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Senior Capstone GuideTips and Tricks for Success

Index:

1. Writing a Formal E-mail (pg. 2-4)a. Important Contact Informationb. Guidelinesc. Example Email

2. How to use iCONN (pg. 5-6)3. Using Resources Effectively (pg. 7-13)

a. 5 Worksheets to Use for Sourcesb. Checklist for Quality Resources

4. Proper APA Citation (pg. 14-15)5. Using Quotations (pg. 15-18)

a. Using Quotes in Your Essayb. Worksheet to Use for Quotationsc. Checklist

Writing a Formal E-mail

For your project, it is very important for you to establish a contact within the community who will help your plan become a reality. Since this isn’t the easiest task to do, we have included some guidelines and ideas to help you succeed.

First, you need to do your research to find your contact. Who would be the most helpful in setting up your project in the community? Where do they work? What is their name?

Record all important contact information below:

Your Contact’s First and Last Name: _____________________

Where they work: _____________________________________

Their e-mail address: __________________________________

Their business phone number: ___________________________

On the next page, you will find some guidelines to follow when writing a formal email to your contact.

How to Write a Formal Email in 10 steps:

1. Use a short and accurate Subject Header

2. Use a proper salutation

3. Introduce yourself (What is your name? How old are you?

What school do you go to?)

4. Briefly introduce your project (What is the Capstone

project? What is your topic? How does this involve who

you are emailing?)

5. Ask them your necessary questions (How will you need

their help with your project?)

6. Ask them for any missing information you may need

(Phone number, when it would be best to reach them, etc.)

7. Thank them for their time

8. Conclude your message

9. Sign your name

10. Proofread your e-mail

On the next page you will find an example email. Feel free to refer to it when writing your own!

Subject: Speaking with classes

Dear Mr. Boss,

Hello! My name is Sarah Smith and I am a senior at the Sports Medical and Sciences Academy in Hartford. Throughout the year, the whole senior class will be working on a project called the Capstone. For this project, we are supposed to research an idea and use what we found to impact the community in a positive way. I am interested in childhood obesity and how to prevent it. I would love to be able to come into your school and speak with a few classes about the importance of eating healthy and staying active. Would it be possible to set up a time to meet with you to discuss my plan and when I would be able to come speak in your classrooms? I found your school's number on the district website (111-222-3333), would this be easiest for me to contact you?

I really appreciate you taking your time to read and respond to my e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you to further discuss my project.

Sincerely,

Sarah Smith

How to use iCONN

1. Go to Google and search “iconn”2. Click the first option (or the one that looks like this)

3. Once you click that link, you will be brought to the CT State Library. On the left hand side, click “...for High Schools”

4. From there, select the database you want to use for your research. Good options to select are: Academic Search Premier, researchIT CT, or even ERIC

5. Once you have picked a database, you may begin your research. Be sure to focus on keywords rather than your whole research question.

6. Skim through the titles of each article that came up. Pick one that you feel relates to your research question. Read the abstract of skim through the PDF to get an idea of what the article is about!

7. Don’t be afraid to go back and revise the keywords you searched in order to find articles that match what your question is!

Using Resources Effectively

It is very important that the 5 resources you pick are the best you could find and relate most to the topic that you are researching! It is crucial to read each article you want to use, annotating key ideas and arguments that you think will help your paper the most.

On the next two pages, you will find…

● A worksheet which will help you organize and record your ideas for each article

● A checklist which will help you see if your resources are valuable for your paper

Title of your FIRST Resource: __________________________Author (Last Name, First Name): ________________________

APA Citation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In your own words, what is this article about?________________________________________________________________________________________________________How does it relate to your research topic?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Try to find two or three quotes that you could use in your paper, what page are they on?

Quote 1: __________Quote 2: __________Quote 3: __________

How will you know where these quotes are on the page? (Did you underline it? What did you write next to the quote?)1:__________________________________________________2:__________________________________________________3:__________________________________________________Title of your SECOND Resource: ________________________Author (Last Name, First Name): ________________________

APA Citation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Try to find two or three quotes that you could use in your paper, what page are they on?Quote 1: __________Quote 2: __________

Quote 3: __________

How will you know where these quotes are on the page? (Did you underline it? What did you write next to the quote?)1:__________________________________________________2:__________________________________________________3:__________________________________________________Title of your THIRD Resource: __________________________Author (Last Name, First Name): ________________________

APA Citation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In your own words, what is this article about?________________________________________________________________________________________________________How does it relate to your research topic?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Try to find two or three quotes that you could use in your paper, what page are they on?Quote 1: __________Quote 2: __________Quote 3: __________

How will you know where these quotes are on the page? (Did you underline it? What did you write next to the quote?)1:__________________________________________________2:__________________________________________________3:__________________________________________________

Title of your FOURTH Resource: ________________________Author (Last Name, First Name): ________________________

APA Citation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Try to find two or three quotes that you could use in your paper, what page are they on?Quote 1: __________Quote 2: __________Quote 3: __________

How will you know where these quotes are on the page? (Did you underline it? What did you write next to the quote?)

