Revolutionary War Research Project
Revolutionary War Paper:
The American Revolution had many twists and turns. Students will expand their
knowledge of this monumental event in American History by researching selected key
events or people associated with the Revolutionary War. The focus will be on the
significance of the person or event to the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Once the
research is completed, the student will develop a thesis based research paper
accompanied by a 5 minute PowerPoint presentation.
Getting Started:
1. Students will sign up for a specific topic from an approved list. There will be no
duplicates allowed.
2. Use the rubric provided as a guide for completing your project.
3. Research of this topic will require a minimum of four Internet sources.
4. Your research paper will identify the significance of your topic to the outcome of
the Revolutionary War. It must be a minimum of five paragraphs, not including a
cover page and annotated bibliography in APA format.
5. Students will submit their first draft of their research paper to the writing center
for peer review. The first draft with writing center check sheet is due November
18th and 19th.
6. Students must submit the final draft of their research paper to a plagiarism
checker prior to submitting the paper for a grade. Proof that the paper is
plagiarism free must be attached to the paper.
7. Students will construct a PowerPoint presentation from their research. This
presentation must have a minimum of 6 content slides, maximum of 10 content
slides. This number does not include the introduction slide and citation slide.
The PowerPoint will be presented on the students assigned date.
Due Dates:
The rough draft of the paper is due November 18th (A day) and November 19th (B day). A
writing center check sheet must be submitted with this draft.
The final draft of the paper will be due December 7th (A day) and December 8th (B day).
Presentations will take place December 7th through December 14th, depending on the
assigned date.
Paper Check-List:
1. ___________ The research paper has an APA cover page.
2. ___________ The research paper is double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt.
font.
3. ___________ The research paper has 1-inch margins all around.
4. ___________ The research paper is in paragraph format and the start of each
paragraph is indented.
5. ___________ The research paper is in APA format with in-text citations.
6. ___________ Any thought or concept presented that is not common knowledge
has been cited.
7. ____________ All citations in text correspond to a work cited on the bibliography
page.
8. ____________ Any source listed on my bibliography has at least one
corresponding in text citation.
9. ____________ There are a total of four sources in my annotated bibliography.
10. ____________ The content of the paper is a minimum of five paragraphs.
11. ____________ A self-evaluated rubric.
12. ____________ Plagiarism check shows a score of 80% or more original work.
Revolutionary War Project: Rubric
Name: ________________________
Organization
Content
Quality
Sources
Mechanics
Revolution Topic: _________________________
Exceptional
A
Very organized with
5 well-constructed
paragraphs. Meets
required length.
Satisfactory
B-C
5 paragraphs are
organized, but not
constructed well. Does
not meet required length.
Needs Improvement
D or lower
The information is
disorganized and poorly
constructed. Paper is too
short.
Required criteria
from the assignment
sheet are met
thoroughly.
Most of the required
criteria from the
assignment sheet are met.
Criteria from the assignment
sheet are not met at all.
Paper identifies the
significance of the
topic to the outcome
of the Revolutionary
War.
Summary of topic.
Followed most directions /
did not go above and
beyond.
At least 4 reliable
sources are used and
all are accurately
documented in APA
format. Excellent
annotated bib.
There are minimal
grammatical or
spelling errors.
Fewer than 4 reliable
sources are used, or
sources are not accurately
documented in APA
format. Good attempt on
annotated bib.
There are a few errors that
make reading difficult.
Score
Student / Teacher
(S)_____/20
(T)_____/20
(S)_____/20
(T)_____/20
Directions were not followed.
Appears thrown together with
little thought involved.
(S)_____/20
(T)_____/20
Sources are not reliable, or
obviously not in any format.
(S)_____/20
(T)_____/20
Report is very difficult to read
because of obvious errors.
(S)_____/20
(T)_____/20
Presentation
Time:
Presentation is very
informative and easy
to follow.
Audio/visuals are
very relevant and
well prepared. A
properly formatted
Works Cited page is
provided. You know
your stuff, how to
present it, and how to
document!
Presentation lacks
information and/or hard to
follow. Audio/visuals are
good, but more practice
was needed. Works Cited
page looks thrown
together. You might
know the information, but
struggle to clearly present
it without more practice.
Presentation is very hard to
follow because of missing
information. Audio/visuals
lack relevancy to the issue, and
last minute preparation is
evident. No Works Cited
page.
Notes (Paper):
Paper:
Notes (Presentation):
Presentation:
/ 100
Teacher only
/50
Total
/150
/50
The Cornell University Library has defined an annotated bibliography as:
a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief
(usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The
purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality
of the sources cited.
(Michael Engle, Amy Blumenthal, and Tony Cosgrave. Olin Library Reference. Research
& Learning Services. Cornell University Library. Ithaca, NY, USA)
In English, this means you are creating a paragraph that others may read to get a
general idea of what your sources are about. The hardest part is being concise with your
information. Annotations take practice but once you get the hang of it they are easy. Here
are the steps to follow:
A: Talk about the author. (1 sentence)
Is this a professor? Maybe this is a professional in the field? Or is this person a hobbyist?
Tell the audience about the author in the first part of the annotation.
B: Explain what the article is about. (1-3 sentences)
Tell the audience what is in the article. This is the most difficult part of the annotation
because it requires you to be very succinct. Don’t rewrite the article; just write the base
facts and important notes about the article here.
C: Explain how this article illuminates your bibliography topic. (1-2 sentences)
What about this article makes it relevant to your topic? Why did you select it? What
pertinent bit of information makes this article stand out among the others?
D: Compare or contrast this work with another you have cited. (1-2 sentences)
How does this specific article relate to another article in your annotated bibliography? Do
they agree or not? Why not? What makes them unique?
From a handout by Aaron Wimer, Head of Reference