The winter months are a perfect time to work a penguin unit of study in! This winter theme on flightless birds is a great way to include some nonfiction learning fun!
Penguins may seem like a bunch of formal, tuxedo-wearing birds, but let us tell you, they know how to have a good time! These cool critters are not only super cute, but they also make for a fantastic theme in the classroom.
Whether you’re looking to teach kids about the diverse penguin habitat locations and behaviors or simply want to have a little fun, we’ve got you covered. From penguin puppet shows to art projects and matching games, we’ve got a variety of waddlingly good activities that are sure to bring a smile to the faces of your little ones. So grab your top hats and monocles because it’s time to party like a penguin!
Whenever possible, we like to include other subject areas in our literacy block! Check out some of these cool penguin activities.
We love the book The Emperor’s Egg by Martin Jenkins (affiliate links). This book is all the Emperor Penguin. It is a perfect penguin book to include in our informational text study and it makes the week pretty spectacular!
We love how the book includes a narrative text along with informational texts.
We use this book in our lesson plans to explore various reading comprehension strategies throughout the week!
Whenever we start a nonfiction use, we tend to start with what we already know about a subject. For this example: What do you already know about penguins?
Then, as we dive into our penguin unit studies, we can document the new knowledge we have gained.
We also use can-are-have charts to help support our young children as they write about penguin facts.
For example, students can use this chart to write:
You can also add additional books from your local library or school library. Drop those books into a book basket, and your kiddos can keep learning about these unique birds.
This is also a great book to use to discuss the life cycle of a penguin.
Students also create their own penguin life cycle worksheets.
Each of our Engaging Readers Reading Comprehension books highlights rich vocabulary words that are found in the book. Students explore the meaning of these words and work to incorporate them into their own language.
For your youngest students, you may wish to create this page as a class. OR you can do as this kindergarten teacher did and write the meaning of the word in first for her students before she made copies of the pages.
This may be a better way to prepare the vocabulary sheet for your little guys. Then students were able to draw a picture of the word and use it in a sentence.
These adorable penguins are a great way to talk about the parts of a penguin. You could even add labels to the craft. Students strengthen their fine motor skills as they cut this cute penguin craft out of construction paper.
This craft is also a great way to add a mentor sentence to the penguin art masterpiece! This sentence says, “The Emporer chick hatched from an egg.”
You can find all of these resources including the penguin art project by clicking:
The students learn that Emporer penguins balance their precious egg on their feet while it is incubating. Therefore, students will explore balance.
For this STEM Challenge, you will use a few different materials:
The object is to get the popsicle stick to balance on the block, then build a structure above it. It is fantastic fun!
Kids of all ages will have a great time with this engaging activity.
You can find the detailed directions by clicking on:
We also practiced balancing a ball on our feet and waddling.
Because we read these books each day, it is a wonderful idea to offer another example of reading fluency and intonation. This is a great place to find videos that go with our Engaging Readers book series.
Students have always loved this original poem I wrote about ten years ago!
We look for our high frequency words in the poem then add the poem to our poetry notebook and also complete the emergent reading book that goes with the poem.
You can find these penguin poems by clicking:
Keeping with the theme of “All Things Penguins,” we also have some penguin-themed centers.
These centers were created to go with the book, but they could be used with any penguin unit.
We have included two different puzzles in this unit.
In this way, I can reach all of my students’ needs.
These penguin math worksheets were a big hit!
We also have some additional easy to prep worksheets. There is a sight word version that is editable, so you can add your own words.
You can find all of these activities by clicking:
I’m just going to share some of the different math centers and literacy centers can be used. If you click on the images, you will find the resource.
Here is also a list of these center activities:
Would you like an editable lesson plan template? Simply click the image below to download your editable version!
Here are some free penguin worksheets for you. Just add your email to the box below.
You may be interested in a few of these other winter related blog posts:
You may be interested in a few of these other icy waters polar creatures
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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6 Responses
Lol! Love your "dones" to the moon and back <3
Thanks so much for sharing all of this! I love the snowman poem! And your focus wall!
Michelle
We are creatures of habit! A little shake up in the schedule is HUGE in Kindergarten. I need reminders and a little hand holding too. I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who flubs an anchor chart here or there. Sticky notes are life savers! Thanks for having this great link up, I always find great ideas here. 🙂
Lots of great ideas! Thanks for sharing! Julie Green Apple Lessons
This is great! Thanks for sharing. Tell me about that cool dice in penguin play, please 😉
Yes! We love these dice! They are called differentiated cubes! You can find the actual cubes on Amazon: Differentiated Cubes