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State Report Information
Tips for a great state report:
•    Inform your parents of the due dates:
        - 01/24/11    Students assigned a state
        - 01/25/11    Parent/student signature slip due
        - 02/07/11    Notes are due
        - 02/28/11    Rough draft due
        - 03/15/11    State Report due
•    Late reports receive no credit. They are considered incomplete.          They must be completed even if they are to receive no credit.
•    You may write to the tourism bureau of your state. You’ll need to       do this in the 1st week. The Internet is also a good resource for        information and pictures.
•    Use the state books from our library.
•    Review your notes from the  “Note Taking” lesson we had.
•    Use the public library.
•    Call a relative in your chosen state and tell them about your               project. Ask them for facts and pictures about your state. Have           them mail them to you.
•    Turn your notes that you copied from a book into your own words.       Again review your notes from the “Paraphrazing & Synthesizing”       lesson.

STATE REPORT GUIDELINES

Your report needs to include the following items. All of these items are to be put into the report in the following order:

A.    Cover
    1.    Can be purchased in a store or made from construction paper.
    2.    It should be well planned and neat
    3.    Try to make it original (your own idea)
    4.    It may be decorated. Materials that could be used include:
        a.    crayons
        b.     markers
        c.     paint
        d.    photographs
        e.    yarn/string
        f.    scrap material
        g.    magazine pictures

B.    Title Page
    The title page should include:
    1.    Title of report
    2.    Teacher’s name
    3.    Your name
    4.    School
    5.    Grade
    6.    Date
   
C.    Table of Contents
    1.    Leave a margin on both sides of the paper
    2.    Follow the format of any library book you like
    3.    Be sure to capitalize the first word of each sentence
    4.    Include the bibliography in the table of contents
    5.    Although the table of contents is one of the first things in your            report, it is the last thing you put together so that you will                know how to number each page

D.    Dedication
    1.    Explain what your report is about and why you chose the state
    2.    Thank people who have helped you (parent, librarian, teacher,            etc.)
    3.    The dedication may be short

E.    Report
    1.    Make a rough draft of each chapter
    2.    You must use your own words as much as possible
    3.    Proofread your report
    4.    Reports can be written on the computer or hand written
            a.    If your report is hand written, you must use erasable ink,                   and it must be in your best cursive
            b.    If your report is done on the computer, you must use                        spell check
    5.    Use only the front side of the binder paper or computer paper.


STATE REPORT - ORGANIZATION BY CHAPTER

Special Notes:
•    You may use the computer/Internet for charts, graphs, maps,           pictures,  flags, etc.
•    You may use the computer/Internet to gain information about           your state
•    You may NOT print out any information directly from the                   computer/Internet to be used as your report. All written report           information must be a summary of what you have read.

A.    Chapter One - State Information
    1.    Introduce your state-written report
    2.    Visuals (Example: state flag, flower, tree, seal, bird, etc.)
   
B.    Chapter Two - Geography
    1.    Map of the USA - must show your state in relation to other                states. A map will be given to you or you may choose to use                one you’ve found.
    2.    Written report on the geographic features of your state.                    (Remember each state is different. You will need to do the                  features that fit your state. This could include mountains,                rivers, lakes, volcanoes, glaciers, etc.)
    3.    Visuals: Add anything that pertains to your state. (Examples:            scenic pictures from magazines or brochures showing lakes,                rivers, mountains, beaches)

C.    Chapter Three - History
       This is the hardest and longest chapter of your report. You need        to get lots of help in summarizing it. You cannot and should not        do everything. Keep this section to two (2) pages. You can do            this by first reading the whole section. Then use the first                    sentence and maybe one fact from each paragraph to give your        history. Do not include lots of details. Just summarize the                important parts.

    Try to include some of the following information:
        1.    Indians who first lived there
        2.    Discovery and exploration
        3.    Early settlers
        4.    When did it become a state?
        5.    Visuals - Anything that goes with the history

D.     Chapter Four - Industry
    1.    Manufacturing
    2.    Agriculture
    3.    Visuals - Any pictures from your resources showing these                    items.

E.    Chapter Five - Visitor’s Guide
       Include famous places to visit. You may include information                about tourist’s attractions and any pictures from your resources,        brochures, magazines, etc.

F.    Chapter Six - People
    1.    Chose six (6) people who were born or have lived in your state.            They do not necessarily have to be famous.
    2.    You need to write a paragraph about each one.

G.    Bibliography
    1.    Label the page as bibliography.
    2.    Make a list of all the books, web sites, etc. that you used in                preparing your report. Underline the name of the book,                    magazine, etc.
    3.    Skip a line between each item listed.

H.    Evaluation Sheet
    1.     Place the sheet at the end of the report. (10 point deduction if             missing)
    2.    Your grade will be figured by each category and placed on this            page

I.    Additional Information About Visuals
    1.    All pictures need to be attractively displayed using captions.                Captions tell something about each picture.
    2.    If you are not using a computer to insert visuals, then                        pictures, postcards, pamphlets are to be glued, not taped,                onto plain white paper.
    3.    Computer pictures need to be in color. If you printer does not            have color capabilities, you will need to hand color your                    pictures.