Finding Out Together
A 35-minute Kindergarten lesson on a shared research project — a question, a source, and something written down.
Finding Out Together is a free 35-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard W.K.7 — join in a class project that finds things out and writes them down. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Kindergarten
- Length:
- 35 minutes
- Standard:
- W.K.7
Kindergarten · Writing
W.K.7
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
Objective
Students will be able to contribute a question and a fact to a shared research project.
Students are successful when they can
- Asks a question about the topic: "What do snails eat?"
- Hears a fact from a book that answers it and says it: "Snails eat leaves."
- Adds their fact to the class chart by drawing or writing, and says which book it came from.
What you need
- Three books on one topic (snails, in the plan below)
- A large shared chart: QUESTIONS on one side, WHAT WE FOUND OUT on the other
- Question cards with the three class questions, one per group
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — what do we want to know?
5 min- Show a picture of a snail, or a real one in a tub. Ask: "What do you wonder about snails?"
- Write three questions on the QUESTIONS side: "What do snails eat?" "Where do snails live?" "Why do snails have shells?"
- Say: "Nobody here knows all the answers. We are going to find out together. That is called research."
Teach — where would we look?
11 min- Ask: "How can we find out what snails eat?" Fish for "look in a book," "ask someone," "watch a snail."
- Hold up the three books. Say: "These are our sources. A source is where we find out."
- Use the contents or pictures to find the eating page. Read: "Snails eat leaves and plants. They have tiny teeth." Say: "That answers our first question!"
- Write it on the WHAT WE FOUND OUT side next to its question: "Snails eat leaves." Draw a leaf with a bite out of it. Write the book's title in small letters underneath.
- Read a page from the second book that answers "Where do snails live?": "Snails live in damp places, like under logs and stones." Add it with a drawing of a stone and the book's title.
- Say: "We asked a question. We looked in a book. We wrote what we found and where we found it."
“Ask a question. Look in a source. Write what you found, and say where you found it.”
Guided practice — you find one
9 min- Groups of four take a book and the question card "Why do snails have shells?" An adult reads the relevant page aloud.
- Groups listen for the answer and agree on it: "To keep them safe" or "to stop them drying out."
- One child from each group comes to the chart and adds the fact by drawing or writing, and says the book's name.
- If two groups found different answers, celebrate it: "Both books taught us something."
“Listen for the answer to your question. Hands up when you hear it.”
Independent practice
8 min- On the printable, children draw and write one question about snails and where they would look to find the answer, or number the steps of the class project in order: ask, look, write, share.
- Read every box aloud.
Close
2 min- Read the chart together. Ask: "Which question have we answered? Is there a new question we want to ask next time?"
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Answers the question from imagination: "Snails eat candy."
Why: The child is used to answering questions from their own head, and a funny answer gets a laugh.
Fix: Ask: "Where did you find that? Let us check the book." Read the page together and compare.
Asks a question off the topic: "What is your favorite color?"
Why: They have heard that asking questions is good, so any question feels like a good question.
Fix: Ask: "Is it about snails?" Help them change it: "What color are snails?"
Thinks research means looking at the pictures and saying what you see.
Why: Pictures are the part of a fact book they can read alone, so that is how they have used fact books.
Fix: Ask: "What do the words say?" and read them aloud. Show a fact that is in the words but not the picture.
If they are not there yet
- Give a question card and point to the page to listen to.
- Draw the fact rather than write it.
- Work with an adult who rereads the key sentence twice.
If they finish early
- Ask a new question for the chart and say which book might answer it.
- Find a fact in a second book that matches or adds to one on the chart.
- Write a full sentence with the fact and the book's name: "The snail book says..."
Exit ticket
What question did your group ask? What did you find out? Where did you find it?
What to look for: A topic question, a fact from the book, and the book named. A fact from imagination means the source was not used. An off-topic question means checking the topic first. No source named means the child sees the fact as just known.
Printable practice for W.K.7
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- Ask a Question, Find the AnswerDraw in the space, then write on the lines.
Questions about Finding Out Together
How long does the Finding Out Together lesson take?
35 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 11 min, guided practice 9 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does Finding Out Together teach?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.7 — W.K.7, Writing for Kindergarten: “Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).” In plain terms, join in a class project that finds things out and writes them down.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
Three books on one topic (snails, in the plan below), a large shared chart: QUESTIONS on one side, WHAT WE FOUND OUT on the other, question cards with the three class questions, one per group and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: answers the question from imagination: "Snails eat candy."; asks a question off the topic: "What is your favorite color?" and thinks research means looking at the pictures and saying what you see. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “What question did your group ask? What did you find out? Where did you find it?.” A topic question, a fact from the book, and the book named. A fact from imagination means the source was not used. An off-topic question means checking the topic first. No source named means the child sees the fact as just known. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with Finding Out Together?
Yes — 1 printable W.K.7 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is Finding Out Together free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to W.K.7 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.