Starting that Research Project

The past couple of days have been sort of a review over basic essay format. I know that some students are, unfortunately, hearing much of this for the first time. I'm trying to take it slow, but there is just so much time that I can spend on teaching BASIC essay format (intro w/ thesis, body paragraps w/ topic sentences, conclusion). It is my job to start them on MLA format and persuasive writing.

My students have all signed up for a teen issue that they would like to research. These issues are directly related to the summer reading books, so they should theoretically have some background knowledge about the topic (although, relistically, most did not do their reading). They did not have to do the reading to be able to do this project, though, so there is no excuse for full participation and completion! Their projects are worth 300 points and will consist of:
KWL (10)
Participation in Writing Centers (20)
Reading and highlighting articles (10)
Source Note Cards (30)
Outline (20)
Rough Draft (40)
Final Draft (100)
Group Planning (20)
Group Presentation and Note Cards (50)

So, today, I passed out a pack of papers that included: 3 articles, 1 essay, 1 works cited page, and 1 note card. I stayed late last night to do research, write my own original essay, create my works cited page, and create a sample note card. I passed out clean copies of my originals that were highlighted and notated. Then, I separated the students into small groups of 3 or 4. Each group received on of my original documents and had to highlight and make notes on their papers exactly as they appeared on my originals. These notes were things that labled the thesis, topic sentences, paraphrased citations, direct quote citations, etc. It also provided some hints about how to format essays (double space, header with page number). The groups made their marks, then passed the document to the next group, and so on.

Thus, the students have tangibly created models and reminders of what I expect from their own research documents. I told them to refer to these documents before asking me questions so I don't have to answer 22 times: "Ms. Greene, do we need a title for our essay?" The students put these documents into their classroom folders which will stay in my trailer.

I'm wondering if I'm overloading them with information to start. I guess repetition is good...they'll hear it once now, hear it again later, hear it again during their research and writing, and hopefully it will take effect. I tend to want to wait to give them the info until they actually need it, but how will they remember it if they only hear it once?

Tomorrow, we're meeting in the computer lab for the students to have an introduction to the databases they'll use for their research, and to Noodle Tools, which will help them stay organized through this process.