioning and Researching’

‘Analysing and Interpreting’

Mark these on your task sheet as RESEARCH

How to ResearchYour research needs to be organised and

consistent. You must make reflections on your research as you go, and analyse each source that you use. Remember you may use one source for

multiple focus questions, as long as you are recording your information in the correct place.

You will also record your bibliography in a list.

How to Analyze a SourceYou will also be marked on your ability to analyze a source. Analyzing a source includes your opinion of how reliable and relevant a source is for your research. You will need to put this in your comments/reflections column.

C – Credibility

U – Utility

P – Perspective

How to Analyze a SourceThe author of this source is reputable and reliable.

I am able to use this source to help my research.

This source is informative/factual/objective.

C – Credibility

U – Utility

P – Perspective

Today’s Task3 – Begin your research

Today will be the first lesson we have access to the source booklets. You may need to share with

someone who has chosen the same topic as you –be nice and work together. Make sure you record the source before you start taking notes.

Complete a CUP analysis for each source.

Planning Your Research EssayLearning Intention – To understand expectations for essay writing.

Your TaskLet’s have a look at the task criteria. It looks a bit complicated,

but we will break it down so you can understand exactly what is

expected of you.

Knowledge & Understanding

How well do you know your chosen topic?

Questioning & Researching

How effective were your focus questions? Did you use a range of sources?

Analysing & Interpreting

How good were your CUP analyses?

Communicating

How good was your essay? Was it clear? Did you use TEEL?

Your TaskYour assessment requires you to write an historical essay

of 300-400 words. In order to complete this, you have a

bit of planning to do first. Let’s review our process –

1. Pick a topic

2. Write your focus questions

3. Begin your research

4. Decide on a thesis

5. Plan your essay

6. Write your draft

7. Edit your work

8. ALL DONE!

We are already up to Step 4!

Today’s Task4 – Decide on a thesis

For your assessment task, you must research an event that was significant and influenced Medieval European society.

You must create a thesis that outlines the extent to which your chosen event impacted the Middle Ages, so, your thesis

may look something like this –

Joan of Arc was an important figure in Medieval history, whose courage and tenacity impacted the development of medieval society to a great extent.

Remember…Every page of your task sheet needs to be completed. Use the checklist below before you move on to writing your essay:

Defining the task

Selecting a topic

Focus questions

Bibliography

Notes

CUP analysis

Thesis

Key arguments

Today’s Task5 – Plan your essay

Now that you have a thesis, you can begin planning your essay. Remember you need to follow a structure clearly, so that your readers understand what you are trying to say.

You will need to have an introduction, a paragraph for each

focus question, and a conclusion.

Exit TicketUsing the planning sheet provided, organize your ideas for your historical essay.

1. Write your hypothesis in the task sheet

2. Write your arguments below. Remember these need to be your focus questions reworded to statements

3. Use these as the topic sentence for each body paragraph

Planning Your Research EssayLearning Intention – To begin drafting a research essay.

Your TaskYour assessment requires you to write an historical essay

of 300-400 words. In order to complete this, you have a

bit of planning to do first. Let’s review our process –

1. Pick a topic

2. Write your focus questions

3. Begin your research

4. Decide on a thesis

5. Plan your essay

6. Write your draft

7. Edit your work

8. ALL DONE!

We are already up to Step 4!

Essay StructureYour essay needs to be 300-400 words. In order to write a proper historical essay, you will need a clear structure.

Introduction

Provide a fact about the Vikings and your thesis sentences.

Body paragraphs

Write a TEEL paragraph for each focus question.

Conclusion

Sum up your essay and re-state your thesis.

Paragraphing

T Topic Sentence

E Evidence

E Explanation

L Linking sentence

At SCSHS, we use TEEL to

structure paragraphs. This structure ensures your

paragraphs make sense, and stick to arguing one point at a time. It is important you stick to the TEEL structure in order to

achieve the best results for

“Communicating” (on your criteria sheet).

Topic SentenceWhat is the main point of your paragraph?

What is the one thing you want the reader to know?

For this essay, you need to

re-write your focus questions

as statements.

Evidence SentenceWhat are some facts and statistics that relate to the topic of your paragraph?

For this essay, you need to

write a statement from your

research notes. Be careful not

to plagiarise – use your own words!

Explanation SentenceHow will you explain your supporting evidence? What do the facts mean? How do they support and make your point?

For this essay, you need to

make a comment on your

evidence or explain your topic

further.

Linking SentenceHow does this point link to your next point? What are some ways you can connect the two?

For your final paragraph, you

won’t link to the conclusion.

Instead, sum up your paragraph.

Referencing SourcesPart of your task criteria requires you to “integrate evidence from sources”. This is a fancy way of saying you need to reference. Referencing means giving credit to a

source you gathered information from. For example,

The Hundred Years War was an important event in Medieval history (BBC,2012).

I re-wrote the facts in my own words, and then put the source in brackets, indicating that I found

my information from the BBC.

Referencing SourcesYou need to reference a source whenever you use information that is fact, and not your own opinion. Remember, you were not alive during the Middle Ages, so

you can’t have ideas about medieval life of your own – they have to come from someone or somewhere else.

Reference a source by writing the author and year inside

brackets, before the full stop. If there is no author,

use the shortened URL. For example,

The Middle Ages occurred between the 5th and 15th

centuries (www.historyforkids.com, 2013).

Let’s Write an Intro1. Write 1-2 sentences about the Middle Ages.

Use facts about time, legacies, and even etymology.

2. Write your thesis. It should be two

sentences – we did this last lesson.

3. Write a sentence about your topic. Eg. This essay will talk about Magna Carta.

Draft Feedback1. Use capital letters appropriately:

– For the beginning of sentences

– For names of people or places

2. References needed for each paragraph

3. Speak about the Middle Ages in past tense

4. Use ‘and’ instead of ‘&’

5. In your conclusion, re-state your thesis and justify briefly (only needs one to two sentences)

Exit TicketToday, you begin drafting! Remember your draft is

due at the end of Monday’s lesson – so you have three lessons in class to work on your draft.

Remember –

• Use your planning sheet to help you

• Reference your sources

• Edit as you go

• Use TEEL structure