How To Write An Awesome Habitat Report With Kids

report writing teaching strategies

Are you ready to write habitat reports with your kids? Use these 7 simple report writing steps to create amazing habitat research projects. Be sure to check out the trading cards in step 2!

Report Writing Steps

Writing reports with kids can be easier than you might think. Use this simple report writing process with your students.

Steps To Report Writing Process:

Choose Your Habitat
Research Your Habitat
Make Jot Notes
Write a Draft
Revise and Edit
Write a Good Copy
Illustrate Report

Step One: Choose Your Habitat

The first step in writing a habitat report is to determine the topic of the report. Kids need to identify the habitat they will be writing about.

There are different ways of determining a topic for a report. You can assign topics to kids, let them pick a topic out of a hat, or allow them choose their own topic.

Once students have their topic, they can move on to step 2.

Step Two: Research Your Habitat

There are a variety of different sources that students can use to research their habitat. Students can use:

books (print and audio),
websites,
encyclopedias (print or digital),
magazines,
trading cards,
guest speakers, and
interviews.

"These are amazing! I used these as one of my library lessons on research. I challenged my students to find 3 more different facts from a second source." - Cathy A. (Habitat Trading Cards)

"I do a HUGE unit on Animals and their Habitat during the 1st Trimester of Third Grade. This resource helped my students understand the differences between each of the habitats and the animals and other objects that are a part of it." - Christine D.

The habitat trading cards contain cards for the following habitats:

arctic tundra
tropical rainforest
temperate forest
freshwater
ocean
savanna
desert
coral reef

Included on each trading card is information about:

location
description
weather
plants
animals
fun facts

This information is useful when students are looking for information to include on their habitat jot note templates.

Step Three: Make Jot Notes

Writing jot notes can be the most challenging part of the report writing process. Your students may differ with their abilities in this area. Some children may be familiar with the jot note writing process while others may not be. This is the perfect time to apply differentiation strategies so all kids can be successful. For this task, I recommend using differentiated templates.

"I am currently in the midst of using this resource to culminate my unit on Interdependence. I love that this resource had leveled Jot Note templates to help students keep their research organized and focus on looking for specific information." - Alyssa S. (Habitat Report)

Templates are available that encourage students to find one fact, two facts, or three facts about each area they are researching. The target questions included on the templates help students know what type of information they need to find.

"This resource was a great way to guide my students through their first science based project. It allowed me to scaffold and model skills of research and adding correct information." - Lauren L. (Habitat Report)

Step Four: Write a Draft

Students take information from their jot note templates and write drafts of their reports. They then turn their jot notes into complete sentences and paragraphs.

Step Five: Revise and Edit

After completing their draft reports, students revise and edit their work. They can use checklists or editing bookmarks to help them with this process.

"This is EVERYTHING you might need for a habitats research paper. The differentiated versions were perfect for meeting the learning needs of my second graders. Their reports turned out amazing!" - TpT Seller (Habitat Report)

Step Six: Write a Good Copy

Students take the edited drafts and write their final copies. They use habitat report templates or other plain writing paper for their reports.

"I absolutely loved this project. Every single one of my students were so ready to dive into researching their animal. All of my students are at different reading levels. So, I LOVED that I could print the reports based on their levels. They were all able to present their project with pride. I wanted the students to learn while they researched...and learning is what they did. WoW! Thank you!" - Lorna L. (Habitat Report)

Step Seven: Illustrate Report

The final step in the report writing process is to add illustrations to their reports. Students use the information to determine what pictures to add.

Related Blogposts:

Printable and Digital Versions

The materials shown in this blogpost are a part of the Animal Report resource. Materials are available in both printable and digital versions. The resources can be found on TeachersPayTeachers.

Until next time,

Happy writing!

P.S. Do you struggle teaching writing to your kids? Are you looking for writing tips, strategies and ideas?

Check out ideas in Teaching Writing 101
Find materials in the Writing Resource Club

Not sure if any of these are for you? Check out the Touch of Honey Freebie Library. Download a freebie and begin using in your classroom today.