2. Step I: Getting organized for research  Teacher:  builds a sense of excitement and a positive attitude in students about the research project.  helps students to develop note-taking and paper- management systems.  informs students about project management procedures, such as contracts, work sheets, timelines, and weekly plans.

3. Step II: Selecting a topic  Teacher  presents a timeline for selecting a topic and guidelines for changing a topic.  Teacher and students  brainstorm possible topics  discuss how to formulate research questions that explore who, what, when, where, why, and how issues.  Students  think about topics based on their personal interests and curiosities.

4. Step III: Background reading for historical content  Teacher  introduces primary and secondary sources through discussion and exercises.  Discuss where and how to locate these sources  Students  begin background reading using secondary sources (e.g., encyclopedias, books, magazines, newspapers, people) and practice using index cards to record where information is found.  begin developing specific research questions.  develop a working title.

5. Step IV: Locate Sources  Teacher:  Have students brainstorm where sources can be found

6. Step V: Narrowing the topic General interest: WW II Topic: War in the Pacific Specific: Iwo Jima

7. Step VI: Analyzing and interpreting sources  Teacher  guides students in constructing meaning from sources.  Students  make connections and identify patterns among sources.  practice questioning, weighing evidence, and identifying opinions and bias.  think chronologically and use timelines to establish context and significance of topic.  identify gaps and inconsistencies in gathered evidence.  identify various perspectives relating to the topic.  establish cause and effect, impact and significance.

8. Step VII. Developing a thesis statement  Teacher  reviews the definition and purpose of a thesis statement.  Students  prepare a narrow (i.e., one or two sentences) and pointed thesis statement.  ensure that the thesis sentence explains the significance of the topic.

9. Step VIII. Developing the written paper  Teacher  explains requirements and styles for the paper, citations, and the bibliography  Students  use checklists to ensure that paper satisfies criteria set by teacher.  make revisions based on feedback from teacher, and peers.