Research in Kindergarten

Research papers in Kindergarten?  No way....not gonna happen......they barely write their names right?  Well people I'm here to tell you that it does happen and they blew me away today on our very first independent practice! 

After our class research project last week all about beavers (you can see examples HERE) we are ready to do one on our own this week.  Today we picked books about animals we were interested in during our SHOP FOR BOOKS time.   Students had an opportunity to read these on their own and with a friend before Writer's Workshop.  When we came together at the rug we had so many cool things we had already learned about our animals.  We broke down our research into 3 categories: 

#1 Look at the pictures! 

We can learn a lot about an animal by looking at the pictures.  You can share what an animal looks like, where they live (water? dessert? forest?), and other facts from the picture.  

#2 What do you already KNOW about your animal? 

Maybe you've watched a video, have this animal as a pet, or you have viewed this animal at a zoo.  Sharing what we KNOW is a huge part of our animal research papers. 

#3 Ask Questions! 

Last week we asked a lot of questions about beavers and got our answers from someone else.  I shared information with the class last week about beavers (like why their teeth are orange) so I was a resource for them.  Asking a friend questions can get you even more information about your animal.  I asked them how they knew they could believe me when I gave them information (I was trying to hint at reliable sources) and one sweetie raised her hand and said, "Because we trust you". Swoon.  I'm glad to know I am a reliable resource in the classroom! 

Here are some of our very first attempts at sharing information about animals.  We used our regular writing journals for this project today and the paper I use is from Deedee Wills. 

Great example of looking at her pictures in her book.  Cheetahs have sharp claws and teeth.  

This kiddo added something she already knew, "And they can blend in with stuff" 

This student used her book to talk about where tigers live and what they look like. 

This kiddo shared a lot about bats!  They live in caves, they sleep in the day time, and they hang upside down.  Side note: this kiddo hardly ever writes a whole page!  He was inspired today!  

Of course we will dive even deeper into these research papers throughout the week and by Thursday each student will be well equipped to write their own book about their animal.  We will use some peer editing to work on things like capitals, punctuation, and adding to our pictures.  You can read more about how I manage PEER EDITING in kindergarten here.

Tomorrow each student will get another little book with some facts about their animal from my ALL ABOUT ANIMALS little books.  I made this product after doing this research project with my kiddos last year.  I'm excited to share these with them!

Here is a ALL ABOUT SHARKS freebie in the same format that I made for Shark Week last year!  It will give you an idea of what is included.  The main set has 26 animals A-Z.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I will be sharing more from this project later in the week. Stay tuned!