1. What Do I Want to Research?

2. Questions to ask yourself:
What do I like?
What do I want to write about?
Why am I writing?
Who will read what I write?

3. I really like dogs, but sometimes they are too loud when they bark
I really like dogs, but sometimes they are too loud when they bark. Why do they bark like that? Do all dogs bark? I could write a report about dogs and why they bark. Maybe most of my friends do not know why dogs bark so much.

4. How can I find information on dogs?
Find at least two good sources
Visit the library
Find a book on dogs
Find a magazine article or
even a good website on dogs

5. Let’s do a K-W-L Chart to organize our information!
K – What do I know?
W – What do I want to find out?
L – What did I learn?

6. What do I know?
Dogs bark when they seem mad or excited.
What do I want to know?
Why do dogs bark?

7. Dogs bark. Dogs bark when they are mad.
Dogs bark when they are excited.
Dogs bark.
Dogs bark when they want to communicate.
Dogs bark when they want attention.

8. Now I have enough for a short report!
Here’s what my report might look like:
I like dogs, but sometimes their bark can be annoying. Dogs bark for different reasons. A dog may bark when he is mad or excited. Dogs communicate with each other and with people by barking. At other times a dog may be barking just to get your attention. Even when they bark, dogs are still fun to have around.