1:__________________________________________________2:__________________________________________________3:__________________________________________________Title of your FIFTH Resource: __________________________Author (Last Name, First Name): ________________________

APA Citation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________In your own words, what is this article about?________________________________________________________________________________________________________How does it relate to your research topic?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Try to find two or three quotes that you could use in your paper, what page are they on?Quote 1: __________Quote 2: __________Quote 3: __________

How will you know where these quotes are on the page? (Did you underline it? What did you write next to the quote?)1:__________________________________________________2:__________________________________________________3:__________________________________________________

Quality Resources Checklist

Use this checklist as you pick sources. This will help you to

further narrow down your choices and pick articles that will help

you with your paper the most

❏ I found my article on iCONN

❏This article has a PDF version of the full text

❏ I printed out the article so I can annotate

❏This article provides useful information for my paper

❏ I have read the full article and written my opinions, ideas,

and reactions in the margins

❏ I have noted key facts and opinions in the article that I

could use in my paper as a direct quotation

Proper APA CitationFor this paper, you will be citing your sources with APA

formatting. Below is a guide to help you properly cite your quotes in both your paper and the works cited!

The Basics:

For any in-text citation, the author, date of publication, and page number for the source should be included!

Ex: (Jones, 1998, p. 3)

Citing Your Quotes in the Paper:

● If your quotes are short (less than 40 words) then there are two ways you can cite a quote!

○ If your signal phrase includes the author's last, then your citation will look like this:

Ex: According to Jeter (2000), “Goals are the achievements along the way to get you to your dreams” (p. 4).

● If the author is not included in the signal phrase, then your citation will look like this:

Ex: It is very important to set goals early in your life: “Goals are the achievements along the way to get you to your dreams” (Jeter, 2000, p. 4).

● If you have a quote that is 40 words or longer, you need to…○ Start the quotation on a new line○ Indent once from the left margin○ Indent each time the quote starts a new line○ Keep the quote double spaced○ Do not use quotation marks

Example:

Setting up your Works Cited:

● If you want to cite a book in APA…○ Author's Last name, First Initial. (Year of publication). Title of work.

Location: Publisher.● If you want to cite an online article in APA…

○ Author’s Last Name, First Initial., (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

**You will be able to practice and record your own citations in the provided worksheet for Quotations**

Using Quotes in your EssayQuotations are one of the most important parts of writing an essay. They give credit to the ideas of the scholars you have researched and provide an expert opinion on what you are arguing. Using effective and accurate quotes in your research paper is what will help take it to the next level.

How to Properly Cite Quotes:

Each of your quotes need to follow these specific guidelines:1. What the author says needs to be surrounded by “Quotes”2. Start the sentence with a capital letter3. The period that ends your sentence does not go inside the quotes, but instead

outside of the citation4. APA format (author, date of publication, and page number)

It is important to realize that quotes serve a PURPOSE in a piece of writing. In other words, don’t just throw a quote into your paragraph without a sentence introducing it.

How to properly insert a quote into a sentence:If you have a complete sentence and then want to put a quote, put a colon where the period would go at the end of the sentence. Then write your quote.

Ex: Odysseus is a character who always planned ahead: “I drew my sword and approached him seriously” (Homer 42).

● If you have an incomplete sentence and then want to insert a quote, put a comma where the period would go at the end of the sentence. Then you write your quote

Ex: Odysseus always plans ahead, saying things such as “Cyclops, did you ask my name? Well then, I’ll tell you…No-man is my name” (Homer 43).

On the next page you will find a worksheet which will help you organize and expand your quotations for your essay.

Article Quote is from: _________________________________Articles date of Publication: _____________________________Author's Last Name, First Name: ________________________Page Number Quote is found on: p. _____

Direct Quote: “____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________”.

What does this quote mean?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How does this quote relate to the main idea of your paragraph?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What phrase could I use to introduce the quote/author?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Quotations Checklist

❏My quotations follow APA formatting.❏My quotations include Author’s Last name,

Publication Year, and Page Number.❏ I do not begin or end a paragraph with a quote.❏ I begin each quote with a “signal phrase”.

❏ If author is stated before the quote, I put the publication date in parenthesis with author’s last name and page number after the quote.

❏ If author is stated after the quote, I put the author's last name, publication date, and page number after the quote.

❏When writing quotations, I write word for word what the author stated in the article

❏After each quote, I expand on what the author stated in my own words

❏ I relate each quote back to my thesis statement

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