Steps to Making Research Easier

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Steps to Making Research Easier
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Step 1 The Key to Success

• Keep your research note sheets, assignment
  sheets, and other papers organized during the
  research project
• Understand your assignment and know what your
  teacher is requiring.

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Step 2 Writing your Questions

• Know a good question from a bad one.
• Good questions usually begin with why, how, or
  sometimes what and bad questions usually begin
  with who, where, or when.
• Good questions require long, detailed answers and
  bad questions have short answers with few
  details.
• Bad questions can be changed into good questions
  by combining bad questions and correct the
  wording.

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Good questions or bad questions

• Who was Langston Hughes?
• What impact did Emily Dickenson have on other
  American poets?
• When did Edgar Allen Poe live?
• How did Maya Angelou use language to convey her
  ideas in her poetry?

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• Good or Bad Questions Continued
• Where did Walt Whitman live?
• What elements in Edgar Allen Poes poetry
  fascinate readers and why?

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Step 3 How to Skim and Scan to Find Answers to
Questions

• Know the keywords from the questions to help you
  locate information quickly.
• Example What impact did Emily Dickenson have
  on other American poets?
• 2. Know the synonyms for the keywords in order
  to skim and scan.
• Look at the question above. The synonyms
  are
• ______, _____, and _____.

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How to Find Keywords and Synonyms in Books and
Web SitesQuickly

• Keep your questions next to you while
  researching.
• Have the keywords and synonyms written next to
  each question.
• Run your eyes down (skim) and across the page or
  screen (scan) while looking for keywords and
  synonyms.

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What to Skim First to Find Answers Quickly

• Beginning sentences of paragraphs
• Headings and subheading
• Photos and captions
• Bold and italicized words

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Research means.

• Re-searching
• Re-looking
• Re-reading
• Re-investigating
• until ALL your questions are answered.

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Step 4 Taking Notes

• As you begin writing the answers to questions,
  keep your list of questions and keywords nearby.
• Skim and scan for answers.
• Write your notes clearly so you can read them
  later.
• Summarize your answers and do NOT copy
  word-for-word.

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Sample Note Cards

• Identify the subject (slug) Source
  ____
• Use one of three ways to take notes paraphrase,
  summarize, or write a direct quotation.
• Page ______
• (Put name and card on back of this card.)

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Sample Source Card from a Book

• Source ________
• Josephson, Judith Pinkerton. Nikki Giovanni.
  Berkeley Heights, NJ Enslow Publishers, Inc.,
  2000.
• Mesquite H.S. Library B Giovanni