New England Animals

Your second grader has been diligently reading, researching, note-taking and writing this week! Each student has chosen to study a New England animal who lives in a freshwater or forest habitat. Their research subjects range from the red-tailed hawk and the loon to the fisher cat and the garter snake. After locating a research source and completing a note-taking template, each child is now composing a complete paragraph on his or her animal. The paragraph must include the following elements: a topic sentence, 3 evidence sentences, and a closing sentence. The children have drafted their paragraphs using 2 large index cards for the topic and closing sentences along with 3 small index cards for the evidence sentences. These cards are then edited and organized into the final paragraph. Next week, we'll add labeled diagrams of each animal and itshabitat to the project.  Stay tuned!