Last week in our class, we began our travels to the south to learn about penguins. This is one of my favorite units. We focus on the adaptations that penguins and other polar animals have to help them survive in the frigid weather.

Penguin Resources

We started off learning about the Arctic and Antarctica regions. We learned which animals lived in the northern hemisphere versus the southern hemisphere.

After talking about where polar animals live, we began our focus on the south and discussed what we already know, or think we know about penguins. Here is the schema chart we made to get us started.

We have a large collection of penguin books in our classroom library. You can check out some of our favorite penguin books here.

Polar Animal Word Lists

I like to have themed word lists out for my students to use with their writing. Our polar animal word list is a favorite.

Polar Animal Centers

Our math tubs our filled with polar animal-themed math centers. These activities provide a great review of the math concepts we have been working on.

Life-Sized Penguins

One of my favorite activities we do is make life-sized penguins. First, we measure their penguin height on butcher paper. Next, I lead them through a direct draw of the penguin. Finally, they paint them with tempura paint.