What would make for an exciting Writers' Workshop research paper topic? Animals, of course! But not just any animal..... animals that were created in our minds by spelling REAL animals, insects, reptiles, birds-- you name it!-- backwards! I shared my "Ognimalf" sample with the class. The Ognimalf is of course a bird related to the flamingo, but with some very interesting eating habits, colors and body features, and a unique living style.
We brainstormed imaginative information about our pretend animal:
~ appearance
~ diet
~ habitat
~ living style/personality
And anything else we could think of!
Then, we learned how to outline: a skill that is not taught often enough, in my opinion. We took our notes from the previous class meeting and created an outline that included an introductory paragraph that touched on the upcoming topics, a body that explained every aspect of the animal in detail, and a great conclusion.
From there, the research papers were written in an organized fashion. Here are just a couple of my favorites!
The Arbez, by Haley (3rd grade)
The Arbez is a very small and delicate creature. It is in the cat family, but looks very different. The Arbez has a strange way of getting food. It has a nice habitat and a fantastic personality.
The Arbez has an oddly large head and a pretty small body. It is covered with purple polka-dots, has no tail, one wing, and can fly. It also has one ring on its left ear, a red collar, and a gold tag.
The Arbez loves many foods, but two are his favorite. It likes pizza and pineapple, but the pineapple must be sliced and the pizza must be pepperoni. The Arbez orders pizza on the phone, and it also steals pizza from people!
The Arbez likes to live in warm places. It has traveled to every place in the world. It lives now in Hawaii. It usually lives with people or at a zoo. When it is mad or excited, it barks at people. When it is quiet, that means it is lonely or sad. It is very playful when it is happy.
The Arbez's personality is always fun. It is really playful and likes to play with yarn. It is also extremely fashionable, always wearing shirts everywhere. It likes to wear shiny things like diamonds as buttons or sequins all over. Girls always wear colorful tutus in all colors, especially pink and purple.
In conclusion, the Arbez is a pretty, little, and unique creature. From its fascinating personality to its awesome appearance, it is nothing like its cat cousin. Too bad it lives in Hawaii.
The Effarig, by Jeffrey (4th grade)
One day, on the way home from school my mom exclaimed, ”Guess what kids, we got a new pet today!”We bounced up and down in our seats asking, “What is it?”“An effarig,” she replied calmly.“What in the world is an effarig?” we demanded.
That was how this fascinating creature entered my life. It has a cute face, a strange diet, a unique habitat and is also extremely short. It’s an easy pet to take care of because of its ability to communicate with humans.The effarig is a relative of the giraffe, but there are some unexpected differences. Although their body shapes are similar, the effarig is only two feet tall, not including its long neck. This extremely long neck is only seen when reaching for its favorite food: spinach. It has long, shaggy fur that’s black with brown spots.The diet of the effarig is quite limited. It likes to eat nuts, especially walnuts and acorns. Spinach is its favorite food, which it only eats in spinach salad. It cannot serve itself because it is too short to reach into the refrigerator.The effarig will do anything to get a warm blanket. In fact, it cannot stand temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit! When an effarig is happy, it will sing loudly and beautifully. These animals talk to ask if they need a drink or if they want food. The only public tamed effarigs live at the San Francisco Zoo and the San Diego Zoo. There are only 200 in the wild, which live on the coast of California, so if you want one you’d better be quick! These wild effarigs have evolved to living in the colder winter temperatures, although they do prefer to be warm.The friendly effarig would make an outstanding pet. It greets people and asks for all it wants. If you want an effarig, you need three supplies ready to go: blankets, spinach, and nuts. On the other hand, its singing could get loud and it could make neighbors unhappy, or it could go chase after a blanket and abandon you.The effarig is an uncommon creature that has become our favorite animal!
The Niugnep, by Katherine (5th grade)
The niugnep is a very unique animal. It has four flippers and has a head and body of a cloud. This appearance helps it survive in its fur habitats. In each habitat, the niugnep has to have some food. The food in each habitat ensures a variety in its diet. It has a fascinating personality that people love. Everybody wants it as a pet!
The niugnep has four flippers to help it. Two flippers are for swimming and the other two are wings for flying. The cloud head and body help the niugnep float in the air when it wants. In the air, the niugnep will curl up and sleep, looking just like a cloud. The last part of its body is its feet. The feet look like a bird’s because it is orange and has three claws.
The niugnep has the strangest habitats. Because they are part penguin, niugneps sometimes live in water. Its two flippers help it survive in the water because the top two are for swimming. Another unique habitat this creature lives in is the air. Curled up in a ball, the niugnep will look just like a floating, round cloud. Along with the other clouds, niugneps float across. When a niugnep wakes from sleep in the air, it is in a completely different place. Niugneps also like the jungle. The jungle is a great place to play because there are a lot of trees. Sometimes though, people find niugneps wandering through their town.
The many habitats niugneps live in make its diet very unusual. For instance, when the niugnep is in the air, the niugnep will eat clouds. Apparently, niugneps think that clouds taste good. Now, you are probably wondering what it eats in its other habitats. In the water, niugneps eat fish, just like their cousin the penguin. Inside the jungle, niugneps eat any type of fruit. Fruit is very sweet and tasty to niugneps, and they like sweet things. In town, niugneps eat nutella. Niugneps just adore nutella. It is their number one favorite food. This is what makes the niugnep’s diet so strange.
People may think that the niugnep is very rough because they always fight each other for territory. Actually, the niugnep is very sweet and helpful. The niugnep is a very good searcher and finds many lost things. The niugnep’s personality is not as strange as its diet. The niugnep is actually very timid and playful. Niugneps play with kids all the time but sometimes they are never seen because they are thinking about something. This is why they can make a great pet. Many people have niugneps as a pet.
The niugnep is a very exclusive animal. It has a very cute appearance, unusual habitats, very strange diets, a fascinating personality, and most of all, it makes a great pet. If you ever see a niugnep, make sure you take it in as a pet!
The Nihplod
By Kelly (6th grade)
Don’t find yourself underestimating a nihplod, for it may be the last thing you do. It has an excellent disguise, and lives in a place that you’ve visited a hundred times. Its peculiar diet will make you try to avoid this creature at all times!
A nihplod looks almost exactly like a banana, except for the pearly white hue. It can’t walk, fly, or move in any way. It just sits there like a banana, which is exactly what it wants. The nihplod has one, microscopic eye, however, it still has excellent vision.
All shoppers better be cautious because the nihplod makes its home in a grocery store. Hiding deep in the banana section, this clever beast waits until bought by an unsuspecting customer to unleash its true terror. Store stockers simply mistake nihplods for mutant bananas, and place them in the banana boxes. If a human buys one of these rare monsters, something disastrous will happen.
Nihplods satisfy their growling belly by devouring humans who buy it from the store. The majority of nihplod buyers are so fascinated with these “mutant bananas” that, the moment they arrive home from the store, they insist on studying the nihplod. In that moment, this white demon swallows the human whole. What is amazing, however, is that no matter how large the human, the nihplod will stay the same size. It is unclear how exactly the digestive system of a nihplod works, because no one has been close to a nihplod and lived the tell the tale. Another strange feature about these creatures is that although humans are plentiful, nihplods are extremely rare.
Understandably, the nihplod is a terrifying creature. Mother Nature has combined excellent camouflage, a near-by habitat, and a horrifying diet to create one of the world’s most feared creatures: the nihplod. Hope to never see one of these clever beasts!
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