Research Topic Permission Slip
Student Name_______________________________________________
To parents and guardians,
All 8th grade students will be writing a research paper in Information Literacy on a topic of their
choice. This project will require students to research and critically examine the different
arguments about a particular issue, restate those arguments clearly and accurately in the
appropriate written format, cite their sources, and then draw their own conclusions about the
issue. The paper is essentially a written debate.
There are countless topics that students can choose from, but for this paper the topic should be
something that people typically argue about. For example, many people hold strongly opposed
views on issues like gun-control, regulating speech, censoring video game content, same sex
marriage, and so on.
However, some families may believe that certain topics are too controversial, too offensive, or
simply too personal for 8th grade students to be reading, thinking and talking about in school
(even if those topics may now be “mainstream” news items). Or, they may believe certain issues
should only be discussed in a family setting. This is a valid concern that must be respected.
Because it is not possible to list all of the topics that could potentially be considered
controversial by all families, all topics must be approved by a parent or guardian before each
student can proceed with his/her research.
IMPORTANT
It is not required for your student’s research topic to be controversial. Any debate topic
will do (e.g. school uniforms, standardized testing, helmet laws, etc).
On the backside of this form, your student has listed THREE topics they are interested in
researching.
Please discuss the possible topics that meet your approval with your student and sign on the line
below.
Thank you!
Steve Parlin
8th Grade Information Literacy
I approve of the topics listed on the backside of this paper.
Parent/Guardian signature _____________________________________________________
TOPIC #1 :
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. What is the central
question I want to answer?
2. One side of the debate
argues the following:
3. The other side of the
debate argues the
following:
4. At the moment, the side I
agree with is….
5. I want to research this
topic because….
TOPIC #2:
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. What is the central
question in the debate?
2. One side of the debate
argues the following:
3. The other side of the
debate argues the
following:
4. At the moment, the side I
agree with is….
5. I want to research this
topic because….
TOPIC #3:
_____________________________________________________________________________
1. What is the central
question in the debate?
2. One side of the debate
argues the following:
3. The other side of the
debate argues the
following:
4. At the moment, the side I
agree with is….
5. I want to research this
topic because….