Research Report Introductions
The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to
grab the reader’s attention and to define your
topic.
The introduction consists of three parts:
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1.
2.
3.
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The grabber, or lead statement
Background information and a brief description
of your animal
Thesis Statement
All elements must be present for a good
introduction
Grabbers
You can begin your introductory paragraphs a
number of different ways. (Remember, you are
trying to grab the reader’s attention.)
Techniques (choose one):
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
An amazing or unusual fact
A quote, proverb, or saying
A bold opinion
A statistic
An anecdote or description
Example Grabbers
 Bold Opinion– “An albatross is the grandest living flying
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machine on Earth.”
Statistic— “Almost 75% of all UFO reports turn out to be a
weather balloon, meteors, or the reflection of the sun.”
Description— “On this night, the final night, a fog swirled
across the desert, as thick and impenetrable as a
sandstorm.”
Amazing fact— “At up to 8,800 pounds, male elephant seals
can be up to ten times larger than females.”
Proverb- “They say the early bird gets the worm, but this
isn’t the case with the blue whale.”
Now write a grabber of your own. Practice with a
couple different techniques. Remember, this is the first
sentence of your report, so make it memorable.
Introductions—background information
 After the grabber, include a bit of information
that isn’t in the report, but that the reader may
need to know about your animal.
 Start with a basic description of your animal,
including type of animal, size, and habitat.
Thesis statement
 The thesis statement is the most important part of
your introduction. It clues the reader in to what
will be coming in the rest of the report.
 The thesis statement is the last sentence in your
introduction. If it is somewhere else in the
introduction, you’ve written it wrong.
 Sample Thesis statements:

Guanacos are unusual animals that are useful to
humans but threatened by hunting.

Mountain gorillas are peaceful animals that live,
reproduce and thrive in the mountains of southern
Africa.
Generic thesis:
The _(your animal) is a very
_(adjective)_ _(type of animal)_
that lives, reproduces, and thrives in
a(n) _(adjective)_ environment.
The Paragraph
 Now put your introduction together.
 Start with the grabber, follow with the background
information, and finally write the thesis statement.
 Remember: the thesis statement must be the last
sentence of your introduction.
Conclusions
 Conclusions are written like an introduction, only backwards.
 Start with a transition like “In conclusion” or “In summary”.
 First, restate (write in a different way)your thesis
 Next, summarize the main ideas that you’ve already covered.
Again, restate these.
 Finally, finish with a snappy line that leaves the reader
thinking about something. A call to action is a good approach
for an animal report.
 Example: “If something is not done soon, the
African hissing whale will soon become extinct. It
would be hard to imagine the world without these
marvelous, gentle creatures.”