On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
How to make a book and the 10 research steps
1. Prep School
Instructional Material
-Library-
HOW TO MAKE A BOOK
&
THE 10 RESEARCH STEPS
2. COVER PAGE CRITERIA
Your book cover should be eye-catching!
Think about the following elements:
Your name
Title and a Subtitle
Images (be careful of copyright images)
If you do use someone else’s artwork or
photographs, make sure you credit it at the
end of your book.
For example: Image courtesy of:
http://www.ucpress.edu/img/covers/isbn13/9780520271289.jpg
Image courtesy of:
http://www.ucpress.edu/img/covers/isbn13/9780520271289.jpg
3. CONTENTS PAGE
A contents page is usually the last thing to write up; this is because, unless you are sure
of your book’s layout, it is hard to guess how your book will be arranged.
http://jameymolyneux.blogspot.com/2010/05/magazine-contents-pages.html
So skip this step for now and we will return to it later.
4. THE 10 RESEARCH STEPS
1 Choose a broad topic: e.g. cats, basketball, etc.
2 Get an overview of the topic (wikipedia, encyclopedia): include some basic
facts and figures
3 Narrow the topic down, e.g. from cats domestic cats looking after a
pet cat
4 Ask: “what do I want my reader to learn about?”
5 Create questions to guide research (e.g. “what food does a kitten
eat?”)
5. THE 10 RESEARCH STEPS CONT…
6 Plan for research and production (2 periods for research, 2 for producing
the book)
7 Find / Analyze / Evaluate sources (compare information between the
Internet, books, encyclopaedias).
8 Evaluate evidence / Take notes / Compile bibliography (write down
your answers (the ones you asked in step 5) and where you got your information
from).
9 Establish conclusions (answers to your questions)
10 Create and present final product – e.g. a 5 page book.