About This Course
This course will teach experienced writers the detailed, step-by-step process for writing an academic, college-prep research paper of eight pages or more. Length will be determined by the parent.

The critical thinking and critical reading skills emphasized in this class will help ANY student, not just those who are college bound. Students will implement all skills taught and acquired to produce a formal research paper. (Participants auditing the course are welcome to use their research to create other final products.)

Steps in the process to be completed and graded include the following: exploring topics, working outline, locating & evaluating sources, taking notes, detailed prewriting outline, first draft with documented sources, revised draft, edited draft, works cited. We will also have an introductory lesson and discussion on ChatGPT and its growing influence on the research and writing process.

Advanced skills included in this class:

• Organizational structures for research papers

• Critical thinking strategies to select subtopics

• Using Boolean search strategies to locate sources

• Critical reading strategies to determine source credibility

• Ethical uses for ChatGPT in the research process

• Options in note taking systems

• Avoiding plagiarism with ethical notes

• Integrating/blending notes

• Incorporating counterarguments

• Modes of organization for outlines

• Adding graphics and subheadings

Method of Evaluation

Student should use a log to record hours worked on this course. Grades will be assigned for work in the following areas (see course assignment sheet for details):

• Planning — 15%

• Research — 20%

• Prewriting — 15%

• Drafting and Revising — 20%

• Final Paper (grammar, style, etc.) — 30%
  

About the Instructor, Cindy Peyton, M.A. English

Cindy is a seasoned educator with nine years of public middle and high school teaching experience and 15 years of co-op and homeschool teaching experience. She has a B.A. in English from Messiah University and an M.A. in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. She served on an English curriculum writing team with Harford County Public Schools and designed several English courses for Crossroads Educational Co-op (Middle School Comp & Lit 2, American Lit, and World Lit) along with a scope and sequence for the 6th-12th grade English courses. She loves brainstorming with teachers and has helped numerous homeschooling parents design or improve their courses and home instruction.

What Students are Saying...

“The numerous skills I gained from this class—such as conducting pre-research, avoiding plagiarism, and using research to develop and support claims—have helped me in all my college writing so far. Through Ms. Cindy’s clear instruction, I not only learned how to develop a focused thesis statement, find credible sources, research and organize ideas, and ultimately, write a research paper, but also learned the “why” behind each of these steps. Most importantly, I learned to think deeply about the ideas I came across in my research in order to express them in my own words.” —Sarah R.

“This research writing course has given me confidence in my ability to prepare, outline, and write daunting college research papers. Even in my senior year of high school, the idea of writing a research paper any longer than four or five pages was overwhelming, and would often produce more procrastination than actual productivity. However, through this course, I’ve learned how to break the writing process up into manageable steps. Now, I approach intimidating papers with a familiar plan that always leads to a high-quality essay.” —Luke P.

Self-Paced Online Course

Join our Beta Testers

for 50% off!

• Our same great course available at your student's pace.

• For intermediate and experienced writers (grades 10-12)

• ½ credit (60 hours)

• Features 11 modules with short video-based lessons and activities to guide your student step-by-step through the research writing process.

BETA Testing via Google Classroom Contact us if you want to be included.

Testing ENDS June 1, 2025.

Take a look at a few sample "A" papers students have written for this class (parents choose the word count).