Anywhoo, then the modeling began. As a class, we studied the Giant Anteater using this book.
I modeled how to use non-fiction text features, like headings, bold print, an index, and a table of contents to search for specific information. My kiddos were especially excited to learn that the tongue of a Giant Anteater is about 24 inches long, compared to a human's 4 inch long tongue. <<We incorporated a bit of measurement here! Nothing like giant tongues to get 7 and 8 year olds excited!!>> To scaffold my green beans as they search for information, my teammate Casey and I created an Animal Research Fact Tracker. I made a large version on chart paper, and each kiddo had one for their own notetaking.
|Download from Google Docs here!|
We also used WB Animals (an IPad app that is so very cool!!), Grolier's online animal encyclopedia called Amazing animals, actual encyclopedias, and magazines. If you are considering a research project for your little ones, I highly recommend this one - I was able to incorporate research skills, writing skills, technology, geography, vocabulary, and non-fiction text elements during our 3 week project. For a celebration, I let the class read theirs to different partners in the class, and then we shared them with partners in Casey's class, too!! We didn't even serve snacks, and they had so much fun. Love it!