Wednesday, March 10, 2010

How do you keep it together?

You have recently been doing a lot of research for your US History papers. When reading for information like that, it is sometimes difficult to keep all of your information and sources straight. What tips or tricks do you use to help keep it all together? Note cards? Some sort of graphic organizer? KWL?

48 comments:

  1. The Sacred Acre By: Mark Tabb

    The best way for me to stay organized is to write down info on note cards because you read it then you write it so I can remember it better. I dont like note cards on the computer because I find it hard to use and I'm slow at typing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BAD DEAL
    By Susan Korman

    Ashley G.
    I used note cards for my research and outlined all for each chapter.
    Its kind of like writing a pook but shorter and through.
    It's real and fills your head with knowledge. The Information
    part of the research paper was somewhat hard to find. Just like writing it in your own words is some what a chalenge of how much knowledge your brain can hold.

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  3. Eternal by Cynthia Smith

    When researching information for my research paper I used notecards. The notecards were very helpful with keeping each topic or subject organized so when I needed to use them I know which pile to use. Some of them I didn't use because they were either unimportant or weren't that much of use to my paper. Also, I used Inspiration to form a web. The web kept each subject in a specific group and I was able to move the bubbles to different places if I needed.

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  4. I write all my information down as i am working on the project. I would suggest that you do the same. Note cards and creating the outlines helped with keeping track of everything. Yes KWL also helped with putting everything together as one.

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  5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
    For the research paper, I used Inspiration. I created separate bubbles for each new idea. The outline I produced also allowed me to organize the order. I printed a hard copy of everything for myself to physically touch and bring places without my laptop. I'd consider myself an organized person in general, which helps.

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  6. Travel Team by Mike Lupica

    Inspiration keeps everything organized the way I want it to be.

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  7. The Lost Boy By: David Pelzer
    During the research paper I used several tools to keep my essay and ideas clear and organized. For the first chapter I used note cards for the facts that I planned to use and then put them in order for my outline. Throughout the rest of my research paper I used Inspiration 9, the diagram and then turned it into a outline so I could easily write my paper.

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  8. All Together Dead
    By Charlaine Harris

    I use the web on inspiration. I give each source I use a color and then make every fact from that source the same color. I then organize the facts by putting them into groups that have similar information. Doing this I know were to find the fact I am looking for and don't forget the website it was from when I need to cite it.

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  9. I am reading Million dollar Shot by Dan Gutman. When I am reading many different sources I try to take note cards for each source. When I am writing the note cards I usually write the source on there and what paragraph I got it from. Another way of doing it is i don't read more then one source a day so then i can remember more, and also have a better chance of knowing were the information came from.

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  10. Annexed by sharon Dogar

    one of the ways i kept track was having a outline and looking back to see what i have use and what i didn't use in the sentences. Then when i forget a sentences i get look back. it also helps you have a closing and begin to tell the read what you are going to talk about and what you talked about the the paper.

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  11. Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

    When I'm doing a research paper, I use notecards to keep the information with the source it came from. I number the sources and put the corresponding number with the notes I take.

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  12. Heaven is for Real
    By: Todd Burpo

    When gather all sorts of information I like to stay organized. By doing this I use many different sources. If I am reading a big article I like to highlight the important parts as I am reading through it. Using Inspiration 9 is also a helpful tool. I like to put different thoughts into different bubbles and then I can can keep it organized by writing where I got it from in the bubble. Using Inspiration 9 you can also put the information you collected straight into an outline to help organize it.

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  13. Squire's Quest - Gerald Morris

    I use note cards and inspiration to keep all of my information in order. This makes it easier to finish work on time since all of my stuff is organized.

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  14. Hero By: Mike Lupica
    When i was doing my research paper, I kept organized by keeping all my information in a binder or file on my computer. Also so I didn't have to keep looking up web sites, I would print off a site and highlight the parts I might use. Then i would copy what I highlighted onto notes in Inspiration. On inspiration, I would organize them into columns or paragraphs in my paper.

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  15. Bo Mitch Albom

    I like to type rough details into a type of outline/rough draft and type the little complex details into note cards, etc. That way when I go back to start writing my paper I already have some stuff written down so I remember which way I am trying to write the story.

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  16. I like to use notecards or inspiration. Inspiration gives you many ways to use the information you have collected. By making a web, an outline, or just writing it. Its a useful tool. Secondary to inspiration is note cards these do the same purpose but take longer to do. This helped my research paper get put together.

