Dinosaur Report Writing - The Painless Way to Introduce Report Writing - Part I

Our generation knows the pain inflicted when a teacher said, "You need to write a report."  In my experience that came from not being taught HOW to write a report.  We have broken it down into steps.  I save each piece and the kids assemble it at the end.   (This is the finished product.  I'll post the research part when this section is done.)  These amazing reports have been written by second graders.  Stay tuned for part II.

Dinosaur Habitats

We have used the crayon-resist technique to create dinosaur habitats for our reports.  

We're getting a little jumpy!

The warm winds on Friday carried the sound of happy frogs our way.  We couldn't resist extending our recess time by tiptoeing around the pond to investigate.  Although the frogs were wise to us and quit singing, we managed to spot a few slowpokes who didn't swim away.  

Look carefully and see if you can spot the eyes.  

We are pretty sure there were both spring peepers and chorus frogs.

Going Buggy!

First Graders will engage in an ongoing unit on insects from now through the end of the year.  We'll be observing, catching, and documenting growth/changes (metamorphosis).  These mealworms are just the start.  Cool!

Ok, you learn something new every day.  Until I taught this unit, my students and I did not know mealworms are not worms, and that mealworms morph into darkling beetles.  Wow, who knew?!  

Digging Dinosaurs

One of our favorite second grade learning units is D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R-S!  This multi-discipline unit is fabulous for building vocabulary, background knowledge, math skills, science concepts, and nonfiction writing techniques.  I'll add examples as the lessons unfold.

We made imprint fossils using red clay.  Students selected either plastic dinosaurs or real shells for their fossils.  

We will let them dry for a few days and fire them in the kiln.  This step isn't necessary, but it makes the fossils harder and stronger.  Hopefully they'll last 60 million years or so.  Ha!

These imprint fossils will be a nice addition to the Science and Art Fair in a couple of weeks.

Ah, spring!

We designed symmetrical vases and added creative colors. Using markers and fingertips dipped in white paint, we made the pussywillows. We have been on the lookout for the real ones in our school forest and neighborhoods.