Once you have choosen a topic, you need to write a thesis statement. The thesis statement is the center of your research paper or project. Your research will support the thesis statement.

Answer these questions before you write your thesis statement:

1. What type of research paper/project is this? (informational, persausive or process)

2. What is the focus of your research paper/project?

For more information on writing a thesis statement, look at this website:

Owl at Purdue-Creating a Thesis Statement

Write your thesis statement on a seperate sheet of paper.

Now you need to decide what areas (or subtopics) of information you will need, in order to support your thesis. 

For example:  Birds have many different nesting habits. (thesis)

                         Locations, types of nests, who builds (subtopics)

Open the document below, fill in the web boxes (Your topic goes in the center), and type your thesis statement on the lines provided:  Topic Web

Your next step is to create a research plan, then you will be ready to start researching.

A research plan contains the type and number of sources you need, as well as, possible search terms to use. 

Open and fill out the search plan document: Search Plan 

Now you are ready to move on to the third step:  Locate and Evaluate the resources you want to use for your research.

Locate and Evaluate Resources to Use

Explore and Determine your Topic

Introduction to Information Literacy