I take my job as English teacher of the seventh and eighth grades pretty seriously. To me, that means that I do the following when it comes time for research papers.
1. I present a slideshow of topics which includes about sixty American history topics and sixty world history topics. I also often say, "This would be a great research paper topic," when we cover something amazing in history, and then I add it to the list. Usually, my students pick a topic that they are truly interested in. (I have a slideshow of topics with pictures that I share if you are interested in seeing it. Email me at litleflock7 at gmail.com and I'll be happy to share it with you.)
2. I take the students on a field trip, or I go to the library myself and find lots of good books on their topics. (I also order books for the ones whose topics are a little out of the ordinary.)
3. I check every single note card and source as the students are working on gathering information for their reports.
4. I spend hours grading their research papers. I mark every run-on sentence, fragment, and misspelled word. I also write "awk" wherever their writing is awkward, and I draw a squiggly line under any word that I would call a "first grade word." They know that squiggly line means to get a Thesaurus and find a bigger, better word.
5. I really do get a ruler and measure all the margins on their second (typed) drafts. I also check all the spacing, parenthetical citations, page numbers, capitals, and the italics in the thesis statement on their outlines.
6. I also give them ample time and opportunities to correct all their mistakes, so that the final product is really a work of art. Even though it is a lot of hard work, they know they've accomplished something grand.
Getting middle school students ready for high school is an important job, and we should take it seriously.