A. Preparing to Research (10 minutes) 

• Introduce equity sticks. Tell students that the class will use these sticks as a way to call on students to participate during class. This will help you check their understanding during lessons. Tell them the reason they are called equity sticks is because everyone has one and will get a chance to think about questions asked in class and share their thinking.
• Remind students that all learners, including adults, must be willing to take risks to learn something new. They may not always be confident in their thinking, but sharing their thinking is important in learning new things.
• Discuss the importance of being respectful of everyone's learning by asking:  

"How can the class be respectful when others are sharing their thinking about questions?" (We'll actively listen to speakers by looking at them while they talk, or Only one person will speak at a time.)

• If productive, cue students to listen carefully:

"Who can repeat what your classmate said?" (Responses will vary.)

• Display the Guiding Questions anchor chart. Use equity sticks to call on a student to read each question aloud.
• Invite students to Think-Pair-Share the first question: "How do animals' bodies and behaviors help them survive?"

"What does survive mean?" (It means to stay alive.)

"What do you think is meant by animals' bodies and behaviors?" (Their bodies are how they physically look and are made, and their behaviors are how they act.)

• Explain to students that scientists call what animals do to protect themselves and survive animal defense mechanisms, and in this module, they will learn about defense mechanisms of all kinds of animals.
• Invite students to Think-Pair-Share the second question: "How can writers use knowledge from their research to inform and entertain?" Ask:

"What does it mean to inform?" (It means to teach someone about something.) 

"What does it mean to entertain?" (It means to do something for someone to enjoy.)

"What does the word research mean?" (It means you learn about something by reading.)

• If necessary, give an example of something that informs (the nightly news) and something that entertains (a sitcom or movie), and something that does both (a nature show or a show about a period in history).  
• Explain that students' written performance task for this module will have to inform and entertain their readers on the topic of animal defense mechanisms and that they will have an opportunity to learn about research during the study of this topic.
• Display the Performance Task anchor chart. Use equity sticks to call on a student to read the first three sentences of the prompt. Invite students to give a thumbs-up if they have read a choose-your-own-adventure-type book before or a thumbs-down if they have not.
• Explain that a choose-your-own-adventure is a story that has two possible endings and the reader decides what a character will do at certain points in the story. Tell students that they will learn more about this genre later in the module; for the time being, they just need to know they will research an animal and its defense mechanisms to write a narrative.
• Direct students' attention to the Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart. Emphasize the phrase contributing to a better world at the top of the anchor chart and inform students that this means putting learning to use to improve communities. Point out that it can be any community: for example, the classroom, school, or town.
• Read aloud the habit of character recorded.
• Invite students to tell an elbow partner what applying my learning means in their own words using the anchor chart as a guide.
• Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and cold call students to share their responses with the whole group:

"What does applying your learning look like? What might you see when someone is applying what he or she has learned?" (see Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)).

"What does applying your learning sound like? What might you hear when someone is applying what he or she has learned?" (see Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)).

• Record student responses in the appropriate column on the Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart.
• Record contribute and apply learning on the academic word wall. Invite students to add translations of the words in their home languages in a different color next to the target vocabulary.
• Once again, remind students of the habit of character of focus: apply my learning. Explain that through the creation of their stories, they will be applying what they have learned about animal defense mechanisms.
• Distribute Animal Defenses research notebooks. Invite students to look through their notebooks and think about what they notice and wonder about them.
• Invite students to do a quick Go-round in which each person shares in turn. Ask:  

"What do you notice about the research notebook?"

• Validate student responses and summarize what students noticed. This may sound something like: "Great observations! I heard several of you say that you noticed there were several graphic organizers repeated throughout the notebook."
• Explain that students will use the research notebook during the first unit to collect and document research about animal defense mechanisms. Tell students they will work with a new research notebook in Unit 2, and then later to write their choose-your-own-adventure narratives in Units 2 and 3.
• Invite students to turn and talk, sharing what they wonder about the research notebook. Answer any clarifying questions and say that other things they are wondering about will be answered as they use the notebook.