The Penguin Lady

$The Penguin Lady book cover$

Grade 1
4 skill lessons · 2 math-through-reading

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1The Pile That Keeps Growing
2Biggest Group, or First to Arrive?
3Every Last One Goes to the Zoo
4Line Them Up and See Who Is Over

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

5One Penguin or All of Them
6Three More, Three Fewer, One Row of Cubes

Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

7Short and Stout: How the Words Show Us Penelope
8On Her Birthday, In the Spring, That Summer: Words That Tell When
9Lounged, Tracked, Waddled: Guessing a Word From What Is Around It
10This Just Won't Do: What Penelope Decides and Why
11A Full House and an Empty One: Reading the Beginning Against the Ending

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Skill lessons

4 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. The Pile That Keeps Growing Concept · Counting on from a running total as each new group arrives

The book hands Penelope penguins in named groups and never takes any away until the very end, so the pile on her floor is a running total that only the reader keeps. Students build that pile with cubes: one cube for the birthday penguin, then two more pushed on without starting over, then three more, and on through the groups the book names. The concept is counting on. A student who breaks the train apart and recounts from one every time has the right answer and the wrong idea, so the rule of the lesson is that the train is never recounted from the beginning once it has been built.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Start the pile with one (3 min)
Each pair snaps one cube and stands it on the house mat. Say one out loud and leave it standing there. Nothing is counted from the beginning again for the rest of this lesson.
Word preview: one
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands.
2. Push on two more (5 min)
Snap two more cubes onto the train without lifting the first one off the mat. Do not go back and count from one. Start your voice at one and say two, three as you push each new cube on, then say the number the train has now reached.
Word preview: two
Then, Penelope sister gave her two rock hopper penguins from Argentina.
3. Keep counting on, group by group (8 min)
One partner reads an arrival card and the other pushes that many cubes onto the train, counting on out loud from the number the train already holds. Work through the cards in the order the book gives them. The reader's job is to stop the count the moment it restarts at one.
Word preview: counting on
One day, Penelope opened her door and there were three chin-strap penguins from Antarctica waddling across her front porch.
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.
4. Say where the train got to (4 min)
Lay the finished train along the counting strip and read the number it reaches. Say one sentence to your partner: the pile started at one and every group was pushed on, never counted again from the start.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Start the pile with one (3 min)
Each pair snaps one cube and stands it on the house mat, says one out loud, and leaves it standing. Nothing gets counted from the beginning again.
Word preview: one
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands.
2. Push on two more (6 min)
Snap two more cubes onto the train without lifting the first one off. Start your voice at one and say two, three as each cube goes on, then say the number the train has reached.
Word preview: two
Then, Penelope sister gave her two rock hopper penguins from Argentina.

Three levels

Support: Stop the train after the group of four, so the count runs to ten and stays on one hand of cubes at a time. Everything else holds: the train is never recounted from one, and each new group is pushed on with the voice carrying forward. Add one more arrival card each time a pair counts on twice without restarting.
At Grade: Run the arrival cards in book order through the group of six, counting on out loud at every push, then lay the train along the strip and read where it reached.
Extension: Before pushing a group on, say where the train will reach when it lands, then push and check. When your partner names any group from the book, say the number the train had just before that group arrived without touching the cubes.

English learners

Counting on asks a child to start a count in the middle, which is harder than it sounds in a new language because the first number word has to be held rather than said. Rehearse the frame the train is at ___ and ___ more makes ___ with the cubes in hand before any card is turned. Invite students to count on in their strongest language and then again in English on the same train, since the pushing does not change.

