There are few things that pique a child’s interest quite like learning cool facts about animals. So, follow these 7 steps to turn this enthusiasm into high quality informational writing projects!
Do a shared research project. Follow these steps below, BUT you model it as the teacher and have your students walk through each step with you.
Pick your topic. We usually give students choices. If not, our students tend to get outrageous with their topic - ranging from super vague (dog) to very specific and rare (golden lion tamarin). Robyn typically lets the students choose their animal, while Kaysin has allowed students to blindly choose by drawing from a hat. Both of these seem to work wonderfully.
We’ve also chosen 20+ animals from one specific habitat. This is super fun for room transformations and presentations. One year all 4 of the first grade classrooms chose a different habitat, and every first grade student had a different animal. Each room was decorated for the habitat and the whole school traveled through each room to listen to our amazing firsties’ presentations. It was EPIC!Research your animal. This can be somewhat daunting for the students AND teacher. It always ends up working out and being a favorite memory for so many. We use pebblego.com, Boom Cards, and nonfiction books from our school and local libraries for our students. We spend a day using books to research and collect information and another day using credible digital resources to collect information.
Students using BOOM Cards to research piranhas.
However, if supplying each student with unique research websites and nonfiction texts is too much, have no fear! We have created a product with all the research tools your young learners need, including: easy to read passages (2/animal), BOOM Cards, graphic organizers, writing pages, and so much more. Be sure to check it out here.
Write a rough draft paragraph. Students should use their graphic organizer (pictured above) to transfer information learned into sentences and paragraph form. We encourage our students to use a visual paragraph for this step. It makes conferencing and editing much easier.
Revise and edit. Conference with your students individually and work through revisions and editing of their rough draft. This is a process, but very necessary. Praise the positives - find all of the great things they did independently. Then, work with them to make the structure and flow of the paragraph better. You’ll find a balance in there, and you will be blown away with their excitement and ability to revise/edit somewhat independently.
Final draft. Use the outline and revisions to construct a final {publishable} draft. Have your students illustrate and label their animals, too. This adds even more understanding and value to this project. You can allow students to read each other’s final copies, publish them in the hallway, or simply take pictures to share. Make sure everyone gets a chance to shine - they will be so proud of themselves.
Present and celebrate! Have students create displays, posters, and/or slideshows all about their animals. You can transform your classroom into the habitat or even just call it the zoo. Throw some tablecloths on desks and on the ceiling - anything simple like that can make a huge impact. Then, sit back and enjoy watching your students celebrate each other’s writing and creativity.
Click HERE to check out our animal research FREEBIE on Walruses!
How do you incorporate research into YOUR classroom? We’d love to hear from you!
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