a color coded research paper

A COLOR CODED RESEARCH PAPER

For the perfect blend of You and Your Sources!

RED SENTENCES

Thesis and all topic sentences will be red.

YELLOW SENTENCES

All of your quotes are mellow yellow!

PURPLE SENTENCES

All paraphrased entries are The Color Purple. (This is also the title of a terrific movie.)

GREEN SENTENCES These sentences allow you to:

Provide ample explanation, discussion, and expansion of each idea from your paraphrases and quotes

Use transitional words to connect your paraphrases and quotes.

You will need both between each entry of your sentence

outline.

DON’T REPEAT

The green sentences should not repeat

the prior sentence. They should add

more specific details (paint a picture).

FOR INSTANCE:Traffic accidents that occur because of cell

phone distractions have greatly increased as more people use cell phones. It is a common occurrence to now see drivers texting on their phones and trying to maneuver through traffic at the same time. To illustrate, Nick Bunkley, author of the article, “Drivers on Cell Phones Kill Thousands, Snarl Traffic,” states that sixteen percent of the crashes and deaths were caused because the drivers were distracted (32).

A GREEN SENTENCE DOES NOT

Reintroduce or comment about the author. Your signal phrase already does that.

For instance, don’t do this:- Ms. Porter is going to describe how students should exercise.

It is an opportunity for you to explain your previous sentence by giving examples, providing more details or more discussion.

TAKE OUT A SHEET OF SCRAP PAPER. . . .

LET’S TRY IT!! Connect these two sentences with a “green”

sentence of explanation. Don’t forget to include a “transitional word or phrase” from your list.

Physical activity provides great benefits for students in schools.(You will want to comment on how lack of physical activity affects academic performance - to lead into this quote and add a transition word or two) Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s Get Physical, describes how a student’s lack of physical activities results in poor academic performance(24).

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF

TRANSITIONS Your words create a logical flow from

one entry to the next.

Meanwhile,

Afterward,

In the same way,

In conclusion,

For instance,

Use these either before or after

each green sentence…..or

both. These will always be in

green.

THIS IS WHAT I WROTE!!Physical activity provides great

benefits for students in schools. School days tend to be long and sometimes boring for students, resulting in a lack of energy both physically and mentally. For example, Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s Get Physical, describes how a student’s lack of physical activities results in poor academic performance (24).

LET’S TRY ONE MORE!! Connect this paraphrase with a quote.

Physical activity provides great benefits for students in schools.(You will need at least one green sentence connecting this topic sentence to the next paraphrase or quote – it’s not your paper until you do this because you add your voice) Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s Get Physical describes how students lack of physical activities results in poor academic performance(24). (Connect this paraphrase with this quote) Porter continues with a student’s thoughts, “I sit and think and sit and write and fall mentally asleep. If I could just get up and do a lap around the school, I know I could wake my mind up again” (26).

I’M GOING TO CONNECT IT TO A QUOTE! NOTICE THE TRANSITION

PHRASES? Physical activity provides great benefits for

students in schools. School days tend to be long and sometimes boring for students, resulting in a lack of energy both physically and mentally. For example, Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s Get Physical describes how students lack of physical activities results in poor academic performance (24). Seven hours of sitting, writing, and thinking makes students physically weary. Additionally, Ms. Porter describes the attitude of one of her students, “I sit and think and sit and write and fall mentally asleep. If I could just get up and do a lap around the schools, I know I could wake my mind up again” (26). In other words, students simply need to be able to move in order to think better.

LET’S TRY ONE MORE This time, get your sentence outline. Let’s connect your first topic sentence with the first

entry in your sentence outline. Don’t forget to use a “smooth” transitional word or

phrase.

Do not simply repeat the previous sentence; add a more specific example, detail, date,

etc.

Pair/Share

Class Share

BLUE SENTENCES At the end of each subtopic, you will analyze the evidence

you presented, explaining why it PROVES your thesis

statement. It can be as short as one sentence or as long as

a paragraph. It’s not a summary of your evidence, it

answers the “so-what” question.

HERE IS HOW I ENDED THAT SUBTOPIC

Let’s examine the last subtopic and talk about how we could describe how this PROVES the thesis:

Physical exercise is important to growing children and teens because it positively affects every area of their lives.

First sub-topic sentence: Physical activity provides great benefits

for students in schools

Physical activity provides great benefits for students in

schools. School days tend to be long and sometimes boring for

students, resulting in a lack of energy both physically and

mentally. For example, Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s Get

Physical describes how students lack of physical activities results

in poor academic performance.(24). Seven hours of sitting,

writing, and thinking makes students physically weary.

Additionally, Ms. Porter describes the attitude of one of her

students, “I sit and think and sit and write and fall mentally

asleep. If I could just get up and do a lap around the schools, I

know I could wake my mind up again” (26). In other words,

students simply need to move and think together. Test scores and

statistics prove that students who are given an opportunity to

stretch, both their minds and their bodies during a school day,

perform better in all areas of academics. With this proven data,

why would any school want to limit its physical education

program?

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT MY DAUGHTER, CHRISTINA. . .

“Once upon a time, Christina was asked to the Strong Vincent prom. . .

Thesis Statement: I should be allowed to go to the prom with Tom because he is a safe date.

Subtopic #1: Tom has a perfect driving record.

Subtopic #2: Tom has a great reputation.

Subtopic #3: We’re going with two other couples.

Subtopic #4: I promise to comply with curfew of 12 am.

LET’S TRY A BLUE SECTION WITH YOUR STUFF.

Read your Thesis Statement Read your first sub-topic sentence Read your newly added green sentence Read all your evidence. Reread your thesis statement.

HERE’S THE QUESTION!!!!

How does all that evidence prove your thesis? (For instance, “These statistics prove that…..” or “This evidence suggests that….”

PAIR/SHAREGive a compliment and a constructive criticism.

TURN THE OTHER WAY AND PAIR/SHARE WITH ANOTHER.Give a compliment and a constructive criticism.

HOW WELL WILL YOU TELL YOUR STORY?!?

You are the lawyer that links all the evidence together (green explanation sentences). Your quotes and paraphrases are your witnesses (yellow & purple), and your blue analysis sentences are your final summation.

QUICK NOTE….. Some of your sentence outlines list entry after

entry of the same author. Feel free to combine some of that information

without repeating their names (or article titles) over and over again to avoid repetition and tedious wording.

Some of your purple sentences may bump up to another purple sentence. Make sure to separate them with green.

Be attentive to your writing styles. Avoid…

YOUUUUUUUUU (and first person) Conversational and informal phrases and SLANG. Dang

that slang. It just slays me!!

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. . . •Please use the rubric and checklist to guide your work. . .this is how I will grade your work!

. ON YOUR MARK….GET SET…GO WRITE YOUR 5-7 PAGE RESEARCH PAPER…IT IS TIME!

You are now ready to write your “professional” article of

research.