Over our 3-week Christmas break, E, R and I read and explored Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. What a sweet, fun book! We had such a great time stepping into the world of the unusual and immensely likable Mr, Popper and there was so much that both the kids and I learned!
Being 6, E could have read this book on her own, but I wanted R, who is 3, to be able to take part. So most days of our vacation, I read the book aloud. I don't know about your kids, but E and R need something to do with their little wiggles while I read aloud (in particular a chapter book). So before starting the book out, I printed out a bunch of book-related coloring pages and activities, along with some play-doh mats, so that they had something to do while I read. My kids actually listen better when they have something to do with their hands... maybe the same is true for your kids... or even for you!
Here's the link to the website where I got most of these printables: Twinkl
On the day we were set to start the book, I was with the kids in our school room, then said, "Oh, did you hear that knock? No? Wait, I hear it again. Did you hear it? I think someone's at the door!"
Both kids went racing to the front door and discovered a big cardboard box on our doorstep. With a sharpie, the package was addressed to them, and said it was a special delivery from the South Pole! They tore into it and found a plush Emperor penguin, along with a plush penguin chick that I got on Amazon. The note inside said they were entrusted to take care of these penguins while they read Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was such a fun way to jump start this book and I wish I could say the idea is mine, but I got it from a Mr. Popper's Penguins Literature Packet I bought on the website Teachers Pay Teachers for $12. We didn't use all of the resources in the packet, but we did use some! Here's the link:
Mr. Popper's Penguins Literature Unit - Complete
While reading the book, we learned all about penguins. I had miniatures of about a dozen different kinds of penguins out in our school room along with penguin three part cards so the kids could play with the penguins and match the miniatures to the cards. Here are the links to these things:
Penguin TOOB
Penguin Three Part Cards
Also to learn about penguins, we used Penguins and STEM Engineering Challenge - Mr. Popper's Penguins. E and R especially had a blast doing the STEM challenges which included building a ladder that the penguins could walk over, an ice box challenge and a toboggan race:
Mr. Popper's Penguins was also a great opportunity to lean about Antarctica and the Arctic. We used this and this for that.
We also learned all about the Inuit with this as well as about the Northern and Southern Lights, using this.
For more ideas, check out my Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/shelleypimentel/
I only wish there were more books like this!
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