Improve Student Writing with Guided Research Projects

I've never really been a fan of teaching writing, but I always really dreaded when it was time to teach informative writing.  Even as a student, research projects were the worst!  As a teacher, I especially hated when it was time for research projects to begin.  

For me, the topic was always too big and I didn't know where to start.  I had a hard time staying on topic.  I never really knew when it was time to be done researching and time to begin writing.  I found that a lot of my students were having the same issues and knew there needed to be a better way.

Guided research projects help teachers teach the resarch process to students.  They basically lay it all out so students can work independently, leaving you to help the students that need it the most.  With essential questions to guide your students and keep them on topic, your students will be able to compose a thoroughly written research paper and create a detailed presentation using PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote.  


Every guided research project comes with information for parents that includes due dates, a timeline and checklist for students, and an overview of the essential questions for the research paper.  

Here is what separates guided research projects from other research projects!  The guided notes packet breaks down the main topic into subtopics.  Each subtopic is then broken down even more with essential questions to guide your students and their research.  

You'll be amazed by how thorough your students will be with their research.  Even my struggling writers were able to compose high quality papers with many details!

After your students have completed their research and written their papers, they can move on to their presentation.  The presentation guide will keep your students on track to create a detailed slide show using any presentation software such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote.  

All guided research projects also come with rubrics to assist you with grading both the research papers and the presentations.

Some of the guided research projects even come with a bonus poster!  You can find more information about bonus posters by visiting individual projects. 

What began as an accommodation for a couple of students, became a useful tool that improves the research and writing of all students!  Guided research projects have been so successful that I have continued to create guided research projects to cover many topics.  Click on any topic to see more!



Do you have an idea for a topic that I have not covered yet?  Email me at LearningLab@outlook.com and if I choose to create the topic you suggest, I'll send it to you for free!  


Another helpful teaching tool that I created to make the research process easy peasy, is this Introduction to Research Flip Book.  Before you start researching, teach them about finding sources, taking notes, plagiarism, and more.  

When your students have finished their research, they will need to give credit to their sources.  This bibliography guide will help your students give credit where credit is due.  It was just updated to include the latest information from the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook.  I like to print this on bright paper so it is easy to find in their folders.  

What are teachers like you saying about guided research projects?  They LOVE them!









Are you ready to make teaching about research enjoyable for you and learning easy for your students?  Add Guided Research Projects to your bag of tricks!

Happy teaching, friends!









No comments

Post a Comment