The Penguin Who Hated the Cold, by Barbara Brenner

This is a silly little story about a penguin named Pablo who hated the cold. He’ll do anything to find a warm place to live. Follow him on his adventure from the cold Antarctic to the warm tropics. This book is a great jumping board for teaching opposites.

Materials

Night before, freeze small animal counters into cubes and blocks of ice.
Several trays of plain ice cubes
Hot water bottle
2 large boxes of jello
1 banana, 1 apple or pear, several strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and cherries
Animal homes cards

Vocabulary

Chilly (always feeling cold, colder than cool but not as cold as frozen)
Hate (to really, really not like something)

Before Reading the Story

Talk with the children about the weather outside (this story is best read in the winter or the summer). Ask the children what kinds of things they like to do in the cold winter weather (make snowballs, sled, eat snow, dig) and then ask them what kinds of things they like to do in the hot summer weather (swim, ride bicycles, roll in grass, pick flowers). Tell them that winter and summer are opposites. Hot and cold are opposites. Introduce the story by saying that today we are going to read a story about a penguin named Pablo. Penguins live where it is always cold. Pablo does not like the cold though, at all! Pablo wants to go where it is warm. Let’s find out if he gets there.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; progresses in abilities to respond appropriately abin conversations and discussions with peers and adults.

Reading the Story

Stop on each page where Pablo says goodbye to his friends. Do you think that he will get to a place where it is always warm? If not, what do you think will happen?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Make a graph and have the children mark if they like the cold weather or the hot weather better. Count the total and write the numbers underneath.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to express awareness o fself in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Discovery

Make float and sink jello. Have the children help cut the fruits into bite sized pieces. Make the jello according to the directions. Let the children take turns dropping the fruit into the jello and predict if it will float or sink. Let the jello cool and eat.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; shows growing independence in hygiene, nutrition, and personal care when eating, dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth , and toileting.

Music and Movement

Fill the hot water bottle up with water and use it to play hot potato. (Pass the hot water bottle around until the music stops. The child holding the water bottle must name something that you do either in the hot or the cold weather.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Show children how to use two blocks to pretend skate. Put on music and slide around the carpet.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Sing the Opposite Song (to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opr_7f0Z0os

Everything I always say,

You always say the opposite.

When I say _________,

You say ___________!

Good opposites that go with this story are; cold-hot, forwards-backwards, up-down, outside-inside, on-off, float-sink

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Blocks

Ask the children if they can make a house to keep Pablo warm. If you have a stuffed penguin, this would be a good center to put it in.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or intersections, despite distractions or interruptions. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Art

Put out finger paint. Instead of using hands to paint, give the children ice cubes to move the paint about the paper.

Creative Arts/Art; gains in ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and Water

Put the animals in the frozen ice blocks into the table. Ask the children to see if they can get the animals out. (warm water with spoons works as does using blocks for a hammer effect)

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Library and Writing

Depending upon the season you are in (summer or winter), ask the children to tell you a sign of the season and draw a picture about. With older children they may be able to draw and tell about an opposite season also. (Summer; sunny, swim, flowers, shorts, sandals/Winter; snow, sled, no leaves, mittens, boots)

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Put out dress ups that are opposite the season you are experiencing. For summer you could put out bathing suit, sunglasses, and towels. For winter you could put out boots, mittens, and scarves.

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

Math and Manipulatives

Make a set of animal homes cards and let the children see if they can put the animals in their proper home.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Outdoor Play

Roll in the grass or snow.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

Ask children to say or show you opposite of a word that you give.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Resources

The Penguin Who Hated the Cold, by Barbara Brenner

Materials

Night before, freeze small animal counters into cubes and blocks of ice.
Hot water bottle
2 large boxes of jello
1 banana, 1 apple or pear, several strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and cherries
Animal homes cards
Finger paint

Vocabulary

Chilly (always feeling cold)
Hate (to really, really not like something)

Before Reading the Story

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Reading the Story

Stop on each page where Pablo says goodbye to his friends. Do you think that he will get to a place where it is always warm?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Make a graph and have the children mark if they like the cold weather or the hot weather better. Count the total and write the numbers underneath.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Discovery

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Music and Movement

Fill the hot water bottle up with water and use it to play hot potato. Have the children sit in a circle. One child starts to pass the hot water bottle to the child beside him when the music starts. The children continue to pass the bottle until the music stops. When the music stops, the teacher asks the child holding the water bottle to name something that is either hot or cold.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Show children how to use two blocks to pretend ice skate. Put on music and slide around the carpet.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Sing the Opposite Song to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrUdD2dX8e4

Everything I always say,

You always say the opposite.

When I say _________,

You say ___________!

Good opposites that go with this story are; cold-hot, forwards-backwards, up-down, outside-inside, on-off, float-sink

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Blocks

Ask the children if they can make a house to keep Pablo warm. If you have a stuffed penguin, this would be a good center to put it in.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop follow through on plans.

Art

Put out finger paint. Instead of using hands to paint, give the children ice cubes to move the paint about the paper.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and Water

Put the animals in the frozen ice blocks into the table. Ask the children to see if they can get the animals out. Allow them to experiment with objects from around the classroom.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Library and Writing

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Put out dress ups that are opposite the season you are experiencing. For summer you could put out bathing suit, sunglasses, and towels. For winter you could put out boots, mittens, and scarves.

