It is easy to teach a student to read facts and to put them into their own words as a traditional research paper requires. To offer a multi-genre research approach of instruction requires a lot of effort from both the teacher and the student. Many of the approaches offered in the article were new to me and therefore exciting! These teachers are thinking outside of the box by allowing students to research a topic and present it from a unique point of view. This type of learning gets students excited and encourages creativity. By having an open mind in reference to topics, research styles and presentation styles, teachers are showing their students a different way to think. I don’t think there is any doubt that this type of approach to a research paper would provide the curriculum required skills. Of these many different approaches listed in the article, all of them require more of the student that the traditional research paper. Students still learn the basics such as how to research, how to cite sources and how create bibliography pages. The key is to make students want to probe deeper into a topic and find interesting ways to present that topic. Research writing does not have to be separate from creative writing when students are allowed to creatively express themselves. Of all the problems Moulton referred to in the article, she also provided compromises that worked for the teacher as well as the student.
I was completely amazed at the examples of the students’ papers. It is obvious the amount of time and research that went into them. Everyone benefits when teachers utilize the approaches talked outlined by Moulton and apply them to their classroom. I couldn’t help but smile when I read what the student said who wrote on the Beatles: “It never occurred to me that writing could be so much fun!” I agree! 
Question #1
Is it more important for students to learn the traditional five paragraph essay or is it more important for them to become familiar with “real life” writing of memos, letters, maps, directions, flyers, etc.?
Question #2
What is the best way to present the idea of multi-genre paper verses the traditional research paper to more conventional teachers when asking them to allow their students to be proactive in their presentation of the research material?
Question #3
How easy or difficult would it be to integrate the multi-genre research paper in classes other than language arts?
hicksbl said,
June 24, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I know, I was impressed with the examples as well. I believe the students went the “extra mile” without even knowing it. –a good thing I might add