A COLOR CODED
RESEARCH PAPER
For the perfect blend of You and Your Sources!
RED SENTENCES
Thesis
and all topic sentences
will be red.
YELLOW SENTENCES
All
of your quotes are
mellow yellow!
PURPLE SENTENCES
All
paraphrased entries are The
Color Purple. (This is also the
title of a terrific movie.)
GREEN SENTENCES



These sentences allow you to:
Provide ample explanation, discussion, and
expansion of each idea from your
paraphrases and quotes
Use transitional words to connect your
paraphrases and quotes.
You will need both between each
entry of your sentence outline.
DON’T REPEAT
The
green sentences
should not repeat the
prior sentence. They
should add more
specific details (paint
a picture).
FOR INSTANCE:

Traffic accidents that occur because of cell
phone distractions have greatly increased as
more people use cell phones. It is a common
occurrence to now see drivers texting on their
phones and trying to maneuver through traffic
at the same time. To illustrate, Nick Bunkley,
author of the article, “Drivers on Cell Phones
Kill Thousands, Snarl Traffic,” states that
sixteen percent of the crashes and deaths were
caused because the drivers were distracted
(32).
A GREEN SENTENCE DOES NOT


Reintroduce or comment about the author.
Your signal phrase already does that.
For instance, don’t do this:
- Ms. Porter is going to describe how
students should exercise.
 It
is an opportunity for you to
explain your previous sentence by
giving examples, providing more
details or more discussion.
TAKE OUT A SHEET OF SCRAP
PAPER. . . .
LET’S TRY IT!!


Connect these two sentences with a “green”
sentence of explanation. Don’t forget to include a
“transitional word or phrase” from your list.
Physical activity provides great benefits for
students in schools.(You will want to comment on
how lack of physical activity affects academic
performance - to lead into this quote and add a
transition word or two) Sarah Porter, in her
book, Let’s Get Physical, describes how a
student’s lack of physical activities results in
poor academic performance(24).
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE
IMPORTANCE OF TRANSITIONS

Your words create a logical flow from one
entry to the next.

Meanwhile,

Afterward,

In the same way,

In conclusion,
 For
instance,
Use these either
before or after each
green sentence…..or
both. These will
always be in green.
THIS IS WHAT I WROTE!!
 Physical
activity provides great
benefits for students in schools.
School days tend to be long and
sometimes boring for students,
resulting in a lack of energy both
physically and mentally. For
example, Sarah Porter, in her book,
Let’s Get Physical, describes how a
student’s lack of physical activities
results in poor academic
performance (24).
LET’S TRY ONE MORE!!
Connect this paraphrase with a quote.
 Physical activity provides great benefits for students
in schools.(You will need at least one green sentence
connecting this topic sentence to the next paraphrase
or quote – it’s not your paper until you do this because
you add your voice) Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s
Get Physical describes how students lack of physical
activities results in poor academic performance(24).
(Connect this paraphrase with this quote) Porter
continues with a student’s thoughts, “I sit and think
and sit and write and fall mentally asleep. If I could
just get up and do a lap around the school, I know I
could wake my mind up again” (26).

I’M GOING TO CONNECT IT TO A QUOTE!
NOTICE THE TRANSITION PHRASES?

Physical activity provides great benefits for
students in schools. School days tend to be long
and sometimes boring for students, resulting in
a lack of energy both physically and mentally.
For example, Sarah Porter, in her book, Let’s
Get Physical describes how students lack of
physical activities results in poor academic
performance (24). Seven hours of sitting,
writing, and thinking makes students
physically weary. Additionally, Ms. Porter
describes the attitude of one of her students, “I
sit and think and sit and write and fall mentally
asleep. If I could just get up and do a lap
around the schools, I know I could wake my
mind up again” (26). In other words, students
simply need to be able to move in order to think
better.
LET’S TRY ONE MORE
 This
time, get your sentence outline.
 Let’s connect your first topic sentence with
the first entry in your sentence outline.
 Don’t forget to use a “smooth” transitional
word or phrase.
 Do
not simply repeat the previous
sentence; add a more specific example,
detail, date, etc.
 Pair/Share
 Class
Share
BLUE SENTENCES
 At
the end of each subtopic, you
will analyze the evidence you
presented, explaining why it
PROVES your thesis statement.
It can be as short as one
sentence or as long as a
paragraph. It’s not a summary
of your evidence, it answers the
“so-what” question.
HERE IS HOW I ENDED THAT SUBTOPIC
Let’s examine the last subtopic and talk
about how we could describe how this
PROVES the thesis:
 Physical exercise is important to growing
children and teens because it positively
affects every area of their lives.

First sub-topic sentence:
 Physical activity provides great benefits for
students in schools

Physical activity provides great benefits for students in schools.
School days tend to be long and sometimes boring for students, resulting
in a lack of energy both physically and mentally. For example, Sarah
Porter, in her book, Let’s Get Physical describes how students lack of
physical activities results in poor academic performance.(24). Seven
hours of sitting, writing, and thinking makes students physically weary.
Additionally, Ms. Porter describes the attitude of one of her students, “I
sit and think and sit and write and fall mentally asleep. If I could just get
up and do a lap around the schools, I know I could wake my mind up
again” (26). In other words, students simply need to move and think
together. Test scores and statistics prove that students who are given an
opportunity to stretch, both their minds and their bodies during a school
day, perform better in all areas of academics. With this proven data,
why would any school want to limit its physical education program?
LET ME TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT MY
DAUGHTER, CHRISTINA. . .
“Once upon a time, Christina was asked to the Strong
Vincent prom. . .
Thesis Statement: I should be allowed to go to the prom
with Tom because he is a safe date.
Subtopic #1: Tom has a perfect driving record.
Subtopic #2: Tom has a great reputation.
Subtopic #3: We’re going with two other couples.
Subtopic #4: I promise to comply with curfew of 12 am.
LET’S TRY A BLUE SECTION WITH YOUR STUFF.
Read your Thesis Statement
 Read your first sub-topic sentence
 Read your newly added green sentence
 Read all your evidence.
 Reread your thesis statement.



HERE’S THE QUESTION!!!!
How does all that evidence prove your thesis? (For
instance, “These statistics prove that…..” or “This
evidence suggests that….”
PAIR/SHARE
Give a compliment and a constructive criticism.
TURN THE OTHER WAY AND
PAIR/SHARE WITH ANOTHER.
Give a compliment and a constructive criticism.
HOW WELL WILL YOU TELL YOUR STORY?!?
You are the lawyer that
links all the evidence
together (green
explanation sentences).
Your quotes and
paraphrases are your
witnesses (yellow &
purple), and your blue
analysis sentences are
your final summation.
QUICK NOTE…..





Some of your sentence outlines list entry after entry
of the same author.
Feel free to combine some of that information without
repeating their names (or article titles) over and over
again to avoid repetition and tedious wording.
Some of your purple sentences may bump up to
another purple sentence. Make sure to separate them
with green.
Be attentive to your writing styles.
Avoid…
YOUUUUUUUUU (and first person)
 Conversational and informal phrases and SLANG. Dang
that slang. It just slays me!!

FOLLOW
DIRECTIONS. . .
•Please
use the rubric and checklist
to guide your work. . .this is how I
will grade your work!
.
ON YOUR MARK….
GET SET…
GO WRITE YOUR 5-7
PAGE RESEARCH
PAPER…IT IS
TIME!
You are now ready to write
your “professional” article
of research.