ELA.2.C.1.5 ELA.2.C.4.1 CC.1.4.2.V CC.1.4.2.W 2.W.9.P 2.6.H 2.T.RA.1.b 2.T.RA.2.a 2.T.RA.2.b 2.13.C 2.13.D 2.13.E 2.13.F

Research and Synthesis 2nd Grade

Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.1.5
Improve writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing with guidance and support from adults and feedback from peers
Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.4.1
Participate in research to gather information to answer a question about a single topic using multiple sources.

RESEARCH

Researching means gathering information on a certain topic from relevant sources. This information can then be combined or synthesized into your own writing.

SOURCES
Sources are people, books, articles, or images that you can use to gain information about a topic. There are many different sources that people can use to find information.

Relevant sources are ones that are specifically related to or about a certain topic.

TOPIC: Volcanoes

SOURCE 1: A book called All About Earthquakes

SOURCE 2: An online article with the title "An Introduction to Volcanoes."

TYPES OF SOURCES
There are two types of sources: primary and secondary.

Primary sources provide first-hand information about an event, person, or topic.

Example:

Topic: Declaration of Independence
Primary source: The actual text from the Declaration of Independence

Topic: Leonardo da Vinci, an artist, scientist, and inventor
Primary source: The paintings that da Vinci made during his life

Secondary sources provide second-hand information about an event, person, or topic.

Example:

Topic: Declaration of Independence
Secondary source: a book about the Declaration of Independence written by a college professor

Topic: Leonardo da Vinci, an artist, scientist, and inventor
Secondary source: A biography of Leonardo da Vinci on a website

SYNTHESIS

As you gather information from different sources, take notes using your own words. This will help you combine or synthesize the information into your own writing later on.

TOPIC: Snakes

Source: An online webpage called "Snake Facts" from the LiveScience website.

Snakes are reptiles.

Snakes are cold-blooded.

Cold-blooded animals change their body temperature based on the temperature of the environment.

Snakes can be found in many habitats over the world.

They can live in the water, forests, deserts, and prairies.

Snakes are meat eaters.

They eat by swallowing their prey whole

Source: A book called The World of Snakes by Carol Farmer.

There are over 3,000 species of snakes in the world.

Some snakes are venomous. They kill animals by biting them with a toxic substance.

Some venomous snakes are rattlesnakes, copperheads, and king cobras.

Some snakes are constrictors. They have strong bodies that can squeeze things very tightly to kill them.

Some constrictors are the anaconda, the emerald tree boa, and the Burmese python.

The paragraph below combines or synthesizes information from both sources.

Snakes

Snakes are cold-blooded reptiles. There are thousands of different snake species in the world. They live in many places around the world. These places include forests, deserts, and bodies of water. Snakes eat meat and swallow their food whole. Some snakes kill animals with venom. Rattlesnakes and king cobras are venomous snakes. Other snakes kill animals by squeezing them tightly so they can't breathe. These snakes are called constrictors. The anaconda is a constrictor.

CITING SOURCES

When you use outside sources for your writing, you should cite or recognize the sources in an appropriate way.

CITING BOOKS

Author's Name. Book Title. Year the book was published.

Joanna Cole. The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor. 1992.

CITING AN ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY

Title of the chapter or article. Encyclopedia title. Year the encyclopedia was published.

Elephants. The Worldwide Encyclopedia. 2017.

CITING ONLINE ARTICLES
From an online database:

"Title of article." Name of resource site. Date article was published (Month day year). Online.

"George Washington." History Kids. June 12, 2016. Online.

From a website or webpage:

"Title on the page." Title of the website. Online.

"Snakes of Texas." Texas Animals. Online.

CITING A PICTURE

"Description or title of image." Name of website the image came from. CC.

"Rattlesnake in grass." Flickr. CC.

*NOTE: this format is only for Creative Commons-licensed images.

NOTE: There are different ways that sources can be cited. The formats used above are based on Kathy Schrock's recommendations for 2nd grade. They are based on the Modern Language Association (MLA) 8th Edition citation formats.

Research and Synthesis

Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.1.5

Improve writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing with guidance and support from adults and feedback from peers

Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.4.1

Participate in research to gather information to answer a question about a single topic using multiple sources.

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