Materials

Linking cubes, sixty per pair, in one colour
A house mat, one sheet of paper per pair with a line drawn across the middle
Arrival cards, ten per pair, each showing one arrival group of penguins as dots
A counting strip from one to sixty, one per pair
Word cards: counting on, in all

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

2. Biggest Group, or First to Arrive? Reasoning · Ordering groups by how many, and separately by when they arrived

The book gives every arrival two facts at once: how many penguins came, and when they came. Because the groups happen to get larger as the seasons pass, a child can order the cards correctly by size while thinking only about the story, and never notice the two orders are different questions. Students sort the arrival cards twice, once by how many and once by when, and then find the one card the book damages so badly that it can be placed by story but not by number. Naming that card is the reasoning this lesson wants.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Sort by how many (5 min)
Spread the arrival cards face up and put them in a line from the group with the fewest penguins to the group with the most. Count the dots on any two cards you are unsure about and put the smaller one nearer your left hand.
Word preview: fewest
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands.
There were even ten emperor penguins from Antarctica snacking on squid.
2. Sort by when they came (5 min)
Sweep the cards together and lay them out again, this time in the order the book tells them, from the birthday penguin to the last group. Use the season words in the sentences your teacher reads to settle any two cards you cannot place.
Word preview: order
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond.
3. Hold the two lines side by side (6 min)
Put your two lines one above the other so each card sits above or below its partner. Tell your partner one thing you notice about the two lines, and say whether a card would have to move if you were asked the other question.
When fall morning, Penelope found seven king penguins from the Falkland Island standing in her kitchen.
In the den, nine macaroni penguins from Argentina napped on the piano.
4. Find the card that will not sort (4 min)
Your teacher reads one more sentence from the book, the one about the winter penguins on the icy pond. Decide together where that card goes in the when line, then say out loud why it cannot be placed in the how-many line at all.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Sort by how many (4 min)
Spread the arrival cards face up and line them up from the group with the fewest penguins to the group with the most, counting dots on any two you are unsure about.
Word preview: fewest
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands.
There were even ten emperor penguins from Antarctica snacking on squid.
2. Sort by when they came (5 min)
Sweep the cards together and lay them out again in the order the book tells them, from the birthday penguin to the last group, using the season words to settle any two you cannot place.
Word preview: order
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond.

Three levels

Support: Work with five cards rather than ten, the groups of one, two, three, four and five. Sort those by how many, then by when, and hold the two short lines side by side. The rule is unchanged: every card must be placed for a stated reason, either a count of dots or a sentence the teacher reads.
At Grade: Sort all ten cards both ways, hold the lines together, and place the damaged winter card in the when line while saying why it has no place in the how-many line.
Extension: Build a third line where the two orders would come apart: hand your partner four cards and tell them an arrival order that is not the book's, then have them say which cards moved and how far. Say what would have to be true of the book for the two lines to disagree everywhere.

English learners

How many and when are both asked with question words that overlap across languages, and a child may answer one while hearing the other. Keep the two questions on separate cards where students can point at the one being asked. Rehearse the frame this group came ___ but it is the ___ biggest, and invite students to sort aloud in their strongest language first, since the cards carry the meaning either way.

Materials

Arrival cards, ten per pair, each showing one arrival group of penguins as dots
A blank arrival card with no dots on it, one per pair
Word cards: fewest, most

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

3. Every Last One Goes to the Zoo Concept · Taking a whole collection away at once and reaching zero

Penelope's house empties in a single move. She does not send the penguins back one group at a time; the book puts all of them up the ramp at once and then says the house is empty. Students take the train they built and load it whole into a paper truck, then look at a bare mat and say the number that is there now. The concept is that a collection can go to zero in one action, and that zero is a number a student can say about something they can see. What the book does not do is name any number as the amount that left, and students do not supply one.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Fill the house first (4 min)
Rebuild the train on the house mat from the arrival cards, pushing each group on as before. Do not count from one when a group is added. Stand the finished train up so both partners can see it.
Word preview: all
Penguins perated everywhere!
Penguins were inside and outside of her house.
2. Test taking them back one at a time (4 min)
Your teacher reads what Penelope says about sending them back. Slide one single cube off the mat, then put it back. Tell your partner what would still be standing on the mat if only that one had gone.
I can't send them all back.
3. Load the whole train at once (7 min)
Lift the entire train in one hand and put it in the paper truck without breaking it apart. Nothing may be left behind on the mat and nothing may be counted out on the way. Say the word all as the train goes in.
Word preview: all
So Penelope ran to the large truck and helped all the penguins up the long ramp into the back of the truck.
4. Say what is on the mat now (5 min)
Look at the bare mat and say the number of penguins standing on it. Write nothing. Then say one sentence to your partner about how the mat got that way, using the word all.
Word preview: zero
All the penguins were gone.
Nellby's house was quiet and empty.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Fill the house first (4 min)
Rebuild the train on the house mat from the arrival cards, pushing each group on without counting from one, and stand it up so both partners can see it.
Word preview: all
Penguins perated everywhere!
2. Load the whole train at once (5 min)
Lift the whole train in one hand into the paper truck without breaking it apart, saying the word all as it goes in. Then look at the bare mat and say the number standing on it.
Word preview: zero
So Penelope ran to the large truck and helped all the penguins up the long ramp into the back of the truck.
All the penguins were gone.