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  17. I am reading Girl in Blue by Ann Rinaldi. When I was researching information for my research paper I printed out every source I decided to use. I then labeled each source with a specific number and highlighted key facts I wanted to discuss. Then, I put this information in a graphic organizer, Inspiration. After that I linked the facts up with the chapters I would eventually put them in. Keeping a hard copy of each source helped me to keep everything straight. If I had a question on a source I could easily refer back to the hard copy instead searching the Internet. This also made creating the works cited much easier. I used Inspiration as my note cards and did not write out a KWL.

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  18. Something Blue- Emily Griffin

    It can sometimes be very difficult and overwhelming trying to keep a lot of information and sources straight. A tip to keep things all together and organized is to create one place such as a folder to keep all the related papers and documents in. By doing this, when a person wants to find something related to their paper they will know to go to the folder, possibly titled ‘Research Paper’. I would also recommend having a single document with helpful notes and deadlines and another document with all the sources, possibly titled ‘Working Bibliography. When choosing from either note cards, graphic organizers, or KWL’s it mostly comes down to personal preference. I think notecards are the simplest way to keep facts organized because they can be moved around to create an outline, they are paper or hard copy, and can be kept in one place.

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  19. Breaking Point- Alex Flinn
    My best way to keep track of information i collect is note cards. I like to write down every small fact i find on a note card, and i organize them into certain chapters. I also like to use Inspiration 9 to make note cards form bubbles. I tis easy to keep track of my information with online tools.

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  20. Sing You Home - Jodi Picoult

    I like to handwrite my notes because I'm more likely to remember the information that way. If there's several different categories the information could go in I either write in a different color or highlight in different colors.

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  21. Matched by Ally Condie

    In order to keep my information organized, I like to use notecards or make an outline. I'd rather do an outline because I'm a fast typist and then I can just click and put the information where I want instead of organizing it into piles later. Although, sometimes with this method, I start to include too much information, but it is easier to delete or cut down the typed information than eliminate a whole notecard.

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  22. Danger Zone- Davis Klass

    When I find information I need for my paper I usually put it into a bubble in inspiration 9. This is an easy way for me because i can just make a new bubble and write down all the info and then write which source it came from and I am done. It also makes it into an outline for me, so that is a plus.

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  23. After By: Amy Efaw
    When I start to read a lot of information I usually find whatever piece of paper is handy and just start jotting things down. Other times I will put things on a sticky note on my computer. From those two places I would put things into note cards. You can take them where ever and I like having something I can organize by hand instead of moving things around via "copy and paste."

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  24. The Lucky One by: Nicholas Sparks

    I usually use note cards when I have to do a lot of research. On the note cards, I write down the information and the source I got the information from. This process makes it easier for me to organize and find all of the information I am using. It also helps me keep track of the sources I have used and put them in order to use for my paper.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Sacred Acre by Mark Tabb

    I found that inspiration 9 helped me the most. I could put anything down and if I needed to move it around I could do so. It is an easy way to almost ramble but yet it is useful.

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  26. Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood
    Since it is sometimes difficult to keep a lot of information and sources straight, I keep notecards as I go. I write the source number and information on the card. I write my Works Cited as I go also, and number it so I can record the source number on my notecards. I also use Inspiration 9 sometimes. I like this tool because it easy to make into an outline and it is very organized.

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  27. Flipped: by Wendelin Van Draanen

    To keep information together better taking notes helps a lot. Just writing them down can help me remember easier. Also I sometimes just put bookmarks in a page with important information in it.

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  28. Pretty Little Liars By: Sara Shepard

    I've always been a notecard type of person. In the past, taking notes on, labeling, and organizing those notecards has helped me feel in control. This year, being introduced to Inspiration has opened up a whole new door. I loved the way I could take notes in little-or large-bubbles and move them around to wherever I needed them. Color coding was an easy way for me to keep everything straight and easy to relocate if I needed to.

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  29. American Sniper by Chris Kyle
    It wasn't very hard at all. I used a few very good sources with a large amount of info. For anything specific that wasn't in my main sources I just typed the URL next to the info in case I needed to go back. I also sited everything in the bibliography right away.

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  30. Walk Two Moons
    Sharon Creech

    I used a wonderful tool called inspiration. It helped me organize all that i needed and was very helpful. Thank you inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  31. The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau

    I kept all of my information straight by using inspiration and make a web with all of my sources and the information from each souse, this made it very easy to keep all of my information straight because it put all the information into sections.

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  32. The Last Jihad- Joel C. Rosenberg

    I like to use notecards to organize the information I gather. They are very easy to use and each one tells where the information will go and what source it came from. When compiling the information later on it is easy to reorganize the card in different orders. The note cards are very easy to cite the sources later on.

