Non-Fiction Writing: Steps 2 and 3

We started our Non-Fiction writing unit a few weeks ago and things have been going wonderfully!  The students have very much enjoyed learning about their animal and are very proud of themselves as Non-Fiction authors.

As a second grade, we are visiting the aquarium on Monday on a field trip.  One of the second grade teachers came up with a list of 5 animals that we will see at the aquarium (and that the students were able to easily research).  The students chose their animal so that we had 4 students in each group.  We are going through the entire research and writing process with them.  I model each step with our "class animal" and then the students complete that step on their own.

Step 1 was to read over our sources with our partner.  You can read more about that here.

*Sorry about the random round circles.  My normal photo editing program was not working correctly.  Had to improvise!

They are just working so hard, that I had to share their photos!

Step 2 was to take notes on their research.   We used the note-taking templates that I made.  My original plan was to have them use sticky notes and place them in the boxes (they fit perfectly).  However, I could picture the sticky notes falling off and getting lost pretty easily.  So I just had them write in the boxes, which worked great!

 There was one page for their animal's appearance, one for habitat and one for diet.

Step 3 was to share their research with their group.

Stay tuned for the next steps in our writing process!  And keep your fingers crossed that we complete them before the school year ends!