First Grade Penguin Research Paper Lesson

I. Common Core Standard(s) addressed:

Writing
Text Types and Purposes
1.1 Write informative/ explanatory texts in which they name a
topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some
sense of closure.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
1.1 With guidance and support from adults, recall information
from experiences or gather information from provided sources
to answer a question.
Reading Informational
Key Ideas and Details
1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
1.3 Describe the connections between two individuals, events,
ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

II. Unit Goal:

Students will be able to identify the various characteristics of penguin including;
their food, their habitat, and their daily activities.
III. Lesson Objectives:
Learning Objective
(stated behaviorally)

How will objective be

assessed?
(Indicate Formative or
Summative)
Formative

Students will use

research skills to gather
information and ideas
Students will use steps of Formative
the writing process:
Prewriting, Draft, Edit,
and Publish.

Level of Thinking
(Blooms Taxonomy)

Analysis

Synthesis

IV. Learning Modalities/ Multiple Intelligences/ Learning Styles addressed:

Spatial and Linguistic
V. Adaptations for diverse learners:
Name at least THREE types of
learners needing adaptations
Lower Reading Levels

Specific Adaptation
These students will be provided a filled

in notes page to help them with creating

their rough draft.

VI. INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE:

Day 1 (Introduction and Note Taking)
Introduction to Research Paper
Introduce to the students that today we are going to be writing a research paper on
penguins.
Go over what research means with the students (collection of facts and details).
Let them know that they will become experts on where penguins live, the bodies of
penguins and about penguins hunters and what they hunt!
Tell the students in order to start writing a research paper; we need to collect
research on the topic.
Pass the packet of research to the students (the research is 3 pages from a
leveled book called Penguins. The first page is titled, Where Penguins Live
the second page is titled, Penguin Bodies, and the final page is titled, Hunters
and Hunted)

Introduction to Note Taking

Introduce to the students that note taking is an essential part of writing a research
paper because it helps you collect important information you need to have to start
writing.
Model to the students how to take notes while reading the research.
First put up a visual on the smart board, pull up the research that you are
reading about on that particularly day. For example, Day 1 will be on
Where Penguins Live. Each student will have this in front of them as
well, so they can follow along.

 Read out loud the passage, as you are reading guide the students to
underline the important facts. (Note: The important facts will match up
with the note page that will be given to the students that was previously
made by the teacher.)
For example, the first sentence in the first paragraph reads, All penguins
live in the southern hemisphere. Inform to the students that you believe
that is in important fact. The teacher will say, I believe that it is important
to know that all penguins live in the southern hemisphere, so I am going to
underline that because I may want to write that in my paper.
The research should look like this on the smart board:

This note taking process will be continued for the rest of page.
After completing taking notes on the research, hand out the Notes Page to
the students.
Put up a visual for the students on the smart board.

 The teacher will read, All penguins live in the {blank}. Have the
students go back to their research and their important facts that they
have underlined and see if they can find the answer. Guide the students to
the first paragraph. On the smart board, write in the blank: southern
hemisphere (have the students write on their page too.
This will be continued for the next three questions.
Day 2 (Taking Notes)
Repeat underlining important facts, and taking notes on the second page of
research called, Penguin Bodies (The same as day 1 and Where Penguins
Live).
Day 3 (Taking Notes and Rough Draft)
Repeat underlining important facts, and taking notes on the third page of research
called, Hunters and Hunted (The same as Day 1 and Day 2.)
After completely the last page of notes on Hunters and Hunted, tell the students
that they have completed their notes on penguins and they will now begin to write
their research paper.
Introduce to the students that all good writers use the writing process.
Prewrite: Explain to the students that the prewrite was them taking
notes from their research.
Draft
Edit
Publish
Tell the students that they are now ready for the drafting step.
Explain to the students that they will only use their notes page that they
filled in. Also, explain to the students that not all their important facts need
to go into the paper.
Instruct the students to only pick two facts from each page. Have the
students circle the two important facts that they choose to have in their paper
on each page.
After the students have completed circling their facts. Instruct them to take
those facts and make a rough draft of their paper.
For the rough draft students will be taking the important fact sentences and
copying them onto a piece of paper. Reminding students to use punctuation
and capitalizes. Also, remind the students to start with an introduction
sentence to their paper.
Day 4 (Drafting, Revise and Edit)
Have the students complete their rough draft.
After the students have completed their rough draft, they will have to get it
checked by a teacher.
The teacher will then make corrections on their rough drafts. Corrections may
include, spelling, capitalizing, and punctuation.
After the teacher has made the corrections, the students are ready for their final
draft.

Day 5 (Final Draft)

The students will create their final draft of their research paper on special paper.
After the students complete the writing they will complete a cover page.
The cover page will include a drawing and titled, My Penguin Research Paper.