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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Waddlin' Through January

So we started back in Jan. learning about penguins...I know many classrooms are doing this unit in the coming weeks.

Our 2 week Kinder unit focuses on geography & map skills - Paul the Penguin wants to branch out of Antarctica!  Well, he visits Japan, Germany, France, Mexico, Egypt, & the USA...he finds he's best suited for his home though - in the end he heads back to the South Pole.  We learn all about maps, globes, continents, countries, flags, currency, passports, etc.

The students write a penguin research book too - complete with: facts, vocabulary, table of contents, diagram, & new learnings!!  The kiddos do all the pages, with models for support - which I complete within small writing groups.

I also find time to teach & act out the vocabulary the kids are learning.  We made an Antarctic Food Chain & discussed krill, we made a model of the globe and placed a penguin in the southern hemisphere, we soaked a hand in ice and a blubber glove to discuss the purpose of blubber, we waddled and huddled, and passed eggs across our feet in a rookery, & this year I added a new experiment...

we colored 2 penguins with washable markers & others with crayons (pressing deeply).  Then we soaked the paper...this modeled for the students what waterproof means.  Did you know that penguins have waterproof feathers?  Something I learned & now the kids have a model:




The rest of this week it's all about Sneezy - can't wait to try some of Deanna's Unit...my kids love every unit I've tried so far!

I'll be back later with info from my Project 64 - Drawing Children Into Reading training, taking place this weekend...SUPER EXCITED!!

Miss Kristan King

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