Winter lesson plans - Los pingüinos

Are you looking for some ideas for winter that are NOT about holidays? I try not to focus on Christmas because not all of my students celebrate it. Some don't even do any winter holidays. Earlier this year in first grade we learned about alebrijes and the students described their favorite animal. A LOT of my students really like penguins so I'm doing a short lesson before the break focused on penguins - it's the perfect winter lesson that's not holiday focused. Check out the resources below!

PENGUIN VIDEOS

This cute video has a fun dance to get kids up and moving

I like that this Pinkfong song includes some vocab I've already taught like salta, grande and has footage of real emperor penguins.

My students also love looking at live webcams of different animals - like this one at the Georgia Aquarium. You can practice numbers by counting how many you see or have students describe their color and actions, whether they like them or not, etc. 

PENGUI BOOK

I love this book Los Pingüinos Adoran los Colores. It's super cute, easy to understand, and a great way to review colors. The blog Teach and Tell Us also has a super cute freebie to go along with it. Check it out here!

If your school subscribes to Pebble Go they also have a LOT of articles in English and Spanish on different types of penguins. You could use and scaffold for novice speakers or just give the link and let them explore on their own. 

PENGUIN DIRECTED DRAW

My kids also love to draw. I'm doing this directed draw with K-2 so I wanted to keep it very simple. Before we start we're going to review with our body parts song so they could more easily recognize the different parts as I drew them. I also suggest logging into zoom on two computers so that you can pin the video of the camera where you're drawing. That makes it bigger so students can easily see what you are doing. 

At the end they have a cute picture that is wintery. For older kids you could have them label it or do a writing piece with it. Or you can have them add a hat in their favorite color to go along with the book!

Do you teach about los pingüinos? What resources or activities do you do with your students? Share in the comments below!