Three levels

Support: Build a shorter train, the groups of one, two and three, and load that one whole into the truck. The point is unchanged and easier to hold in one hand: everything goes at once, and the mat is then bare. Say the number on the bare mat out loud before rebuilding.
At Grade: Build the train through the group of six, load it whole, and say the number on the bare mat with a sentence about how it got that way.
Extension: Load the train in two goes instead of one and say the number on the mat in between, then reload it whole and say why the book's way reaches the bare mat in one step and yours took two. Do not name how many were in either go.

English learners

Zero is a number many children meet first as a word for nothing rather than as an amount, and several languages mark an empty set with a negative verb instead of a number. Have students say the number about a mat they are looking at, not about an idea. Rehearse the frame there are ___ penguins on the mat now, and invite the word for the empty count in a student's strongest language beside the English one.

Materials

Arrival cards, ten per pair, each showing one arrival group of penguins as dots
Linking cubes, sixty per pair, in one colour
A house mat, one sheet of paper per pair with a line drawn across the middle
A paper truck, one per pair, big enough to hold every cube
Word cards: all, zero

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

4. Line Them Up and See Who Is Over Representation · Matching two groups one to one to find how many more

Two arrival groups from the book are set beside each other as two rows of cubes, one cube under one cube, so that the extras at the end of the longer row can be counted directly. Students find how many more without taking anything away from anything: the answer is read off the overhang. The representation is the whole lesson, and the sentence a student says about it has to name both groups and the number of extras, because a bare number does not say which row was longer.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build the two rows (5 min)
Your teacher names two arrival groups from the book. Build one row of cubes for each on the mat, laying the second row directly under the first so that cube sits under cube starting from the left edge.
Then, Penelope sister gave her two rock hopper penguins from Argentina.
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.
2. Count what hangs over (5 min)
Run a finger along both rows together until one row runs out. Count only the cubes still sticking out past the end of the shorter row and say that number out loud.
Word preview: more
3. Say it about the rows (6 min)
Say a sentence naming both groups and the number of extras, and point at the overhanging cubes as you say the number. Your partner checks that your sentence names the longer row, not just the number.
Word preview: more
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond.
When fall morning, Penelope found seven king penguins from the Falkland Island standing in her kitchen.
4. Do it again with a new pair (4 min)
Take two different arrival cards, build the rows the same way and read the overhang again. Say your sentence before your partner counts, so they can check the number against your rows.
In the den, nine macaroni penguins from Argentina napped on the piano.
There were even ten emperor penguins from Antarctica snacking on squid.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the two rows (4 min)
Your teacher names two arrival groups. Build a row of cubes for each on the mat, the second laid directly under the first so cube sits under cube from the left edge.
Then, Penelope sister gave her two rock hopper penguins from Argentina.
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.
2. Say it about the rows (5 min)
Run a finger along both rows until one runs out, count the cubes hanging past the end and say a sentence naming both groups and that number, pointing at the extras as you say it.
Word preview: more
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond.

