Comparing/Contrasting Penguins (Penguins #5) & PLAY!!!

Another fun day with penguins, primarily using materials from the Math Learning Center's Bridges curriculum...

1. We read about King Penguins.

2. My 8yo filled out a data sheet about height, weight, coloring, and egg production for the King penguin. He used our penguin measurement wall to record how tall the King is as compared to the Rockhopper, his brother, and himself.

3. We read about penguin predators.

4. My son wrote on a chart, comparing/contrasting the penguins we've studied so far. He'll continue to add to it as we go.

5. He cut out "fact cards," each with one fact describing either the King or the Rockhopper penguin. We made mini pockets (seal an envelope, cut in half, and use the two halves for pockets) to make little fact sorting pockets. He labeled one "Rockhopper," one "King," and sorted the fact cards into each. Although the fact cards come with the curriculum, I'm tempted to have him make his own when we do the next set of two contrasting penguins.

6. We read:

Tacky and the Winter Games
Three Cheers for Tacky
Tacky the Penguin
See How They Grow: Penguin (DK book)
If You Were a Penguin
Born to be Wild: Little Penguins

PLAY!!!
Then, the boys spent a huge portion of the day OUTSIDE. For once, it was not too rainy. Not too cold. And I'd just read "The Children Must Play". Here's a pertinent quote:

"While observing recess outside the Kallahti Comprehensive School on the eastern edge of Helsinki on a chilly day in April 2009, I asked Principal Timo Heikkinen if students go out when it’s very cold. Heikkinen said they do. I then asked Heikkinen if they go out when it’s very, very cold. Heikkinen smiled and said, “If minus 15 [Celsius] and windy, maybe not, but otherwise, yes. The children can’t learn if they don’t play. The children must play.”

 So, let 'em PLAY!!!! It's a required part of every child's education!