Nonfiction Writing Research

 We recently wrote our nonfiction research papers and my kiddos did not disappoint!  This post seems long, but it's a fast read with lots of pictures.

I like to spread this out over a couple of weeks and I like the "I Do/We Do/You Do" approach when I teach writing.   I model what I want them to do, then we do it together, and then they do it independently.

I Do:

First, I read the story "Ladybugs" and modeled how to take notes as I read. 

Note:  Each box on the "note" page is a page of their book and it is listed on their  Table of Contents page.

Next,  I made an anchor chart to go over the nonfiction pages that I expected them to have in their book.  I showed them my nonfiction ladybug book pages that I had already drawn illustrations on (to save time) and I modeled using my "notes" sheet to write my sentences on each page.

We Do:

I  read the book "Sea Urchins" and while reading we filled out one "note" sheet together as a group.  

I gave them their blank nonfiction writing book and put our "notes" page under our document camera and they used the information to write their sentences.

"Looks Like" example pages:

"Eats" example pages:

"Habitat" example pages:

"Interesting Fact" example pages:

 

You Do:

I provided different books that I checked out from the library for the students to choose their topics.  I gave them a "note" sheet to take notes on while they read their book.  We then worked on one or two pages a day depending on how much time we had.  I love how they turned out.

Note sheet examples:

Finished Book examples:

Happy Teaching Friends!