So You're Doing an I-Search Project?

I-Search Format

Your I-Search Paper will consist of five components. Each of these components has a specific purpose.

Part I - My Questions

In this section I should:

• Draw the reader into my topic with a good lead (for example: a quote, a story, a question)
• Describe what I knew about the topic when I started the search, and what I want to learn more about (why I care about the topic)

Clearly state my search questions (minimum of 6)

Part II - My Search Process

In this section I should:

• Describe the sequence of steps in my search (for example, what sources I started with and what other sources I was lead to).
• Describe problems in locating information and how I solved them.
• Describe breakthroughs! Tell when it got really interesting. Describe the best sources of information
• Tell how I changed, expanded, or revised my questions.
  
• Acknowledge how others in my class and outside the school helped me carry out my search.

Part III - What I Have Learned

In this section I should:

• Focus on three or four major findings or conclusions. Support my conclusions with examples, details, stories, and arguments that would help my reader understand how I arrived at my conclusions.
• Compare these findings with my original questions.

Suggest further questions or areas to explore at another time.

Part IV - What This Means to Me

In this section I should:

• Tell how I've developed as a researcher (for example, what do I know about gathering information now that I didn't know before?)
• Describe things I learned which mean the most to me and tell why they are important.
• Explain how this work will affect the way I act toward or think about people in the future.
• Appreciate myself as a researcher and a writer (for example, persistence, making some independent decisions about my writing, helping another student, taking risks, etc.)

References

In this section I should:

• Have all of my references in ALPHABETICAL order.
• Use the correct format for each reference 

Use the citation website to help me (easybib.com or oslis.org).

Logistics/Citations

Note Taking:

• Answer your questions!
• Write using your own words - no copying/cut and pasting
• Use the index cards provided - one side for your notes and the other side for your source
• Answer only one question on an index card
• Take notes from only one source on an index card                             

Sources:

• Minimum of 8 sources
• Must have one magazine source
• Must have one newspaper source
• Must have one internet source
• Must have one book source
• Must have one actual interview

Paper Format:

• Cover page - Title, First and Last Name, Date
• All other Pages - double spaced, size 12 font, normal font style
• Page number on each page (excluding cover page)

Topics/Ideas

Wars/War Memorials Holocaust/WWII

Vietnam Genocide Today:

Korean Sudan

WWI Darfur

WWII Rwanda

Civil War People:

Iwo Jima Elie Wiesel

Government Oskar Schindler

Current Legislation Bielski Brothers

Current Court Cases Irena Sendler

Branch of Government Adolf Eichman

Art in Washington, D.C. Nicholas Windham

Sculptures Miep Gies

Museum Pieces Adolf Hitler

Architecture Blitzkrieg

History of the Smithsonian Kristallnacht

Job of the President Anti-Jewish Laws

Responsibilities Germany in the 1920s/1930s

Social Obligations Jewish children in hiding

Perks Ghettos

Security/Secret Service Treaty of Versailles

History of Government Evian Conference of 1938

Formation of our Government Rationing

(modeled after, concerns of framers) Danish Rescuers/Resistance

Life as Presidential Family Concentration Camps

Privileges Death Camps

Restrictions Death Marches

Responsibilities Aryanization of Jewish Property

Other D.C. Topics Third Reich

Jeffersonian planning of city Final Solution

Georgetown History History of Anti-Semitism

The White House Bombing of Pearl Harbor

Urban Renewal in D.C. Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki

History of the Navy Yard Japanese Internment Camps

Watergate Scandal Japanese Surrender/U.S.S Missouri

Civil Rights March on Washington Japanese Kamikaze Pilots

Nuremburg Trials

Oral Presentation Format

Part I:

• Name your topic
• Choose your best 3-4 questions
• Explain why you wanted to research this topic

Part II:

• Share the problems you had in your research/writing process
• Share about your breakthroughs
• When did it get really interesting?

Part III:

• Share about the 3-4 most interesting things you learned about your topic

Part IV:

• What did you learn about the process of conducting research?
• What are you most proud of?
• How does what you learned about your topic affect you/change you?

Expectations

• Make eye contact with your audience
• Use enough volume that all can hear you
• Use clarity in your speaking (enunciate)
• Stand up straight (good posture)
• Talk with your audience  (Do NOT READ off your note cards!)