Category: research
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Writing with Primary Sources in Middle School
Each year around this time my eighth graders and I are finishing up their research papers. The assignment asks students to write a thesis-driven paper about a topic of their choice as seen through a particular lens. (Want to find out more about lens questions? Check out this post!) One of the requirements for student…
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The Newark Museum: A Gem
I grew up in a town less than five minutes from Newark, New Jersey. All my life I’ve known that Newark is the home of so many wonderful things: Branchbrook Park and it’s cherry blossoms, the Prudential Center, food that is to die for, and it was the city my immigrant Italian ancestors called home…
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Focusing Middle School Research Papers: The Lens Question
Each year my colleagues and I embark upon an historical research journey with our students that we inevitably tweak for the following class. Students are asked to write a 5-page research paper about a topic from the North American continent between the years of 1600 and 1776. Easy, right? This year, the focus of our…
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Teaching 5th Graders How to Write a Thesis Statement
Today I had my very first experience teaching 5th-grade students how to write a thesis statement. I am a veteran middle school teacher to 7th and 8th-grade students, so the addition of teaching 5th-grade world history this year has been a blessing and a challenge. Our 5th-grade students write a 5 paragraph research paper…