The first part of this lesson was to teach how to outline. A sample outline looked something like this:
I. Intro- introduce your subject
II. Body Paragraph One (appearance)
III. Body Paragraph Two (diet)
IV. Body Paragraph Three (habitat)
V. Conclusion- restate important information-- no new info allowed!
The students had at least one paragraph to work with from Assignment #2, which proved to be helpful in their research and writing. Here are some samples of students who really stretched themselves to tell us MORE about their amazing, creative creatures!
The Regit, by Tyler (3rd grade)
The Regit is an interesting animal. He has an amazing appearance. The Regit has one of the weirdest diets in the world. It is extremely wet and always rainy where the Regit lives.
The Regit has a unique appearance. His ears are soft and pointy, just like a cat's. The Regit has two enormous brown eyes, with short, straight eyelashes. The tail of the Regit is striped with black and blue lines. It has a fluffy tail because it has a lot of fur.
The Regit has a very interesting diet. The Regit is a very picky eater. It will only eat bats and dolphin meat. It is weird because it only eats live animals. It is disgusting to come across it when it is eating. It makes a lot of noise when it eats.
The Regit lives in a very cool habitat. The tall, jagged mountains that he lives in are amazing. It is always misting and raining there.
The Regit has an interesting diet, and a misty habitat. His appearance is cool. He is an amazing creature!
The Magnificent Arbez, by Caren (4th grade)
The Arbez is an interesting animal. It has a miniature appearance with a diet of crumbs. With a city as a habitat, find out how these Arbezes live.
The appearance of this animal is miniature and small, from its little shaded wings, to its soft, tiny body. The wings are shaded from hot red to light pink. Its small wings are so tiny that they can't pick up the Arbez, so it can't fly. But once a year, the wings of the Arbez are strong enough to carry it! The feeling of the Arbez is fluffy, like a soft dog, but also soft like a pillow.
The Arbez's diet is quite right for its size. Crumbs are its diet. When an Arbez finds a crumb, it will sit on the crumb and start eating it with its wings. The Arbez eats all crumbs, but its favorites are the pink crumbs.
The habitat of an Arbez is quite unusual for an endangered animal. The city is a great place for an Arbez. People drop many crumbs for the Arbez to eat. Parks make a great home for an Arbez. Trees in parks are often strong and healthier than the ones in the forest. Also, in cities, there are trash cans. Lots of trash cans are around the city, so the Arbez will jump on something lower than the trash can and then leap into the air. Once the Arbez gets on the trash can, it will dig to the bottom of the trash can to find crumbs.
The appearance, strange habitat, and unusual diet helps keep the Arbez alive. Truly, the Arbez is a magnificent animal!
Examining the Nihplod, by Flo (6th grade)
The Nihplod is an unusual animal. Its confusing behavior and mish-mash of everything appearance will have you dizzy. When you hear about its oddball diet, please refrain from screaming “EW!” as it might offend any nearby creatures. Although it would be difficult to keep as a pet, once you hear about how loving it can be, you'll be clamoring to catch one. Plus you'll definitely want to make this species’ future better than its history.
The Nihplod’s behavior is confusing in many ways. It waddles awkwardly on land, but in the water is swift and graceful. Sadly, it is plagued with daily spells of hiccups made of fire. Because of its odd behavior, it is often labeled as “mysterious,” though it only hides from humans who do not show it kindness. Despite its contradictory behavior, the Nihplod would make a loving and cuddly pet.
The appearance of the Nihplod is also quite strange. For the most part, it is round-bodied and covered in green fur, except for its human-like nose. Its curved horns command the attention of anyone who behold this beautiful animal. These horns have similar properties to that of the unicorn. While it does have awkward ovular feet, it has no arms or outer ear at all. Even though the Nihplod may look like the work of Picasso, some find it charming.
Unsurprisingly, the Nihplod’s diet is just as atypical as its appearance. Its favorite food is twigs and wood chips, but it will settle for pebbles. In terms of what it drinks, it loves to guzzle up puddles off the rainforest floor. When it hasn’t rained for a while, the Nihplod can go for up to two months without water. Anyone would agree that the it has an eccentric diet!
When it comes to owning a Nihplod, there are both pros and cons. On the pros side, it is easy to feed, loves to cuddle, and, if you show it kindness, it will be more loyal than a dog. On the cons side, you would have to deal with the fire hiccups. If you don’t think you can handle it, you might change your mind after hearing its terrible history.
Historically, the Nihplod has always been neglected. It is known for its majestic horns, which are the reason why the animal is widely hunted, even today. This why it has always stayed a predominantly wild species, and why it is known as mysterious. As you can see the Nihplod’s history is not pleasant.
Obviously the Nihplod is quite unique, with its confusing behavior, atypical diet, and a appearance that resembles a work of cubism. When you consider its troubling history anyone would agree that Nihplod is an animal worth studying.
