We were so lucky to visit a zoo recently that has a fantastic penguin habitat. My kids had recently taken an interest in penguins, so beginning with an up close encounter was in order.
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| Pumpkin takes field notes while Little Dude & Humboldt Penguin look on |
These particular little guys - Humboldt Penguins - are warm weather penguins that live in South America when in the wild. They were very curious about the kids. We observed them and noticed how they have adapted to swim in the water. Wings became flippers and feet are webbed.
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Having had a good introduction to penguins, we moved on to less concrete things. I made penguin species three-part-cards, which you can find on Teachers Pay Teachers for free here. Pumpkin researched where the different species live and marked it on a world map. We read books on penguins and played Penguinopoly, which taught facts about many species and behaviors. I took advantage of the cuteness factor by creating some math work for the kids which is penguin-themed.
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| On my shelves |
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| Skip-Counting by Three Work & Easy Counters |
Teaching kids to skip-count is a pre-curser to multiplication. Here, I used cute penguin cards to entice Pumpkin and Little Dude to practice skip-counting by threes. Print, cut, (laminate if you have the time and want it to last you for next year too) and teach.
Children put the number cards in order. I included a zero card as it never hurts to remind them of what that is. Since Little Dude is just four and rather new at this whole skip-counting thing, I found using counters helpful. Having scraps of laminated white pieces of paper always handy, I used a snowflake paper punch (I got mine at Hobby Lobby) to make some quick counters.
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| Cards and Counters |
Using counters helped to make this work more concrete for him, and it gave the work an extra element of control. Too many or too few snowflakes meant an error counting. The kids counted out three snowflakes and then found the three card. Next, they counted on three more and found the six card.
For added practice, I got out 12 of our three beads. The kids put one chain of three under each card, counting by threes as they went.
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| Twice the counters means twice the practice -uh, I mean fun! |
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| Don't forget to check everything with your control card! |
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| Fill in the Missing Number Work |
Next, pumpkin had extra practice using Missing Number
cards I made and put into page protectors. Using a dry erase
marker, she filled the blank penguins and checked again
using the control card.
You can find both of the skip-counting works above at my
More penguin ideas are on the way... stay tuned.
Happy teaching,
Rosanna
For added practice, I got out 12 of our three beads. The kids put one chain of three under each card, counting by threes as they went.
