~~~Penguins & Sneaux Days~~~

"Sneaux" Day Louisiana style!!  Yes, we are having snow days in Louisiana, third one to be exact.  Who would have thought we would have snow here!!  It's sad that everything closes because of a little snow and sleet.  I don't know how to drive in icy weather and neither does anyone else here!  Check out our "Sneaux"!!!

                     

I am trying to keep up with my New Year resolutions and blog. So far, I have accomplished all of my goals EXCEPT blogging more!  I just can't find the time to write!  At least I am working out regularly and eating healthy every day~~Yahoo!  

Penguins, Penguins, Penguins~~We love Penguins!!  My third graders wrote an informative nonfiction essay about penguins.  We started by reading several penguin stories.

Here are the books we read. 

 

Our favorite was Antarctic Antics.  There is also a video (which is my favorite too!). The video can be found on the Discovery Education site.  Our school has a subscription to this site so I am not sure if you can access it.  After reading several books and discussing what we know and learned about penguins, students did a prewriting activity.  They had to write several penguin facts.  The facts could be about anything we discussed as a class or something they read  from the books.  You can download your free copy of the fact sheet HERE. Then, they made penguin puppets and wrote the facts on the back using a bubble map.  Check them out below. Sorry, I do not have a pattern to share for the puppet. 

 

 

 

Students wrote their rough draft using the bubble map.  I found a cute way to help them edit their writing.  I used skittles after each complete sentence.  This way they could see if a sentence had to be changed.  Check them out below!

 

 

Last, students wrote the final copy of their penguin essay.  They made penguins from toilet rolls and puffy paint.  The puffy paint was made from liquid glue and black paint. 

 

The finished essay came out adorable! 

 

I hope you enjoyed our Penguins!  Now, I'm off to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate!!