Researching the Animal

Overview

In this lesson, students research their chosen endangered animal using simplified, teacher-prepared information sources. They practise comprehension strategies while listening/reading and then record key facts using a structured notes template.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify key information about an endangered animal.
• Students will use comprehension strategies (visualising, predicting, connecting, monitoring, and questioning) to understand an informative text.
• Students will summarise key points in their own words using sentence starters.
• Students will reread their notes to check meaning and make simple corrections.

Success criteria

• I can tell one main idea about my animal.
• I can find 2–3 key facts and write them in order on my notes sheet.
• I can ask and answer a question about my animal using evidence from the text.
• I can reread my sentences and fix mistakes so they make sense.

Curriculum links

• Literacy — use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning.
• Literacy — identify the main idea and key facts from informative texts by listening/reading (AC9E2LY05_E1, AC9E2LY05_E4).
• Literacy — integrate information from print, images, and prior knowledge to support inferences (AC9E2LY05_E3).
• Literacy — read with monitoring meaning by rereading and self-correcting.
• Literacy — create short informative written texts with simple punctuation and topic vocabulary.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook & Predict

• Teacher shows the class “Animal Research” folder (photos + short text extracts) and models thinking aloud: “I notice the picture… I predict the text will tell me where it lives and what it needs.”
• Students pick up their own animal card and say one prediction to a partner using a frame: “I think this animal… because…”

2. 5–12 min · Direct teach: Question & Visualise

• Teacher reads one short informative page aloud (teacher-selected model animal) and marks thinking on a board: Visualise (picture in mind), Question (What does it eat? Where does it live?), Connect (to a prior fact), Monitor (Does this make sense?).
• Students join in with teacher during the read, then practise one question with sentence starters: “I wonder…”, “I found out…”.

3. 12–22 min · Research rounds (teacher-guided table groups)

• Teacher circulates using a simple checklist: students locate 2–3 key facts from their resource pack, supported by images, and write them on a “Key Facts” template.
• Students complete a template using provided supports:
• Fact 1: “My animal is a …”
• Fact 2: “It lives in/near …”
• Fact 3 (optional): “It eats …” or “It needs …”
• If students finish early, they reread their section and add one extra fact or correct a word they are unsure about.

4. 22–27 min · Monitoring & self-correction

• Teacher demonstrates a quick reread routine: “Read it once for meaning. If it doesn’t make sense, reread the sentence and fix the tricky word.”
• Students reread their sentences and make one correction (e.g., spacing, missing word, or replace an everyday word with a topic word from the word bank).

5. 27–30 min · Exit share (quick assessment)

• Teacher asks: “Show me your main idea (thumbs up/down) and one key fact you found.”
• Students respond to one teacher question using their notes: “My main idea is…” or “One key fact is…”

Resources

• Individual animal research packs (short informative text + labelled images)
• “Key Facts” note template with sentence starters
• Animal word bank (e.g., habitat, lives, eats, endangered, grows, protects)
• Coloured highlighters (or sticky notes) for marking key sentences in the text
• Teacher model page and teacher checklist
• Pencils, erasers, optional sentence strip cards for writing
• Clipboards for 7 students (or shared table areas)

Assessment

• Teacher observation checklist during research rounds (found 2–3 facts, used a comprehension strategy, asked/answered a question).
• Collect templates at the end of the lesson for review of main idea + accuracy of key facts.
• Quick oral exit: each student shares one main idea or one key fact using their writing as evidence.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters and a partially filled example template for students who need maximum support.
• Offer “fact cards” (cut-up key sentences) for students with very low reading ability; they match sentences to the correct animal image, then copy using the starter frames.
• Use a small guided group for 3–4 students at the table: teacher reads the text with them and prompts where to find answers (first/next/then cues).
• For students needing extension, add a second level question: “Why is it endangered?” and require evidence from the text/image (a supporting label or short phrase).
• EAL/SEN support: pre-teach 5–7 topic words using pictures; allow pointing to the text/image when answering; accept responses in short spoken sentences before writing.
• Monitor independently with a “Reread & Fix” visual routine (Read once / Fix one / Ready to share).