Where in the World is Tacky the Penguin?

Summary

Students will complete an art activity and a classroom graph that ties with the "Tacky the Penguin Series" by Helen Leste.

Materials

• Ticky the Adelie Penguin Directed Art Activity (pdf)
• Penguin Feet Measurement Pattern (pdf)
• Friendly Charts: World Map - Scholastic
• Sing to Learn with Dr. Jean - music CD
• Penguin Graph Sheet (pdf)
• Penguin Graph Cards (pdf)
• Penguin Graph Labels (pdf)

Additional Resources

Books

• Tacky the Penguin Series, by Helen Lester (Scholastic); ISBN 0-590-99451-4
• Eyes on Nature: Penguins, by Jane P. Resnick (Innisbrook Wraps); ISBN 1561564702
• Zoobooks: Penguins, by John Bonnet Wexo (Wildlife Education, Ltd.); ISBN 0937934178

Additional media

• Friendly Charts: World Map (Scholastic, www.teachersfriend.com); ISBN 0-439-50546-1
• Sing to Learn with Dr. Jean (http://www.drjean.org); ISBN 0-28021-00042-7

Background for Teachers

• The world is a roundish shape.
• We can find oceans and continents on a globe or map.
• Penguins do not live only in Antarctica.
• Ticky can measure ways to walk from place to place.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude.
3. Demonstrate responsible emotional and cognitive behaviors.
6. Communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written, and nonverbal form.

Instructional Procedures

Invitation to Learn
Ticky has made it to Antarctica only to discover that Tacky has left! Ticky meets other types of penguins. They walk with him and show him how to find Mac. Mac is Tacky’s good friend. He tells Ticky that Tacky has gone to Australia to see his friend Tiny. Ticky gets to Australia and Tiny tells him that Tacky went to Utah to visit him! Ticky returns to Utah by way of the Pacific Ocean. He tells Tacky about his trip and the penguins he met. (Continued from Ticky Plans His Trip to Antarctica to See Tacky)

Instructional Procedures

1. Sing Penguins in Antarctica.
2. Participants will make Ticky with the Ticky the Adelie Penguin Directed Art Activity using rectangles and squares.
3. A mini interactive writing lesson labeling Ticky will be demonstrated.
4. Students are put into groups and given a Penguin Feet Measuring Pattern to measure across the room. Have students make a penguin foot measurement stick on a tongue depressor.
5. Sing Continents with a continent map. (See Resources—Friendly Charts: World Map and Sing to Learn with Dr. Jean CD.)
6. Track Ticky’s route on world maps. Label the continents and oceans.
7. Have students complete the Penguin Graph Sheet and make Penguin Graph Cards [see Penguin Graph Sheet Directions].

Extensions

• Self esteem/character education lessons with the Tacky the Penguin series.
• Interactive Writing--Label different types of penguins and place them on the continent where they live.
• Where in the world is Ticky the Penguin? Using a map or globe, provide clues for students to guess the place where Ticky is.

Family Connections

• Visit a Web site chosen and checked by the teacher. Print a page and bring it to school to share.
• Send home Ticky the Penguin for the family to dress. Have them choose a place for Ticky to visit and write it on the back. At school, pick two or three "Ticky Penguins" and locate where they went to visit on a globe or map.

Assessment Plan

• Observe student participation during the art lesson. Display the finished product.
• Have children measure items in the room with different penguin feet, then write/illustrate in math journals about what they did.
• Use the favorite penguin graph to do oral story problems.
  Example: Which penguin type has one less than nine? After the teacher models the questions, the children ask the questions. This activity can go on for four or five days, allowing all children have an opportunity to participate.