Life Size Penguins

This week we focused on working on our life size penguins. We also worked on other aspects of our Penguin Study. Check it out below!

First we voted as a class to decide which penguins we would be studying. We chose these five types of penguins to study: Little, Galapagos, Macaroni, Chinstrap & Emperor. We had a sign for each of the 5 types and the children got to sign up for which group they wanted to be in by which type they wanted to learn more about.

In art class this week we worked on making an illustration of our penguin that we would be learning about. We used non fiction books and looked closely at colors and details of the penguins to make sure they were accurate illustrations. Mrs. Pinto modeled how to do this. Next week in art, we will be making our penguins out of clay so we will be using our illustrations to help us make them correctly. Take a look at some of their illustrations below.

We continued to do the polar animal rescue and almost every one of the kids has had a turn to participate in this. One of the students suggested that we should use safety goggles to keep ice out so we brought some in and they loved using them! They thought they looked so silly with the red goggles on.

Once we decided on our groups, they got together to talk about what they wanted to learn about them and how they wanted to share their learning with others. One thing they really wanted to do was create life size penguins and hang them up on our bulletin board so when other students walk by they can see if they are taller than the penguins. Each group added a picture to their sign and began construction on their penguins. We started with the little penguin which was the shortest one.

They cut out a body out of blue paper and used white paper for the belly. We added pink feet, a tail, a blue flipper, an eye and a beak to finish it out. 

Next, we worked on the Galapagos penguin. We worked as a team to get put it together and everyone helped out. We cut out all of the parts and glued them on. Then we added things like the white line on its head from its eye to chin, beak, eye, tail, flipper, feet. You can also see Emma below adding the black line on the belly of the penguin with sharpie marker.

The Chinstrap penguin was next. Using non-fiction books like we did for the other groups as well, we realized that this penguin had a lot more white on it then the other penguins. We also had to add its defining feature, the black strap on its chin, as well as eye, flipper, tail and feet.

For the Macaroni penguin we had to figure out how to recreate the feather crests on its head. I found some streamers paper and we cut them into strips, adding a large strip right above its eye. We added some black lines in the yellow feather crests for the black feathers that are mixed in as well. We noticed that it has a red eye and an orange beak with a little bit of red so we added that as well as a flipper, feet and a tail. 

The last and tallest penguin we worked on was the Emperor penguin. We were brainstorming how to make the yellow on its chest and we were having a hard time coming up with anything. It starts very bright and kind of fades as it goes down the chest. Tristan suggested using ripped paper and put a lot at the top and then use less as we go down. What a great idea!

So we did just that by using the streamer paper and ripping it into tiny pieces At the top of the neck we glued a lot of yellow paper to make it look brighter and then used less as we went down to give it the faded look.  We also used ripped paper to add the black feather patch that they have in the white part. We added orange on the beak, an eye, flipper, feet and a tail.

I think they all turned out so great and the students were very happy with how they turned out! Each group shared their penguin with the class and they were clapping and cheering so loud for each other. They were being so supportive and encouraging and it was great to see. The kids can't wait to see them on the bulletin board!

We also started reading a new chapter book together about Penguins called Penguins and Antarctica. This book is only 6 chapters long so we are already almost done with it. It has a lot of good factual information about Antarctica and Penguins that live there (Emperor & Adelie). 

I found a lot of different books about penguins so we started reading this one in literacy lab. After we read the book together, the children highlighted the sight words in the book and colored the penguins to make them appropriate colors. They were then able to take these home in order to help them practice their reading skills at home. We will be sending more penguin books home this week also!

We added a new workstation this week and the students really enjoyed it. They used this popcorn graph to survey their friends and asked them what their favorite popcorn was. They documented it and discussed it with their partners and decided which had the most and which had the least.

We added labels to our map and it is now ready to be hung in the hallway. I think it turned out great!

Since we finished the book Mr. Popper's Penguins and so did Mrs. Atkin's class, we watched the movie with them. In order to keep their attention, we watched half on Tuesday and the second half on Friday. We also discussed the similarities and differences between the movie and book. It was a nice way to end our week and compare the same story in two different mediums.

I can't wait to see what this week brings to our penguin study!

Have a great week! Don't forget QPT day is on Tuesday.

Mrs. Brittany Garrabrant