Our writing focus for the week is beginning poetry. The students had to describe an object so we decided to describe a penguin. First, we made a bubble map to organize our thoughts and write down our descriptive words.
Next, we used the words from the circle maps to write a diamante poem. It has a noun, 2 adjectives, 3 verbs, 2 adjectives, and the noun again. I used Microsoft Word and a cute penguin coloring page to make the paper they used for their poem. I was planning to attach it, but unfortunately I left my flash drive at work. Here is what it looked like.
The kids did a really awesome job on it. My more advanced writers had fun and were able to come up with different words. My struggling writers had the bubble map for support and were all very proud of the end product. Another penguin activity we did was an easy sequencing foldable book. I got this activity from The Mailbox Magazine, I just translated the labels that went with the pictures and scanned the sheet so that I could save it. It has a simple explanation of the life cycle of the penguin.
Sandra and I both love to do cut paper activities. I had a penguin cut paper activity that I found online, but I have no idea where I left it or where to find it lol. So I made my own smaller version of this activity. I'll post the sizes of paper and instructions when I add the penguin freebies. Here's an example of my little penguin. I used trail and error to find the sizes.
The last activity that we make during our penguin unit is an all about penguins book. I really like the way Sandra's came out. She had a diagram in it and each page had a topic. It seemed to help the students really focus what they learned. Her kids did really good and their books look great!
-Cindy
