A to Z RESEARCH PROJCET

Welcome to the world of authors. You are about to become one. Your job
is going to be to research, write, illustrate and publish an alphabet book. This is a
very large job, and will require you to budget your time in order to stay on track
and finish on time. Timelines will be set for you, but you would be wise to set
more specific timelines in order to make sure you don’t get behind schedule.

CHOOSING A TOPIC
The key to an excellent A to Z book is the topic. When choosing a topic,
you must be careful to select one that has lots of information, while also selecting
one that doesn’t have too much. Be sure to select a topic that is specific and
narrow, not one that is broad and leaves you guessing what to do with all the
information you find.
The teacher may choose to give you a specific topic, or a general area from
which you must choose your topic. However, if you have the choice of choosing
your own topic here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

- a city; a country; an era in time (eg. Middle Ages); an historical event;

a famous person (Just because he or she is your favorite singer or sports figure
doesn’t mean there will be lots of information to gather about them.);
a specific animal; a species; a culture; a sport; the Olympics;
a hobby; an occupation; a piece of technology.

RESEARCHING THE TOPIC

After you have selected your topic and had it approved, you must begin your
research. You may find that you can’t find enough information. The best thing to
do is START OVER!!!!!!! Find a new topic that has enough information.
You will have a sheet to help you keep track of a subtopic for each letter.
Don’t get frustrated if you’re having trouble finding 5 or 6 letters. Dig deeper into
all your information and resources. That’s when the real research takes place!

GATHERING INFORMATION
Once you have decided upon your subtopics, make up a booklet with 14
blank pages of lined paper. For each side of the page put the letter and the
subtopic at the top. (The last page is for keeping track of your RESOURCES)
Then as you gather information you will know which page to put it on. Jot the
information down on the page in point form, but put in lots of details for later.
This will make the writing of your book so much easier because the information
will be organized by subtopics already. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO
HAND IN YOUR NOTES OF GATHERED INFORMATION.
RESOURCES
 It is a requirement that you find your information from at least 3 different
types of sources, which means you can’t use the internet for all of your data. Other
examples of sources are: books, encyclopedias, magazines, interviews,
newspapers, CD Roms. YOU MUST USE AT LEAST 3 BOOKS.
Keep an ongoing page of resources so that each time you find a new resource, you
list it on your resource page. ****Be sure to keep track of all of your sources,
including all internet addresses. **** You will need this for a bibliography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A bibliography states important facts about your resources. It also covers
you in the area of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work
and claiming it as your own. Since this is a research of facts, we know the
information is not yours, but you should still give credit to the authors.

For books, be sure to list the author (last name first), title (underlined), publishing
company, publishing date.
McDonald, Ronald. All About Hamburgers. The Food Book Company: 2004.

For encyclopedias be sure to list “the title of the entry” (in quotation marks),
the name of the encyclopedia (underlined), and the publishing date.
“Monkeys.” The Animal Encyclopedia. 2003.

For magazines and newspapers be sure to list the “Title of the article” (in quotation
marks), the magazine name (underlined), and the month & year of publication.
“Tigers Eat School Children.” The Kids Magazine. January, 2005.

For internet sources be sure to list the “title of the article” (in quotation marks), the
name of the website (underlined), and the website address.
“I saw a UFO.” The Alien Website. www.aliens.com/sightings

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At the back of your book or on the inside back cover, be sure to write a short
biography about yourself. This lets readers know a little bit abut you. Also, put in
a picture of yourself. After all, you are a famous author.

TITLE PAGE
After the cover you will need to include a title page. Keep it simple or
decorate it. You get to choose. Look at a lot of other title pages to get some ideas.

DEDICATION PAGE
Most authors dedicate their books to people who are special in their lives.
You can dedicate your book to one person or more than one person. Be sure to say
why you are dedicating your book to them.
INTRODUCTION PAGE
Your book should have an introduction page. It must begin with a question
to hook the reader. Then following must be some interesting facts about your
topic. Then you must close your introduction with something like this: “If you
continue to read my Monkeys A to Z Book, perhaps you will learn other interesting
facts to help you get a better understanding of one of the most intelligent species of
animals on the planet.” The introduction page should be at least 7 sentences in
length. Don’t forget to use paragraph structure.

Here’s an example of an introduction page:

Introduction

Did you know there was approximately 230 Indianapolis 500 Ford Mustang Pace Cars?
You will read this fact and many more in my A to Z Book about Mustangs.

In this book you will learn things about the Ford Mustang that I bet you never knew or
even heard of before. For example: I bet you did not know that April 17, 1964 was the
day the Mustang was introduced to the public, or the Ford Mustang is one of America’s
all-time favourite collectable automobiles.

You will learn that Dan DeLaRossa was Ford’s “Italian” connection, and that 1964
holds the record for being the year that Ford Motor Company sold the hightest number
of mustangs. Believe it or not, the record is 417,000 sales in just that year!! Isn’t that
amazing??

By reading my A to Z Book you will be sure to learn more about the Ford Mustang and
hopefully fall in love with it like I have. Have fun reading and looking at all of the
fantastic pictures.

BOOK PRESENTATION
The layout of your book is generally up to you, however there are some
specific thing you need to do.
1. Make sure each page has a large letter on it.
2. Make sure the information is in good copy format. (either typed or printed in
straight lines using fine-liner for the letters)
3. Make sure illustrations cover most of the page, with very little empty white
spaces. You can draw your pictures and you can cut and paste pictures as well.
4. Make a cover for your book. It should have a front and back cover. Please use
cardboard or Bristol board for your covers so your book is a hardcover book. You
can cover the cardboard in paper or material. You may then draw on the cover or
cut and paste. Be creative. The back cover should be a quick overview of your
book, enticing people to read it.
5. Also include: a title page, the introduction page, a dedication page and a
bibliography. Spend time looking at other books in order to get a good idea of
what should go on these pages.
NAME_____________________________
 MAIN TOPIC:________________________________
Sub-Topic Ideas
A: B:
C: D:
E: F:
G: H:
I: J:
K: L:
M: N:
O: P:
Q: R:
S: T:
U: V:
W: X:
Y: Z:
TIMELINES
This sub-topic page is due on: ______________________________
Your sub-topic conference with the teacher is on: __________________________
Your rough copy outline package is due on: ______________________________
Your rough-copy conference with the teacher is on: _________________________

I have read the requirements, the timelines and my child’s topic & subtopics. I fully support their
research, knowing that one day when they become a famous author I will get some of the credit.

____________________________
Parent’s Signature