Penguin Unit for First Grade

Hopefully, I'm getting this out to you with enough time to incorporate it into your January or February lesson plans!  And, if you've already done penguins this year, maybe it will just give you some new ideas.  I also want to note that many of my idea came from or were inspired by activities given in Deanna Jump's Penguin Unit which can be purchased at Teachers Pay Teachers.  {It will be a purchase worth your while!  Promise!}

Also, I would have to say this was probably one of the most fun topics that we have studied all year.  The kids LOVED it and were totally into all the non-fiction books we read.  They were inspired all week - even to the point of waddling through the hallways when we were on our way to lunch or specials!  Their excitement was contagious.  When I know my kids are truly inspired about learning, I am inspired.  Those are the best kind of teaching days :)

Click the pic above to download the 5-day {brief} unit plans!

{Day 1}

To start off our week, I created this large, whole-group graphic organizer so that we could ground our old knowledge and add our new learning throughout the week. 

After our readings and discussions, we completed the following activity (this was my sample; the worksheet is in Deanna's unit).

{Day 2}

After reading another non-fiction selection, we defined habitat as a whole group and listed penguin habitats.  They LOVED talking about "guano" - AKA penguin poop - and we had a really good laugh discussing how it was part of some penguins' habitats.  One of my students even wrote a sentence about it {see below}. 

Our culminating activity was to paint a penguin in an icy habitat.  This idea came from  Deep Space Sparkle.  {I would HIGHLY recommend this blog if you enjoy doing artsy projects with your kiddos!}  I modeled this by drawing and painting a large scale scene and guided the kids through the lesson.  I think the results were marvelous!  Little kid art is my fav!

{Day 3}

Earlier in the week, I'd asked my students to wear "tacky" clothes for Tacky the Penguin Day.  {No pictures of my kiddos due to privacy, but they were hilarious!}.  The kids thought this "odd bird" was extremely entertaining and have been singing Tacky songs ever since :)  All worksheets were taken from Deanna's unit.  I had some penguin stationery and the students made up penguin stories to write about.

{Day 4}

Though our readings really didn't have anything to do with the glyphs, they were enthralled with the birth of a baby penguin.  They wanted to read more and more!  To make the glyph activity easier to understand when "shopping" for the pieces, I made this whole group chart and laminated it for reuse next year.

We also completed an can/have/are whole group chart.

{Day 5}

The kids LOVED the "blubber" glove simulation activity.  I didn't take pictures {because I was busy slathering Vaseline on hands!}, but it was definitely worth the mess.  My recommendations - add LOTS of shortening to the baggie!  Once you think you have enough, add another dollop! 

{Literacy Center Activity - Long I}

Since we are studying long i this week (we didn't do it the week before Christmas due to all the snow days we had), I made this to keep it current.  You can download it by clicking HERE.   

Lastly, here is a Long I chart I made to use throughout the week and for upcoming lessons...

I did write the poem - but please feel free to use it or change it! 

Whew!  That was a lot!  Please feel free to use and or alter any activity you see here! 

Let me know if you have any questions or if a link is down.  Have a great day!