One of the most intimidating things to do in kindergarten is writing and research.  Research involves a great deal of reading, comprehension, and vocabulary.  And then you have to be able to translate that into writing.  People, that is a daunting task for kindergartners and all early childhood classrooms  Daunting, but not impossible.  (I mean we did it and I still have all of my hair…so it’s totally something we can do!)  Our zoo animals research project makes our zoo theme fun and engaging!

We use read alouds and videos for our research.  We use graphic organizers to record our research and learning.  And then we use the organizers to complete our research journal.  And finally, we use all of those resources to write!

Research and writing made easy!

  Can I just tell you that my ‘staches are so excited and engaged every single day of this zoo animals research project.  We had a blast learning about the different animals!  The kids were so excited every day when we announced the animal we would be research that day!   I’m all about anything that gets the kids excited (especially at the end of the school year!)

We use a read aloud for our research and then we make a tree map for the animal we’re studying.  And yes, I use the same color marker that matches the animal.  I’m that person.   And it’s OK!

Next, the kids write in their research journals.  We offer differentiated writing pages to support all students.  Some writing pages use sentence frames and some just provide lines.  We have provide a space for the students to draw the animals!

Students are encouraged to write on their own about each animal but some are more comfortable copying from the graphic organizers.  THAT IS OK!  I want them writing and if they need to lean on those graphic organizers, go for it.  However, some kids are doing much more writing.    It’s about meeting them where they are!

We label the parts of the animal.  Again with the colors!

Our district has moved us to three week units using complex texts that are at least 2 grade levels above our students grade level.  They are also implementing culminating tasks at the end of each 3 week unit.  What we are trying to do is make these requirement developmentally appropriate, engaging and fun.  With the right tools, scaffolding and support our students have been mastering these texts and tasks.  For our animal unit, the focus is on habitats and threats to animals and how we can help protect animals.  Our students had to design a zoo exhibit that featured the animal, habitat and food.  They also had to create a sign for the exhibit.   Here’s what we came up with:

We also used our green screen technology to take pictures of each child with their chosen animal!