Three levels

Support: Use the groups of two and five only, and keep the same two rows for the whole lesson. Everything else holds: the rows are laid cube under cube from the left, the overhang is counted, and the sentence names both groups. Change one row for a new group once a pair has said a correct sentence twice.
At Grade: Build two pairs of rows from the arrival cards, read each overhang, and say a sentence naming both groups and the extras for each.
Extension: After building the rows, say the sentence starting from the shorter row instead of the longer one and keep it true. Then, given only a spoken sentence from your partner, build the two rows that would make it true and check them against the arrival cards.

English learners

Comparative sentences put the two things in an order that differs sharply across languages, and a child whose matching is perfect may still attach more to the wrong group. Keep the rows in front of the speaker while the sentence is said, so the words can be checked against the cubes. Rehearse the frame there are ___ more ___ than ___, and let a student say the relation in their strongest language first while pointing at the same overhang.

Materials

Linking cubes, sixty per pair, in one colour
A house mat, one sheet of paper per pair with a line drawn across the middle
Arrival cards, ten per pair, each showing one arrival group of penguins as dots
Word cards: more, match

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

Math through the reading

The mathematics is reached through a sentence the book prints: change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it. These carry their own standards, matched against these lessons rather than inherited from the skill ones.

5. One Penguin or All of Them Integrated · Students act out the ramp sentence twice, once with the word all and once with the word one, and look at the two different mats the two words leave behind.

Students act out the ramp sentence twice, once with the word all and once with the word one, and look at the two different mats the two words leave behind.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build the pile the book made (5 min)
Pairs push cube groups onto one train as the teacher reads the arrival sentences, never counting from one when a group is added, and stand the finished train on the house mat.
2. Hear the sentence twice (4 min)
Students listen to the ramp sentence as the book says it, then to the same sentence with one in place of all, and say aloud which word changed.
3. Act out both words (7 min)
Each pair runs the swapped sentence first, moving a single cube to the truck, and says the number on the mat. They rebuild, run the book's sentence, load the whole train, and say the number on the mat again.
4. Say which word emptied the house (4 min)
Partners say one sentence each naming the word that emptied the house and the number that was left, then test the word all in Penelope's refusal and say why the pile did not change there.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the pile the book made (5 min)
Pairs push cube groups onto one train as the teacher reads the arrival sentences, never counting from one when a group is added, and stand the finished train on the house mat.
2. Act out both words (7 min)
Each pair runs the swapped sentence first, moving a single cube to the truck, and says the number on the mat. They rebuild, run the book's sentence, load the whole train, and say the number on the mat again.

Three levels

Support: Work with a train of six cubes built from the first three arrival groups rather than the full pile. The swap is unchanged and the two mats are just as different, and a shorter train means the whole of it can be lifted in one hand without breaking.
At grade: Build the pile through the book's sixth arrival group, run both versions of the sentence, and say the number on the mat after each with the deciding word named.
Extension: Find the other place in the book where all appears and the pile does not change, and say why the same word leaves the count alone there. Then say what word would have to replace all in the ramp sentence to leave exactly one penguin behind, and show it on the train.

English learners

All is an ordinary word children know long before they meet it in mathematics, and its force here is quantitative rather than emphatic, which is a shift several languages mark with a different word entirely. Keep both mats in front of the speaker so the word can be checked against what is standing there. Rehearse the frame she took ___ of them, so ___ are left, and invite students to say the ramp sentence in their strongest language first and then in English over the same cubes.

Materials

Linking cubes, thirty per pair
A house mat, one sheet of paper per pair
A paper truck, one per pair
The ramp sentence and the swapped sentence, read aloud one after the other
The sentence in which Penelope says what she cannot do

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

6. Three More, Three Fewer, One Row of Cubes Integrated · Students match two of the book's arrival groups as two rows of cubes, count the overhang, and say the relation in both directions with the right word each time.

