This Arctic Animals Research Mini-book project is the perfect way to warm up your learning this season!
One of the most challenging lessons your students will need to learn is how to conduct research.
What will they research?
How do they know what information is important versus just fluff?
Where will they look for information?
What if they can’t read well?
โWe know students need to learn how to search through various resources to collect information, but research can be tricky for younger students.
(Finding the appropriate resources or time for the teacher is hard!)
That’s why I designed Beginning Research Projects!
Beginning Research Projects
Beginning Research Projects is a product line dedicated to helping your students build those key research skills in a scaffolded and structured way without added work for you!
These simple-to-implement units include everything you need to complete a research project in your classroom. Your students are guided through the research process from beginning to end with Beginning Research Projects!
From resource pages, information cards, and scaffolded research pages, you AND your students will love working on these projects!
Arctic Animals Research Project
And a student favorite for this time of year is the Arctic Animals Research Mini-Book!
For this beginning research project, students learn more about some amazing animals that inhabit the Arctic region!
This pack includes:
- Research Tips-Teaching tips to help you guide your students through the research process as painlessly as possible.
- Research Resource Suggestions– Links to books, videos, and website suggestions that are student-friendly and a good place to start having students find information on their chosen Arctic Animal.
- Arctic Animals Assignment page-ย Perfect place to start your project! Includes an activity sheet that introduces students to the project.
- 12 Information Cards about the following Arctic Animals:ย Arctic Fox, Polar Bear, Ermine, Arctic Wolf, Beluga Whale, Arctic Hare, Harp Seal, Snowshoe Hare, Narwhal, Puffin, Snowy Owl, Caribou. Each card includes information on where these animals live, what they eat, and what they look like. They also include a photograph of each animal. Use it in connection with the suggested online research material to build a robust amount of information for the mini-book project. Each research card is written in student-friendly wording.
- Scaffolded Notes taking sheet- Helps beginning researchers zero in on information to write down!
- Mini-book Project rubric- Clearly outlines what students should include in their research mini-book. Includes an area for teachers to score and grade.
- Mini-book Labels- Students fill out the mini-book pages after conducting their research. Includes assembly directions.
As you can see, all the hard work has been done for you!
Now, it’s time to take a closer look at the project!
Arctic Animals Research Made Easy
To help you streamline the process, this unit includes research tips and resources!
There is also a page with links to resources and website suggestions so you don’t have to dig for appropriate resources for your students!
Arctic Animals Assignment Page
To begin your research project, use this handy assignment page. Project it up to share with the class or print copies for each student.
This page outlines the assignment and includes suggestions of animals the students can research.
Teacher Tip! Simplify the research process even more by setting up a Google Classroom Assignment with the links so your students can easily (and safely!) navigate the desired information on the web.
Guided Research
Now that your students have been introduced to the assignment, it’s time to get researching!
This pack includes a few different tools to help scaffold the research project for your students.
In addition to the links on the resource page, there are also 12 Arctic animal informational cards.
These informational cards include all the important facts about each arctic animal. They are written at a lower reading level (making them perfect for our beginning researchers!)
Students can write down their important information on the included guided research page.
Arctic Animal Paperbag Book
After learning more about their animal’s special adaptations, students complete an interactive paper bag mini-book project!
First, have students transfer the information onto the paper page sheets. Have them color and cut out the pages.
Then, it’s time to make the paper bag book!
Making the paper bag book is pretty simple!
- Take two lunch sack bags and lay them end to end.
2. Fold the bags in half.
3. Staple the spine of the book.
4. From there, students can add their pages.
Don’t forget to have students insert the pull out pages! This is my favorite part!
Now that the paper bag is made, students will check over their work using the assignment rubric.
I love using rubrics! Rubrics clearly outline the information that must be included in the completed project. And they make grading a breeze!
Arctic Animal Research Project
So that was a quick peek into the Arctic Animals Beginning Research Project. Your students will love completing this fun and engaging project, and you’ll love all the learning they’ll gain along the way!
Ready to warm up your lesson plans? Be sure to grab this unit!
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