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  33. Along For The Ride: Sara Dessen
    When researching for my research paper I first bookmarked all of the sources I used onto my browser. I used the first word of each citation of these sites to keep my notecards straight. This made in-text citation a lot easier and also helped keep my information organized with the sources. By doing this I also knew exactly which site each notecard came from. Next to each notecard I also put which chapter I would use that information in.

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  34. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

    I use some methods such as notecards and outlines to organize my information, but mostly the info is stored in my head for use later. For example, as I am writing, certain things pop into my head on the subject. Then I have to remember what source it came from, which usually only requires a quick check of what info each of my sources covers. Otherwise, I rely mostly on memory and small notes on stickies to remember important facts or things I want to concentrate on.

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  35. Uglies-Scott Westerfeld

    While researching for the US/Composition research paper i found it useful to keep notes on Inspiration. On Inspiration I was able to use one bubble per source and continue to add bubbles for each fact I found useful. Once I found all the information needed, I organized the information into chapters/issues and then turned it into a outline from which i wrote. I found Inspiration helpful for keeping notes while researching.

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  36. Out Of My League by Dirk Hayhurst

    I used notecards for my research paper. I like to use notecards because once I have them written down, I can move them into an order that makes sense. Another benefit for me of notecards was that I could do them without having my computer with me as long as I have the sources printed out. This was good because I worked an notecards while watching baseball games. The job can probably be done just as well without notecards, but for me, notecards work best.

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  37. Shiver by: Maggie Stiefvater

    I used notecards when I wrote my research paper. It made it a lot easier to keep my information organized. I wrote different topics for the cards and put the information under each topic accordingly. This made it convenient to find information I needed when I went back to look for it. I also created outlines on Inspiration, which worked very well for me. If I needed to make changes or add something, I could easily go back and do so.

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  38. Before Woman Had Wings by Connie May Fowler

    I usually just take notes in a word document and put the source at the top of the notes, this way I can always click back to the page when needed. I did this for my research paper. I like having all of my notes in one place so they are more manageable and I tend to lose them less.

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  39. Carly's Voice, Breaking Through Autism By: Arthur Fleischmann

    The best way for me to keep things organized while doing research is by using note cards. I generally write what the note card is about at the top of the card and then sort them when I am finished. After I am done sorting them I can put them into several smaller piles. I also can decide whether or not the notecard fits into my paper while I'm organizing them. Writing note cards also makes it easier to write the paper.

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  40. I am reading Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan.
    When I have to keep information and sources straight, I usually use notecards. I have my list of sources on separate piece of paper and I number them. On my notecards I'll put the number of the source in the corner that way it's easy to refer to back to which one it belongs to without writing the whole source. In my research paper, I used a lot of direct quotes. With those, I copied my them right onto my notecards so I wouldn't misinterpret what the author was saying. I think using actual notecards versus online notecards makes things much simpler because it's easier to spread them out and look at them all at once.

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  41. Mockingjay By Susanne Collins

    When doing my US history research, I kept my information organized by entering the data into a bubble on inspiration. The bubble would consist of the information I will be using, the name of the source I received the data from, and the area of concern the information would fit into. This technique helped me when I inserted my citations into my paper because the source was already labeled in the bubble with that information. Ultimately these “note bubbles” helped keep all my facts straight.

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  42. Streams of Babel
    Carol Plum-Ucci
    I liked using Inspiration, because you could easily keep all of your facts organized, and know when you going to use them in the paper. It was also easy to find which source each piece of info went with. Inspiration also allowed me to quickly make a good outline to follow while I wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I used note cards on Inspiration 9. It was fun to use and simple. I knew most of my information already, so it was hard to find stuff to put into the note cards and differentiate between what was and was not common knowledge.

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  44. I just put it all on a folder or a word document and go back and look at them.

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  45. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

    I like to make a word document and start a section for each source and then put my notes in there. It was easier then notecards that I could lose or working with those little bubbles on inspiration and I was able to keep track of the information easier that way and print it off an high light the information I needed after I was able to print it.

    ReplyDelete
  46. The best way for me to keep my information is to have them down on note cards. This way all i have tok do is look at the note cards. The note cards are also nice for when you are writing a reaport on a book because you can use your note cards as party of the outline when you are making one.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Ghost In The Machine
    Patrick Carman

    To remember my information I like to use note cards as a primary organizer, but I also keep some sort of graphic organizer to go with it. This is a great way for me to remember all of my notes and sources for the paper I am writing.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Bullet: Laurell K. Hamilton

    When I write things down in order to organize them I'll open a word document and make a list as I think of things. Sometimes I'll take a picture and paste it in so that I can visually remember what the information was so I do not have to go back and open that file.

    ReplyDelete

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