Penguins Unit - Week 1

This was our first full week learning about Penguins. It also was the start of our Informational Writing Unit. Students will be learning about the 17 types of penguins as well as other related topics: what penguins eat, where they live, what they look like, their life cycle, etc. As we move through our unit students will each write their own All About Penguins informational book. We have started these already and will continue to work on them through the first week of February!

Here are some things we have done this week:



Schema Chart:
We discussed the word "schema" and decided that it meant: things we think we know about penguins. Students then had a chance to share their Penguin schema with the class. I wrote each idea on its own sticky note and posted them around our large penguin picture that we have hanging on the wall in our classroom. As we read our penguin books we will move our sticky notes from the wall to the penguin. We will move all ideas that we find out are fact to the black part of the penguin. We will move all ideas that we determine are misconceptions to the while belly of the penguin. 

This will be an anchor that we will go back to each day throughout our unit as we learn more and more. It provides us with an ongoing visual of penguin facts to reference during the unit as well.








Non-Fiction Text Features
Introduction to non-fiction and informational text by examining the text features we noticed in non-fiction books as we read. 










Who Am I? Bulletin Board
This is a bulletin board in our classroom with photographs of many types of penguins. Each type of penguin has its name posted below its picture underneath a flap. This is so that students can try and "quiz" themselves on the different types of penguins as we learn about them, based upon what they look like. 








All About Penguin Books
Title Page: 
Students all made penguin pictures out of construction paper, added the title to the books, and wrote their names (blurred out for the purpose of this site). 

Page 1 - Types of Penguins
Working on the first page of their All About Penguin books! On Day 1 we learned about Types of Penguins. After reading about some different types we made an anchor chart together. The chart listed some of the types of penguins as well as a few facts about them. Students them got to choose which penguins to write about in their books. Some chose to simply list all penguins while others wanted to write about specific types and share some facts that they learned. Regardless of their choices, they were quite engaged in the process. 

Some students chose to use clipboards and write on the floor so that they could use the anchor chart to help them create ideas and spell words correctly in their books.

Other students chose to sit next to one of our Penguin bulletin boards. This board has images of many of the types of Penguins and each is labeled with the correct type. This helped to inform accurate drawings of the penguins in the books!

Lots of text on this one - but ALL created by students as they recalled facts from the book as I read it aloud

Page 2 - Where Penguins Live (Habitat)
We continue using the same process as we create each page of our books together. We will read a portion of a text, make an anchor chart together, then students work independently to write about that topic in their books. The actual writing portion is quite open-ended. As long as students use facts to write about the topic of the day, they may write about anything they choose. Students also may choose paper with space for a picture, no picture, more lines, fewer lines, etc. The project really allows for some creativity and independence. 

Using the anchor chart as a helpful tool during the writing process.

                                

Using a mentor text for assistance spelling words correctly and as a separate resource from the anchor chart (we have lots of books that cover each topic we will write about). Many students have started taking advantage of this.