Image of a penguin
(c) Rinusbaak | Dreamstime.com
Background Builder,

A Peek at Penguins

Find out about penguins. Then read a true story about a special penguin.

From the September 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Children will compare types of penguins and their habitats.

Lexiles: 320L
Guided Reading Level: E
Featured Skill: Vocabulary, Main Idea,
Vocabulary: habitat, beaches, oil
Topic: Science,
Common Core Standards
  • Science (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (A) investigate how the external characteristics of an animal are related to where it lives, how it moves, and what it eats.
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (A) investigate how the external characteristics of an animal are related to where it lives, how it moves, and what it eats.

Magazine View
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1. There are 18 kinds of penguins.

Patrick J. Endres/Getty Images (Rockhopper Penguin); Cavan Images/Offset (Emperor Penguin); Shutterstock.com (Fairy Penguin)

Here are some of them. They each look a little different.

2. Some penguins live in the cold.

Keren Su/China Span/Alamy Stock Photo 

Emperor penguin chick

Their habitat is full of snow and ice. 

3. Some penguins live in warm places. 

Shutterstock.com

Magellanic penguins

You can see them on sandy beaches. They swim in warm waters.

4. Oil can hurt penguins.

Jeff Rotman/NPL/Minden Pictures

Sometimes a big ship spills oil into the water. That can make penguins very sick. 

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (2) Download All Skill Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus

Nonfiction text features

Comparing and contrasting

Science Focus 

Animals

Animal habitats

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

Whole Group

Pairings and Text Connections

  • In this issue: “Big Read-Aloud: The Grandpa and the Penguin”
  • From the Storyworks archive: “Background Builder: The Coldest Place,” December/January 2022

Before-Reading Resources

 
  • Video: World of Penguins (2 minutes) Activate background knowledge and build interest.
  • Vocabulary Slideshow (5 minutes) habitat, beaches, oil

Suggested Reading Focus

Information from text and images (20 minutes)
  • This article will prepare students to comprehend the “Big Read- Aloud” about a special penguin that lives in a warm place.
  • Before opening the magazine, ask students if they think penguins could ever live somewhere warm. Have them turn and talk to each other. Take a couple of answers as to why or why not.
  • As this is your students’ first exposure to the magazine, walk them through the nonfiction features. Explain that captions and labels are words that give more information about the pictures. Read the captions together.
  • Read the mini article. Pause at bolded vocabulary words to check for comprehension.
  • Have students share facts they learned with the group or in partnerships. Now what do they think? Do penguins live only in cold places?

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Skills: Key details (15 minutes)

Extension Craftivity

Skills: Animal habitats (15 minutes)

  • If you would like to extend the skills sheet activity, give students craft materials. They can add textures and colors as they create each penguin habitat. (For example, they can glue on cotton balls, felt, or tissue paper).
  • Once they have completed the activity, have students take a “gallery walk” of everyone’s work to see what colors and materials they used.

Text-to-Speech