Ocean Animal Research Writing Project on DOLPHINS for K-2nd…

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Animal Research Writing Project on Dolphins for K-2nd Grade.

Engage young learners in reading, writing, and science with this 19-page informational writing unit on dolphins.

Students will read leveled texts and examine real life photos to learn facts about these playful marine mammals. Next, they will organize the information using color-coded graphic organizers. Finally, students will write their own informational report on dolphins using differentiated writing pages for K-2.

Extension activities allow creativity through coloring, habitat illustration, and cover page design. Implementation ideas included for whole group, small group, centers, or individual work. Check out companion units on whales, seals, sea turtles, and more ocean animals from Teach Simple! Plus, even more units on zoo animals!

Here are even more informational resources on report writing for OCEAN ANIMALS. Click on the links below:

Animal Research Writing Project on WHALES for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on the OCTOPUS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on SEA TURTLES for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on ORCAS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on the SHELLFISH for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on DOLPHINS for K-2nd Grade
Animal Research Writing Project on SEALS for K-2nd Grade

Want to teach your students all about Zoo Animals? Check out all these interesting facts about these favorite zoo animals. With the same great photos, facts, habitat drawings, and more. It is a great way to help students to get interested in writing.

For Zoo Animal reports, click on the following links below:

Animal Research Writing Project on TIGERS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on MONKEYS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on PANDAS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on HIPPOS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on ELEPHANTS for K-2nd Grade

Animal Research Writing Project on GIRAFFES for K-2nd Grade

What's included

A student cover page: "My Ocean Animal Research Project - All About ______"
A photograph page of dolphins and a "Color the Dolphin" colouring page
An informational passage in two versions - one headed "Underline the Information" with a four-colour key, one clean
Four-box note organizers headed Habitat, Food, Characteristics and Other Interesting Facts, printed with the colour labels, without them, and with ruled lines
A sentence-stem writing page giving "Dolphins live", "Dolphins have", "Dolphins eat" and "Dolphins can"
A wide-ruled writing page with four labelled sections for a longer report
A "Draw a Habitat for the Dolphins" page and combined write-and-draw pages, including a two-page version for longer reports
A write-and-draw page with a self-check strip: capital letter, lower case letters, sounding out words, finger spaces, a period and a picture
A teacher note directing that the finished pages be stapled together into a book, and an acknowledgements page of clipart credits

Resource types: Lesson Plans, Teacher Tools, Worksheets & Printables, Worksheets, Writing Prompts

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Locate facts in an informational passage and sort them into habitat, food, characteristics and interesting facts using a colour code
Transfer marked facts from a passage into a four-category note organizer without copying the passage whole
Write an informational report about dolphins at an appropriate level, from completing sentence stems to composing ruled paragraphs
Combine drawing and writing to explain a topic, illustrating the dolphin's habitat alongside the written facts
Check own writing against a set list of conventions - capital letters, lower case letters, finger spaces and a full stop

Teaching tips

Coloured pencils or highlighters in green, red, yellow and blue are needed for the underlining page; the same four colours then label the note organizer, so keeping them consistent is what makes the transfer step work
Choose one writing page per child rather than printing all five: the sentence-stem page suits a writer still building sentences, the ruled four-section page suits a confident second grader, and the two-page version extends the strongest
Print the passage twice if you want the same text used for a shared read and then for independent marking - the clean copy carries no colour key
Assemble in the order cover, colouring page, passage, organizer, writing page, habitat drawing, then staple, following the teacher note on page 2
The passage is the only source supplied, so pair it with library books or a class video if you want children to gather facts from more than one place

Skills covered

Reading for specific information - students underline a dolphin passage in four colours, separating where dolphins live from what they eat, what they are like and what is simply interesting.
Note-taking into categories - the Habitat, Food, Characteristics and Other Interesting Facts boxes require facts to be shortened into notes rather than copied as sentences.
Informational writing at graded levels - the same content is written up as sentence stems ("Dolphins eat ______"), as short boxed notes, or as ruled paragraphs.
Illustrating to explain - a dedicated habitat drawing page and combined write-and-draw pages ask children to show the ocean setting they have just written about.
Self-checking writing conventions - the checklist strip names capital letters, lower case letters, sounding out words, finger spaces, a period and a picture.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How do the two reading pages differ?

The dolphin passage is word-for-word the same on both. One is headed "Underline the Information" and carries the four-colour key in the corner; the other prints the passage on its own, which suits a shared read, a second pass, or a child who works better without the marking task.

What does the finished project look like when it is done?

A stapled book. The teacher note says to staple the pages together once the project is complete, and the set opens with a student cover reading "My Ocean Animal Research Project - All About ______" for the child to fill in and decorate.

Which dolphin facts does the passage actually give children to work with?

Enough for each of the four boxes: dolphins are mammals living mostly in the ocean but sometimes in freshwater rivers; there are forty-five kinds, most grey and one pink, with the Orca the largest; they live in groups called schools or pods and talk in squeaks and whistles; and they eat fish and squid, hunting together.