Penguins on Parade!

I know, I know, here we are halfway through the month of April and I'm talking PENGUINS!!! Well... I have a great excuse. It is still snowing in Maine and Spring has NOT arrived! All of those snow days and 2hr delays put us behind in our read aloud of Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Don't you just love this book???  I love reading it to my students every year!

As we were reading the book we worked on our lapbook. This was my first time creating a lapbook and definitely a first time for my kiddos to make one. I wasn't sure how it would go with first graders but they did great!!! I was amazed at how they turned out!

The front

Inside

They did a fabulous job! I was amazed at how well they did. First we cut out all the pieces that they needed. We stored them in a baggie with their name on it. Then when we were ready to add the next part they could go to their baggie and get the pieces they needed to make it. They loved it and were so engaged. 

After we finished the book and the lapbook we decided to celebrate with a Penguin Day (afternoon really). Of course, we had to start by making Penguin Headbands. Oh, did they love them!  

Not sure how this one got ripped on one side. Oops!

Here are all my little penguins! Super cute, aren't they??? They had so much fun! They were a noisy group of penguins too!! lol

We even did a penguin song and dance!

Before the day was over, Mrs. Smith delivered a special package. My kiddos were so excited!! All she said was, I think I heard a noise come out of the box and my kiddos' excitement doubled! All of a sudden, they all thought they could hear noises. 

We opened the box up and this is what we found inside.

There was a stuffed penguin that we named Captain Cook.

There was a penguin math game, penguin rings, penguin stickers, penguin key chains, a penguin journal and the book If You Were a Penguin. A box filled with goodies! Each child gets to take Captain Cook home with them for 1-2 nights. They play the math game with someone in their family, read the book and then write in the journal. 

They were super excited with their new friend Captain Cook!

This is the parent note inside the front cover.  The journal had specific directions on what to do.

They had to find P  words in newspapers, magazines, or cereal boxes. Then cut them out and paste them in the journal in alphabetical order. After that, they used each p word in a sentence at the bottom of the page. I also reminded them that I would be looking for a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and punctuation at the end. 

Once they were done with that, they journaled on the other page about their adventures with Captain Cook at their house. They could take a picture with Captain Cook, if they wanted to, and paste it at the top.

If you would like any of these penguin activities CLICK HERE

We ended our Penguin Day with a special treat!

Who doesn't love a penguin cookie!