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Math and Manipulatives

Make a set of animal homes cards and let the children see if they can put the animals in their proper home.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Outdoor Play

Roll in the grass or snow.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical strength, stamina, and flexibility.

Transitions

Call out one half of an opposite and see if the children can name back the other half to you. If you have opposite cards, these help children as many children do not have a strong grasp of what an opposite is.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Resources

Ten Little Mice, by Joyce Dunbar

This lovely illustrated book helps children count down by one while learning about the life habits of field mice. A charming book that children will enjoy.

Materials;

Ten mice***

Mouse bookmark directions

Mouse mask***

Soft pillows and fabrics

Several ping-pong balls

Bag of cotton balls

Several bowls

Tongs or clothespins

Shapes printed on colored paper. See resources.

Vocabulary;

Cozy (something warm and comfortable)

Before Reading the Story

Use one of the mice pieces and on several colors of construction paper draw a simple house. Have the children take turns hiding their eyes and put the mouse under one of the houses. Have the children repeat the following, Little Tommy Tiddlemouse, lives in a pretty house. Can you guess which one? The child then uncovers their eyes and guesses under which color the mouse is hiding. Encourage the child to name the colors instead of just pointing. Play till all the children get a turn or until they lose interest.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Reading the Story

Put the ten mice on the wall or flannel. As you read the story take one down accordingly.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness if numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

After Reading the Story

Go back through the story and talk about the pictures. Note the things that the mice are bigger then and smaller then. Ask the children if they can think of other things that a mouse would be bigger then or smaller then.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures for length and area of objects.

Discovery;

Bring in a book or pictures of real mice so the children can explore the life and times of a mouse.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Music and Movement

Re-read the story and ask the children to show what all the different movements would look like that the mice did as they went back to their cozy nest. Who can show me what scurry-scurried looks like?

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Teach the children the song Five Little Mice sung to 5 Little Ducks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9rqAO2zSIc

Five little mice came out to play
Gathering crumbs along the way
Out came pussycat sleek and fat
Four little mice go scampering back

Four little mice came out to play
Gathering crumbs along the way
Out came pussycat sleek and fat
Three little mice go scampering back

Three little mice came out to play
Gathering crumbs along the way
Out came pussycat sleek and fat
Two little mice go scampering back

Two little mice came out to play
Gathering crumbs along the way
Out came pussycat sleek and fat
One little mouse goes scampering back

One little mouse came out to play
Gathering crumbs along the way
Out came pussycat sleek and fat
No little mice go scampering back.

Mathematics/Number & operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Do the following poem with the children. The teacher is the old grey cat. After doing the poem once, the children can take turns being the old grey cat.

The old gray cat is sleeping , sleeping, sleeping,
The old gray cat is sleeping in the house
The little mice are dancing, dancing, dancing (children dance)
The little mice are dancing in the house (continue dancing)
The little mice are nibbling, nibbling, nibbling (children nibble)
The little mice are nibbling in the house!
The little mice are resting, resting, resting (children sit or lay)
The little mice are resting in the house (continue sitting)
The old gray cat comes creeping, creeping, creeping (Cat begins to creep)
The old gray cat comes creeping in the house (Continue Creeping)
The little mice go scampering, scampering, scampering (Children run around)
The little mice go scampering in the house (Children run until caught then that child is the cat)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Blocks

Challenge the children how to use the blocks to make hallways or paths. Pretend the ping-pong balls are mice and roll them through the hallway maze. Can they roll from beginning to end? Can the children make the mouse/ping pong ball roll under or over an object or around a corner?

Art

Put out the many colored shapes and scissors for the children to make mice. You can make one ahead of time so they can see how the shapes go together. For older children, draw and cut out the shapes using a manilla folder. The children can then draw around your shapes onto pieces of paper that they can then cut out.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take shapes apart. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Library and Writing;

Have the children make bookmarks by following the direction cards. Cut out the oval shapes in various colors. Show the children how to use a single hole punch to make an eye and a hole for a tail. Give each child a piece of yarn to put through the tail hole, tie.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Sand and Water

Hide the following letters in the sand table; M-O-U-S-E. On a piece of paper write ‘MOUSE’ above the table. Encourage the children to find the letters and put them in the same order as the word on the wall to spell mouse. Use magnet letters, cookie cutter letters, or make letters out of cardboard to hide. Can the children identify any of these letters?

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Dramatic Play

In the story the mice all went home to their cozy nest. Bring in soft and cozy fabrics and pillows so the children can pretend to be mice in a cozy nest.

Math and Manipulatives

Put out a bowl of cotton balls and a pair of tongs or a clothespin. Show the children how to pick up the cotton balls with the tongs and move it to another bowl. Roll a dice and count how many cotton balls you will need to move.

Mathematics/Number & operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Outdoors Play

Challenge the children to build tunnels under the sand. You may have to dampen the sand ahead of time so it has some sticking power as these are very sensitive to collapsing.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.