What a fun time we've had learning about penguins! Today we read the story The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins. "What is an emperor?" the kids asked? Perfect lead in to the story- we learned about the emperor penguin (who lives in Antarctica) ad how the egg is kept safe: the dad holds it on his feet and covers it with his blubber (which is a fancy word for....fat....we learned. Hopefully, the children won't use this word to describe any people......especially loudly in public!) Anyway, the mother lays the egg and the dad keeps warm for two months while the mother feeds. Once the chick hatches, the dad feeds the chick until the mother returns to continue the feeding. The children though regurgitation was a really gross way to feed a baby.....and so do I!
We added quite a new penguin facts to our penguin map. We've practiced 'reading' our map, and the kids are quite good! I'll send a photo later today to this blog. Ask you child to tell you some penguin facts. If needed, a good sentence starter is "Penguins have.....", "Penguins can......" and "Penguins are......". Each child can tell at least three facts about penguins.
We also learned that once all the mothers returns from feeding, they loudly call to the rest of the penguins and identify their mate by voice. This led to today's terrific science experiment. Using the iPad, we recorded a 2-3 second video of each child (and me) saying, "I am a penguin!". As we played the audio only, the children had to guess who speaking. It was no contest......everyone was right every time......along with lots and lots of giggles! This simple experiment showed us that all voices are different!
Using our three vowels, we are able to create simple words and are beginning to blend these sounds into words. During conferences, we can talk about ways to practice at home.
During journals, the children watched me draw a very simple penguin......very simple! "A small circle for the head.....a large oval for the body......two flippers....two triangles for the feet.....eyes....and a beak." Following that simple instruction, the children turned over their journals and drew BEAUTIFUL penguins! See if your child can do it again at home.
Tomorrow is our last day of learning about penguins. We will follow up with vocabulary from today's story (that didn't get done today).
Remember no school on Monday and Tuesday. We will learn about germs on Wednesday/Friday and walk to the pharmacy on Thursday.