Students match two of the book's arrival groups as two rows of cubes, count the overhang, and say the relation in both directions with the right word each time.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build two of the book's groups (5 min)
Pairs hear two arrival sentences and build one row of cubes for each group, laying the second row directly under the first so cube sits under cube from the left edge.
2. Count what hangs over (4 min)
Students run a finger along both rows together until the shorter one runs out, then count only the cubes sticking out past its end and say that number.
3. Say it both ways (7 min)
Each student says the more sentence and then the fewer sentence about their own rows, naming both groups in each and pointing at the overhanging cubes as the number is said. The partner checks that the group named first matches the word used.
4. Do it again where the overhang is one (4 min)
Pairs build the six and the seven, find the overhang of one, and say both sentences again, listening for the word that has to change even though only one cube hangs over.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build two of the book's groups (5 min)
Pairs hear two arrival sentences and build one row of cubes for each group, laying the second row directly under the first so cube sits under cube from the left edge.
2. Say it both ways (7 min)
Each student says the more sentence and then the fewer sentence about their own rows, naming both groups in each and pointing at the overhanging cubes as the number is said. The partner checks that the group named first matches the word used.

Three levels

Support: Use the one and the four, so the rows are short enough to see whole and the overhang of three can be taken in at a glance. Both sentences are still required and both still name the two groups; only the counting is lighter. Move to the two and the five once a student has said both directions correctly twice.
At grade: Build the two and the five, read the overhang, say both directions naming both groups, then repeat with the six and the seven where the overhang is one.
Extension: Say the fewer sentence first and build the rows that make it true, without hearing the more sentence at all. Then take a pair of groups whose overhang you have not built, say what the overhang will be before laying a single cube, and check it by matching.

English learners

Comparative sentences order the two things differently across languages, and a child whose matching is exact may still attach more to the group that is smaller, because the grammar of their first language puts the compared thing in the other slot. Keep both rows in front of the speaker while each sentence is said so the words can be checked against the cubes rather than against memory. Rehearse the two frames together, there are ___ more ___ than ___ and there are ___ fewer ___ than ___, and invite students to say the pair in their strongest language first and then in English over the same unmatched cubes.

Materials

Linking cubes, twenty per pair, in two colours
A strip of paper with a marked left edge, one per pair, for lining the rows up
The arrival sentences for the two groups being compared, read aloud
The two rows built large on the floor or board for the first pair only

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

Reading and language lessons

5 lessons on the reading and language the book carries - what a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how a text is built. No mathematics: these are matched against the English language arts curricula, which are a different and smaller set than the mathematics ones.

7. Short and Stout: How the Words Show Us Penelope Reading · Learning About a Character From How She Is Described

The first four sentences never say Penelope is like a penguin, but every detail points that way her street, her house colours, her clothes, her walk. Students read the opening aloud, name the describing words, and say what those words make them picture. They then meet a later sentence that shows her tiptoeing and say what kind of person that shows. The lesson is about reading description for what it tells you, not about anything counted.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the opening and picture Penelope (6 min)
The teacher reads the passage below once, slowly. Then read it again together. Point with your finger to the words that tell you what Penelope wears and to the words that tell you how she walks. Say aloud one thing you can picture about Penelope from those words.
Word preview: describe
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.
2. Find the describing words (5 min)
Read the passage below again with a partner. Find the words neat, little, white, short and stout. Say aloud which of those words tells about her house and which tells about Penelope herself.
Word preview: neat
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.
3. What her walking shows (5 min)
Read the passage below, which comes much later in the book. Penelope is not described here, she is doing something. Tell a partner what kind of person tiptoes so she will not wake somebody. Say it in one sentence.
Word preview: tiptoe
In the den, nine macaroni penguins from Argentina napped on the piano. Penelope had to tiptoe through her house so she would not wake them.
4. Say one sentence about Penelope (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time. Then say one whole sentence about Penelope that uses a describing word from it. Start with: Penelope is ___ because the book says ___.
Word preview: kind
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the opening and picture Penelope (5 min)
The teacher reads the passage below once. Read it again together. Point to the words that tell what Penelope wears and how she walks, then say one thing you can picture about her.
Word preview: describe
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.
2. Say one sentence about Penelope (4 min)
Read the passage below again. Say one whole sentence about Penelope using a describing word from it. Start with: Penelope is ___ because the book says ___.
Word preview: kind
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.

