Paper Pyramids are Perfect for Presenting Researched Knowledge

If you have students research to build and present knowledge, as is called for in Common Core Writing and Writing about History/Social Studies/Science Standards, a great way for them to present their knowledge is visually on paper pyramids that can be displayed in the classroom. For example, students do that in this lesson (which includes the template for the pyramid):

In my lesson "Reading About Nutrition from Credible Sources: Informational Text Web Quest," students are guided step-by-step to research about nutrition as well as one specific nutrient assigned to each of them. Each student presents information about the specific nutrient he or she researched on a paper pyramid. These pyramids can be displayed around the classroom to teach other students valuable information quickly. Here are some samples:

Here is a picture of the pyramid (tetrahedron actually), but in my lesson it is perfectly fitted on an 8 1/2"x 11" paper whereas with this one, you would need to copy and paste it but then be very careful to stretch it proportionally (diagonally) to keep each triangle the exact same size or it won't fold right!

In my lesson, students are also required to write a paragraph about the nutrient they researched. This is after they fill out a handout on which they take notes. Here are two samples made by junior high students:

WANT MORE ENGAGING READING FOR YOUR STUDENTS? WANT TO HAVE THEM PRACTICE ALL 10 READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARDS SKILLS? TRY THESE: