All About Penguins Resources for FLES Spanish

MY ELEMENTARY SPANISH STUDENTS LOVE PENGUINS! I could probably do penguins all year long and they would be happy lol and given we are always looking for themes and activities that motivate our students, harnessing the love of penguins is definitely a win-win! And, penguins can either be the focus of an entire theme, part of a larger one, or even randomly in the year (I have found I can insert penguins whenever and they go bonkers lol). Here are some resources, links, and ideas to make them part of class, center stage or as a supplement:

*KANSAS CITY ZOO PENGUIN WEBCAM: I frequently have this live webcam of penguins from the Kansas City Zoo up on my whiteboard when kids come in- I am continually amazed by the conversation generated by this simple cam, from counting penguins, to noting what they are doing, to their emotions, temperature, and so on, it never gets old. You can see more webcam links on my blog post here. For the penguins, you can start by asking simple questions such as "What color are the penguins?" or "How many are there?" or "Is this penguin (point to one) swimming or standing?" etc. Feel free to exclaim over what the penguins are doing (this really fosters reactions from kids, and gives them the vocabulary to do the same)- "Look, that penguin is jumping into the water!" or "Wow, how cute!", etc.

*PINGÜINOS, LISTOS, ¡A BAILAR!: This song from Pinkfong is one of my Kindergarteners' favorites-we get up and dance to it and they just can't get enough!

*1 A 10 PINGÜINOS: Another fun song, this one with numbers to 10:

*MOVE LIKE A PENGUIN: A simple but fun activity is to have kids move like a penguin, such as "walk, slide, swim, dive, etc'. As with all movement activities, it's a good idea to establish/review appropriate behaviors in the classroom prior to kids moving to avoid unsafe action. You can find a set of photos to go along with actions in our Penguin Activity Pack mentioned below!

*EL PINGÜINO EMPERADOR: This video ties in really well with the above activity, as it features a series of movements along with simple facts.

*CAMINANDES: This video is great as a VideoWalk-featuring a guanaco and penguins, it is both hilarious and endearing! Stop strategically throughout the video to ask questions about the action and what is seen in the video to practice and reinforce vocabulary and structures you are working on in class. I also do a second run through when showing videos without pausing; this helps with "crowd control" lol

*PEPITA Y LOS PINGÜINOS DE CHILE ACTIVITY PACK: For your youngest learners, don't miss our super fun mini book & activity pack featuring the penguins of Chile! Simple activities geared for littles, this is a great motivating theme-Click here to grab it!

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*LAS PARTES DEL CUERPO: I have frequently seen activities where students learn the parts of a penguin's body (or any animal for that matter), which can be a fun way to incorporate some science in a lesson. Consider, however, focusing on the verb and the quantity rather than the body parts themselves, which may not be high frequency vocabulary. Focusing on having kids provide the verb and other high frequency vocabulary, for me at least, is an easy way to shift an activity like this. You can find this activity, plus others in our Penguin Activity Pages resource here! And don't miss our January 2021  magazine issue El pingüino penacho!

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