4th Grade Research Report

Project Overview

In conjunction with our social studies curriculum, all fourth grade students will write a research report about a person from the American Revolutionary period. The research and note taking for the reports will be done at home, and the outline, rough draft, and final copy will be written in class. In addition, the students will be expected to create (at home) a visual display to illustrate some aspect of this person’s life.

Each week, students will be given a set of questions that will help to direct their research. The answers to these questions should be paraphrased and in the form of short phrases as this is the “note taking” portion of the research project. Books on the subject, encyclopedia articles, and web sites will be the best sources for the children. It is our recommendation that the students have at least three sources of information. We are asking for parental involvement in helping the children get to a library and access online reference materials. In computer class the fourth grade students have been discussing good strategies for website searching.

The report will be 5 – 6 paragraphs in length. Each paragraph will correspond to the weekly set of questions concerning a different aspect of the life of the person they are researching.

The paper will be graded based on a grading rubric, which the students will receive when they complete the research portion of this project.