Gawk! Ork!
The 3rd graders have been studying penguins for the past week. The students got the chance to do various projects throughout the unit. They have enjoyed doing research on the Internet and writing a report. The students got to choose which type of penguin they wanted to research. They had to find out where it lives, what it eats, what it looks like, and come up with at least five interesting facts about their penguin. The class did an outstanding job looking up information with the laptops, as well as reading various books about penguins.
We have been reading the book Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. Mr. Popper, when not painting or papering his neighbors' walls, has a persistent penchant for penguins. A decorator by day, he's an intrepid Antarctic explorer by night--at least in his imagination. Mr. Popper resigns himself to quiet evenings at home with his family and his travel books, until one day a mysterious package arrives. Pretty soon the Poppers have a house full of penguins, an ice rink in the basement, and an ever-increasing bill for raw fish and canned shrimp. They quickly train the penguins to put on a show so they are able to make money and earn a living again.
Miss Winter’s 3rd graders also got to watch several different clips off of the Internet of penguin sounds and how the penguins interact with each other.
Overall it has been a fun experience to learn about such an interesting animal.
