Penguin Party! {aka Penguin Research}
Have you ever studied penguins? We recently finished up our first penguin unit, and it was so much fun!
The kids each chose one of five penguin species to research: Little Blue, Rockhopper, Macaroni, Adelie, and Chinstrap. We used the Emperor Penguin as whole group practice before they began their own research.
Our school is a 1:1 ipad school. That means that every child has an ipad in the classroom. We used QR codes to help the kids find the required information on their penguins. They used their ipads to scan the code and then used the info found in each code to complete their data collection sheets.
Once the data collection was complete, they created keynote presentations on their penguins. (You could easily create posters, books, or powerpoints as well.)
Our fabulous technology specialist on campus created thinglinks for them to use when they completed the required tasks. They were able to use these to gather more information. I also purchased sets from Scholastic to use in reading groups throughout the week.
(This idea came from http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2013/01/14/penguin-art-project/. So fun!)
We finished up the unit with paper mache penguins. This part was a little intimidating, but everything worked out perfectly, and the kids LOVED it!
Have a great week!
This is such a great find! I am at a 1:1 school and will enjoy keeping up with your posts that include technology. Thank you for the idea!