All of our second graders have begun a research project about their current science unit, insects! Like all library research projects, we are following the steps as outlined in the "Big6" problem solving model. (You can learn more about that at http://www.big6.com/.) Each student has selected an insect to learn about and has written a question about it. They will also find information to answer some teacher questions. We brainstormed some sources of information we could use to find answers to our questions, and every student is starting off with a book at an appropriate reading level.
Next we learned about how to take good notes and avoid copying. To practice this all of the students participated in an activity called Fact Fragment Frenzy, which can be found at the wonderful website http://www.readwritethink.org/. Working with a partner, the students read a short passage about an animal and then dragged the important words to a notepad also on the screen. This process reinforces the idea that we only need to record the "treasure words" that answer our questions instead of copying down everything. 
Next week the students will continue their research and explore multiple sources for information, including another of my favorite websites, Enchanted Learning!