One of the big writing focuses in the new Common Core is writing an expository paper. This is
not my favorite thing to do. It's also not an easy thing for first graders to do for several reasons. First of all, it is hard to find research material written on a level they are able to decode. Second of all, if you are lucky enough to find material they can read, most likely it will be a struggle to comprehend. Third of all, this research project is supposed to incorporate technology and with little ones that can be a pain in the...well you know.
So, in trying to figure out how to get through this research project, I collaborated with a colleague and we decided for the research portion of this project, we would have our first graders work together on the research aspect. Yes, we are both gluttons for punishment, but we hoped for the best.
We began with an introduction of the Plan, Do, Review steps and discussed how we could put our research projects in motion. We also watched a Brainpop Jr. on research (I lovveeee Brainpop Jr.!). After doing this we discussed expectations for research. Together (with the help of our lovely librarian) we found websites with material we thought our firsties could handle with a little help. We printed out the material and students used that for their research. We put our students in groups of various ability levels, making sure to have at least one strong reader in each group and *tried* to split up any behavior problems. The students then met with their group and were given the following instructions.
Step 1: Read your research and highlight unknown words. As a group use context clues to try and figure out the meaning when you have finished reading your story. If you cannot figure out what the word means, raise your hand and a teacher will come over to help you.
Step 2: Read through your research again. Highlight 5 facts you find fascinating.
Step 3: Transfer those facts to a bubble map. Be sure to re-write the facts in your own words, using short phrases for the planning sheet.
Students then worked for a couple of days on their research. Once research was finished the students were done with their groups and expected to work independently. I let my students who finished early begin their sloppy copy (my first graders use Writer's Workshop).
We had a series of mini-lessons throughout the course of their writing. The first was going over how they would be graded. I created a rubric to base their grade on (you can grab it here), and met with the students to make sure they understood what was expected of them in order for them to receive a good grade. You can grab a copy of my rubric
here.
The second mini-lesson reviewed how to write a good introduction to their paper. We have previously discussed this throughout the year and I try to stress to them how a good introduction needs to "grab" the reader and make them want to read more. Most of them take the route of opening their paper with an amazing fact in the form of a question, which is perfectly acceptable to me.
The last mini-lesson I do with them is how to write a good closing. For some reason this is the hardest thing for them. We've discussed how a closing should be a summarizing sentence or two about their research. For this project I was happy with, "Elephants are amazing animals. There are tons of cool things about them," or something similar because getting a concluding sentence from my sweeties is like pulling teeth.
They had about 3 days to finish their stories, edit and buddy edit. After they had edited with a buddy double checked their paper and then came to conference with me. During the conference I went through the rubric with them and discussed what they had done and what their grade was so far. After grading their paper, I then helped them correct any obvious mistakes and finally, I let them type it.
If you don't already know it takes FOREVER for 1st graders to type stories so this took place over the course of a couple of days.
Finally, I let them decorate a poster board and share their research with the kindergartners. They were so proud of their projects and worked so hard on them. All of them ended up with a good grade because they were so conscientious of their work. I was also very shocked to see that they are also becoming pretty adept at paraphrasing when using facts and not just regurgitating what their research said. Their finished projects had me beaming and I'm sure the parents as well when they got the grade. As for my dislike of research papers, it still exists, but this experience made me dislike them a little less.
*Rubric has been modified from original rubric after reflecting on the experience and what I felt my kids were able to do.
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