ResearchingAnimals

ResearchingAnimals

Teacher Page

You’re hired!

Congratulations! Your class has just been hired by National Geographic KIDS to create this year’s special

edition magazine, “Awesome Animals”. Each class member will choose an animal, research facts about it, and

write a 3-paragraph article about that animal. People all over the country will be reading your magazine, so be sure

to do your best!

How do we begin?

This writing adventure will lead you through the steps of collecting

information through research, writing your article, and citing your sources. (What? You don’t know what “citing sources” means? You will after you

finish this adventure!)

Research

There are many ways to research a topic. You can look in books or talk to experts. You can also find information on the Internet. Click the www below to practice using the Internet.

How to Collect Information for a Research Report

When getting information for a research report, you do not need to copy everything that you read. You can take notes by only including important information. Click Fact Fragment Frenzy to practice taking notes.

Which animal will you choose for your

article?Click to go to the National Geographic

KIDS Creature Feature.

Use the scroll bar to

see all of the different

animals in the

Creature Feature.

Select an animal for your

report. Click the animal

to read information

about it.

What did you find out?Which animal will you choose for your

research report?What information did you find out about that

animal? Take notes.

What is the name of the website that you visited to find that information?

Hint:

What is the URL of that website?

Find out more about your animal.

Click to visit this website.Is your animal an amphibian, bird, fish,

mammal or reptile?

Click the animal groupto which your animal belongs.Is your animal in the

list? Click it to seewhat else you can find out about it.

What did you find out?

What else did you learn about your animal? Take notes.

What is the name of the website that you visited to find that information?

What is the URL of that website?HINT:

Time to Write!

Remember to follow the steps that good writers use.

• PLAN• DRAFT• SHARE AND RESPOND• REVISE• EDIT• PUBLISH

Let’s Plan!Write the name of your animal, three interesting topics about it, and supporting information for each topic.

Write your first draft.

Now write your draft of your report.THINGS TO REMEMBER:

• Write three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be about one of the main topics you planned.

• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.

• Write your ideas in a good order.• Use good describing words.• End with a good closing, summary

sentence.

Share and Respond

Read your writing to a friend or your teacher.

Ask him/her these questions:

• Did you understand my writing?• What did you like best about my writing?• What changes do you think I could make

to improve my writing?

Revise

It’s time to revise your paragraph(s).• Read it again. • Think about the ideas that your friend

or teacher gave you.• Make any changes that you feel will

improve your paragraph(s).• Proofread your paragraph(s). To

proofread means to look for mistakes. Correct any misspelled words, capitalization or punctuation errors.

Publish

It’s time to publish your research report. To publish means to make a correct, clean copy to share with others.

Make a pop-up book to write your report.Things to remember:

• Write a copy with no mistakes.• Don’t forget to cite your sources:

Write a list of the sources that you used to write your report.

Good job!

National Geographic KIDS will be so proud of your work!