Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester is such a fun book for your penguin unit. This little odd bird makes you laugh out loud. This book provides an engaging way to discuss character traits, predictions, inferring, and more. There is also a cute penguin craft to go along with your Tacky activities. You will also find a set of free printable worksheets towards the end of this blog post. The winter season is a great time to break out your penguin books and I know Tacky books must be on your list!
Tacky the Penguin was one of the first reading comprehension activities we made when we started our Engaging Readers back in 2013. Engaging Readers lesson plans are an interactive way for kindergarten, first-grade second-grade students to learn about reading comprehension. Brain research tells us that the same area of the brain that processes reading comprehension is activated during listening comprehension activities. Therefore, the teacher does the decoding work, but the students do the thinking work.
We start the week by working on making predictions. Kindergarten teachers will find that students in the primary grades are MORE than capable of making their meaning known through pictures!
Our writing prompt asked students to predict what would happen next after the hunters arrived.
I can not understate how important partner work is. Students need lots of opportunities to process language and discuss their thinking. As a teacher, you can not possibly provide an opportunity for each student to express their thinking to YOU directly.
Moreover, turning to their partner and talking is not only purposeful, but it is also essential. It is a great way for students to work on oral language.
During this time of the day, we are not concerned with the letter sound association (transcription) that students are doing. We know we have lots of instructional time dedicated to encoding and decoding words. We have explicit lessons that strengthen those skills each and every day.
During our read-aloud time, our main focus is to improve students’ listening comprehension (which is a launching ground for reading comprehension), vocabulary development, and oral language. Our writing prompts give students the chance to make their meaning known through their illustrations and it works perfectly. Tacky the Penguin is a perfect addition to your lessons because it BEGS to be discussed!
As I said, Tacky the Penguin BEGS to be discussed. With each book, students work together to put the story cards in order. This group retelling activity is such a great support for their oral language development.
As I said, Tacky the Penguin BEGS to be discussed. With each book, students work together to put the story cards in order. This group retelling activity is such a great support for their oral language development.
Each student makes their own penguin craft. This penguin craft is an easy prep gem! It is also a great way for students to practice eye-hand coordination and scissor skills as they make their own Tacky. Tacky looks pretty dapper in his colorful shirt, don’t you think?
Remember, the oral retelling of a story is such an important step, but it is often skipped. If you want your students to be proficient in retelling a story, they must have ample practice. My class loved this part and would fuss if we cut it short.
We included this perfect companion activity. Talk about low prep! We love that you can display this retelling on your interactive whiteboard. It is a PowerPoint file… EASY!
Students used graphic organizers to discuss and compare Tacky with his penguin companions.
Then students complete their own recording sheet Venn diagram.
The writing prompt asked students to infer whether Tacky’s companions would treat him differently.
You can see the classroom display was a sight to behold!
You can find these reading comprehension lessons, response pages, and retelling activities by clicking:
By the time we get to the end of the week, the students enjoy hearing another person’s voice (honestly… I the breather.) But seriously, hearing another person’s example of fluency and intonation is powerful.
Students also work on looking closely at a few of the vocabulary words that are included in the book.
Examining and correcting sentences is also part of our book activities.
You can find these reading comprehension lessons, response pages, and retelling activities by clicking:
You can download this lesson plan template that outlines each activity we used for Tacky the Penguin during our penguin week. The template is editable so you can make the lessons match your own classroom needs!
Click on the image below to download the zipped file from my Google Drive.
Find other week long lesson plan blog posts by clicking HERE.
I have linked a few below:
Have a great week and be sure to scroll to the bottom for your free math activity!
You can find another Tacky the Penguin set of activities in the following blog post:
Simply add your name to the box below and the file will be sent to your email inbox.
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!
Use Promo Code: WILLS
Interested in having Deedee speak at your event? Submit the form below.