Students will e-mail their one-page, double spaced paper to me at jstevens@schillingschool.org by or before the evening of September 18th. All of the rules and writing tips are listed below. Students work may be longer than one page or single-spaced if they like. Students may not plagurize any work whatsoever. All credits must be listed on a second page titled Reference page. All details will be dicussed in class on Friday, Sept 14. and examples will be shown to help students understand the assignment better.

Here are some rules/tips for producing your next paper
- Your work should be written in Times New Roman, 12 point font, single or double spaced with standard margins and page numbers unless otherwise noted.
- Periodically save your work by pressing the CTRL key and the “S” key simultaneously.
- The top of the first page of your paper should look like this;
Your Name                      Name of the Report                        Date the paper is due

- You should also save your Word document as GeologyreportbyJimmyNeutron.docx. That way, the person who has to grade them knows whose report it is, without even opening it. So will you.
- You should always read your paper aloud and listen for errors in grammar and composition.
- Make sure your writing flows and that you are not just making a one page list, e.g. “First he said this. Then he said this. Third, he said this. Fourth, he said that. In the end, he said this last.” That is not writing, it is just listing the facts of the story.
- Make sure that you double-check your notes! Many reports have lost points because the people's and places names were constantly misspelled or simple facts were noted incorrectly. There is a huge difference between lightning and lightning bugs.
- You should always read your paper to an adult and ask them for suggestions and then make any necessary changes. Let them read your final paper too. NOTE: All changes, writing and typing or anything else regarding the final paper is ultimately the student’s responsibility!
- Watch out for too many pronouns in one sentence. “He went to talk to him but he didn’t want to speak to him.”
- Proper nouns get capitalized. Use Dr. Sandra Schilling, not dr. sandra schilling. Main St. not main st. Uncle Joe, not uncle joe.
- Watch out for homophones. “They went their in the car” should be “They went there in the car.”  This is where an adult set of eyes will be helpful to you.
Lastly, and this is very important, don’t procrastinate writing or turning in your paper. Give yourself a false deadline of the class day before it is due. (for example...e-mail it on Wednesday, not Friday) That way, your teacher can catch any mistakes and suggest improvements in a reply e-mail. You can then make the changes and resubmit it on the due date for a much better grade.
This is a good website for tips and rules on writing papers. See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/