The 5th grade students will be completing a research writing project on Alexander the Great. They will research and take notes from approved sources, create an outline, write a rough draft and typed draft, and edit their work to produce a final draft biography that will count as a major grade. Important due dates are provided for the source cards, outline, note cards, drafts, and final project. Parents are asked to sign the letter to acknowledge they understand the project details and plagiarism policy.

1. 5th Grade Research Writing Project—Biography
Dear Parents,
During the remainder of 3rd quarter and for a portion of 4th quarter, your child will be working on a
research writing project; a biography. Because we have never done a project involving researching and taking
notes from a source before, all students will be researching the same person for their biography. We will be
researching and writing about Alexander the Great, as this ties in with what the 5th graders are studying in
History. Please take a few minutes to read through the following information regarding this project. Included
with this letter is a statement on plagiarism, as well as outlined dates for the project.
The dates listed on page 3 are for specific items I will need to grade and/or check progress, as well as to give
you a general idea of what we are doing in class to complete the research project. (Please keep in mind that
dates may have to be altered due to the needs of class throughout the project. If dates are changed, students will
be told in class, and their planners will reflect change. The 5th grade homework page and the weekly
newsletter/e-mail will have the corrected dates.) Because we have never done a writing project like this, a
majority of the work will be done in class. However, time may need to be spent outside of class to meet due
dates.
Completing work by due dates is an important part of this project. This writing project will be a large portion of
your student’s grade for this quarter and part of next quarter. The finished project will count as a test grade (100
points), plus the individual due dates and in-class work will count as homework grades.
If you have questions about this project, please e-mail or call me. Thanks in advance for your help and support
during this research writing project! Please sign and remove the bottom portion of this document and turn in by
Monday, February 18th.
Blessings,
Mrs. Weber
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We have read through the Parent Letter, Statement on Plagiarism and the outlined due dates for this project.
Student Name: ____________________________________________________
Student Signature: _________________________________________________ Date: ___________________
Parent Signature: __________________________________________________ Date: ___________________
Statement on Plagiarism
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2. 5th Grade Research Writing Project—Biography
The following is what Marquette High School Language Arts Department sends home with their students
explaining Rockwood’s policy on plagiarism.
“Recent media reports about plagiarism in our nation’s high schools and universities reveal how tempting it is,
with the abundant Internet sources available, for students to “borrow” from such sources and others without
properly crediting the authors. Most students will never make the mistake of plagiarizing, and indeed this
behavior may be truly unintentional, with students simply unclear on how to correctly paraphrase and
document. At other times, however, students may understand they are plagiarizing and yet see it as the easy
way out without realizing the seriousness of their actions. Rockwood School District now has a district-wide
policy on academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism. Even so, the consequences detailed in this new
policy are minor ones compared to what students could suffer at the college level. For example, a top Princeton
senior was rejected by at least six law schools after she plagiarized an assignment only months before
graduation.
With all this in mind, the Language Arts Department at Marquette wants to be certain that everyone understands
what plagiarism is and how to use sources properly. In any kind of research, the correct use of source material
can benefit a student, while the misuse of sources could damage a student’s academic standing. During the
course of the school year, every Marquette English teacher gives a definition of plagiarism and explains what
must be done when writing a paper or preparing a speech in order to ensure ethical treatment of all sources.”
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Students at St. John need to understand how to use information they get from a variety of sources. As a class,
we will go through how to use information from sources without plagiarizing, and hopefully students will not
plagiarize, either intentionally or unintentionally. According to our school handbook, cheating or the appearance
of cheating will result in a grade of zero for the assignment, plus we will contact the parent. Please help your
child understand that plagiarizing is cheating.
Thanks for your cooperation and support!
Important Dates for the Biography
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3. 5th Grade Research Writing Project—Biography
February 14 Project Explaining in Class—Parent Forms, Overview & Process, Due Dates
February 15 Parent Packet Sent Home—Signed form due on Monday, February 18th
February 18 -Finding Sources (Source 1: History Book, Source 2: Reliable Website)
-Creating a Works Cited Page & Source Cards
(due on Wednesday, February 20th)
February 20 Reading/Noting Sources
February 21 -Compare Notes from Sources
-Creating an Outline (due on Monday, 2/25)
February 25 -Note-taking Basics
-Setting up/Formatting Note Cards
February 27 Research/Note Taking
February 28 Research/Note Taking
March 4 Research/Note Taking (Research/Note Cards due on Wednesday, 3/6)
March 7 Rough Draft Writing
March 11 Rough Draft Writing
March 13-14 Rough Draft Writing (Rough Draft due on Friday, March 15th)
March 18-22 Spring Break 
March 25-29 -Rough Drafts Returned / Mini-Conferences
-Typed Draft Guidelines & Reminders
-Typed Draft due on Friday, March 29th
-Adult Edit of Typed Draft due on April 4th
April 4 -Typed Draft Returned / Mini-Conferences
-Final Draft Guidelines & Reminders
April 8-12 -Final Draft Preparations (Final Draft due on Monday, April 15th)
April 15 FINAL DRAFT DUE!
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