Research Writing to Address Comprehension and Expression + a Rubric Freebie

Lately my second grade friends and I have been having tons of fun writing research papers based on monthly and classroom themes. It's been really nice because we are able to build upon skills they have used previously with the Expanding Expressions Tool Kit.

The challenge has been getting students to change from the lingo of the tool kit to a more cohesive style of writing. So to explain what I expect for my speech written expression students, I have made a great rubric based off the EET kit. This rubric is pretty generic. By changing levels of support  and content needed, you can make it more appropriate for students of different grades.  Look at common core standards to guide what your expectations as far as structure should be, they differ per grade level (upper grades expect definitions and heading etc.)
Based on Common Core State Standards, second graders should

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

That being said, I give my kiddo's lots of support and expect mostly 3's and 4's on the rubric. You can set different goals for different students based on pre-writing and post writing scores if you wish to decrease support IE if they are at a 0 you can set a goal to get 2's on 6/7 etc.
You can find a free printable of my rubric here.

I find short reading for my kiddo's to combine with the knowledge they have sponged up from their science, social studies or reading classes. One website I really like for the short, grade level readings is readworks.org.  K12reader has a great First Thanksgiving reading comprehension passage  to supplement information reviewed in class that I am going to use with my second graders when they write a Thanksgiving themed piece.

Have a great week!