The Animals Featured in Fairy Tales: A First Grade Research Project

Our nonfiction reading project this spring in first grade is "Animals Featured in Fairy Tales." In preparation for this project, the students have been reading different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. The animals featured in these tales are the bear, wolf and the pig.

This first grade research project begins with the study of the American Black Bear. This is the most common bear in North America and is the kind of bear featured in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students brainstormed questions that they had about the Black Bear and a teacher recorded their questions on a chart. The students helped to decide in which category the questions belonged: body, habitat, diet, communication and interesting facts.

Students then gained knowledge through listening to a teacher read a book aloud about this kind of bear, watching videos about the bear and reading and highlighting information in articles.

Students have many opportunities to share their knowledge and questions with a partner and then with the whole group. Some facts lend themselves to demonstrating in a kinesthetic manner such as first graders demonstrating the length and weight of a bear. 

As students write facts that interest them about the bear, they practice writing the knowledge by changing and using some of their own words. They then record their information in the same research categories as the ones used to record their questions on the class chart. This time they are writing in their own research packet.  Each student will share their research knowledge at our "Author's Celebration" on the morning of May 25th with their families.

The following are links to two of the videos about the American Black Bear shown to our first grade researchers.
Black Bear Learns the Ropes North America Discovery
Black Bear Mother and Two Cubs Prepare for Hibernation