• 1.10(A) read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, including classic and contemporary works, for pleasure and/or information (1);
• 1.14(C) distinguish fiction from nonfiction, including fact and fantasy (K-3);
• 1.15(C) draw conclusions from information gathered (K-3);
• 1.15(E) recognize and use parts of a book to locate information, including table of contents, chapter titles, guide words, and indices (1-3);
• 1.17(C) use phonological knowledge to map sounds to letters to write messages (K-1);
• 1.17(G) use basic capitalization and punctuation such as capitalizing names and first letters in sentences, using periods, question marks, and exclamation points (1-2).
• 1.18(F) write in different forms for different purposes such as lists to record, letters to invite or thank, and stories or poems to entertain (1-3).

• Summarizing and Note Taking

• Task Definition
• Information Seeking Strategies
• Location and Access
• Use of Information
• Synthesis

Research/Note Taking Chart - attached

"Can I Keep Him?" letter - attached

Read Can I Keep Him? by Steven Kellog or The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini.

Afterwards ask: Have you ever found an animal you wanted to keep? Let's pretend we find an animal like the boy in the story. If we know some facts about the animal maybe our parents would let us keep it.

What kinds of things do you think we should know about animal to keep it as a pet? Let students brainstorm a list of things.

Where could we find out facts about animals? Let student brainstorm a list. Direct them to books in the library that are on their reading level. Maybe show them some much harder animal books and discuss why we they are not the best choice. Look at various levels of non-fiction books and choose a "good" 1st grade book.

Show students the chart they are to use to take their notes. Look at a sample book and question students about what they can use to find the parts of the book they need...table of contents and index. Demo using the index to find the section of the book that tell what the animal eats. Read the page out loud and then have students tell you what to write in that section of the research chart. Demonstrate writing only words or phrases not complete sentences.

Tell students they are coming back to the library the next day and will get to choose a book/animal to research. Afterwards they will write a letter to their parents to see if they can convince them to let them keep the animal as a pet.

Day 2

Remind students how they are going to fill out their research charts and add that they will also write the name of their book and the author's name so they can tell their parents exactly where they got all their information. Demonstrate. I tell them that their teacher and I will come to each table to help them with the author and title. Remind them about looking at the table of contents and index to find the pages they need to read and also about writing just words and phrases not whole sentences.

We usually have 2 or 3 levels of books for the students to choose from. Their teacher calls them in small groups to choose the book they want from the appropriate levels. Students then begin their notetaking. Afterwards, they will take their research chart to their classroom to write their letters. The teachers usually makes an overhead to demonstrate and then students write their own letters. This step could also be done in the library on a Day 3.