Space Research Papers

After researching space from various informational texts, the students used their Circle Maps to independently write research papers. Before beginning, we had a mini-lesson on how authors often use a "hook" or something catchy to get a reader's attention. One of the ways we discussed is that author's sometimes ask a question to actually state a fact about their topic. The students all started their papers by ask a "Did you know?" question by stating their most interesting fact. They then wrote at least four more related facts about their topic. They glued their Circle Map and final draft (we always edit writing together) on a black piece of construction paper.