Three levels

Support: In step 1 the teacher reads the passage first and you echo it. Point to the two colors, black and white. Then answer aloud: what colors does Penelope wear? Say it twice.
At Grade: Read the passage in step 1, name three describing words in it, and say what each one makes you picture about Penelope or her house.
Extension: The passage in step 1 says she waddled when she walked. Say two sentences about why a writer would choose that word for this person, and what it makes you expect from the rest of the book.

English learners

English piles describing words in front of the noun a neat little white house in a fixed order that is different from many other languages, so this string can sound like a list of four separate things. Read the phrase, then say the noun alone, then add one word back at a time so the order is heard. Invite students to describe their own home in their strongest language and then in English. Rehearsable frame: Penelope is ___. Her house is ___.

Materials

The Penguin Lady, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
word cards on the table
sentence frame card
Word cards: describe, neat, tiptoe, kind

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

8. On Her Birthday, In the Spring, That Summer: Words That Tell When Reading · Time-Order Words That Tell When Something Happened

This book moves through a year, and it tells you so with a small set of opening phrases On her birthday, In the spring, That summer. Students read three arrival sentences, point at the words that say when, and put the three in the order the year goes. They finish by saying which one they could not place and why. The work is reading the time words, not the amounts in the sentences.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the words that tell when (6 min)
The teacher reads the three passages below. In each one, point with your finger to the words at the very start that tell WHEN it happened. Say those words aloud together.
Word preview: when
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.
2. Put the three in order (5 min)
Read the three passages below again with the teacher. Say which one happens in the spring and which one happens in the summer. Then say which of the three comes first in the year and why you think so.
Word preview: first
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.
3. A sentence whose when-words are broken (5 min)
Read the passage below. It is printed here exactly as the book prints it, and its beginning is damaged, so it is hard to read. Say aloud which season word you can still find in it. Then say why this one is harder to place than the others.
Word preview: winter
One winter act noon ate a deli penguins from Antarctica skated on her icy pond.
4. Tell the year in order (4 min)
Read the passage below once more with a partner. Then tell the year in order out loud, using the when-words you found: spring, then summer, then winter. Say one sentence for each season.
Word preview: season
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the words that tell when (5 min)
The teacher reads the three passages below. In each one, point to the words at the start that tell WHEN it happened, and say them aloud together.
Word preview: when
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.
2. Put the three in order (4 min)
Read the three passages below again. Say which happens in spring and which in summer, then say which of the three comes first in the year.
Word preview: first
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
In the spring, four baby African penguins came and she put them in her air conditioned attic.
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.

Three levels

Support: Work only with the second passage in step 1. Echo it after the teacher. Point to the two words In the spring. Say the season name aloud twice.
At Grade: Read all three passages in step 1, name the when-words at the start of each, and put spring and summer in the order they come in a year.
Extension: Two of the passages in step 1 open with a season and one opens with a birthday. Say two sentences about why a birthday is a different kind of when-word than a season.

English learners

Time phrases sit at the front of the sentence here and are marked by small prepositions on, in, that which are among the hardest English words to hear and are often absent in the learner's first language. Read the phrase alone, then the full sentence, so the phrase is heard as one chunk. Invite students to name the seasons in their strongest language first. Rehearsable frame: In the ___, ___ came.

Materials

The Penguin Lady, the passage printed in this step
pointing finger
season cards
Word cards: when, first, winter, season

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

9. Lounged, Tracked, Waddled: Guessing a Word From What Is Around It Vocabulary · Working Out What a Word Means From Its Sentence

Three strong verbs in this book can be worked out without a dictionary, because the rest of the sentence shows what they mean. Students read each sentence, act the word out, and say what in the sentence told them. They finish by trying a plainer word in its place and saying what is lost. Nothing is measured or added; the work is meaning from context.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Act out lounged (6 min)
The teacher reads the passage below. The word lounged may be new. Read the rest of the sentence and find the part that tells you what the penguins did with the chairs. Then show with your body what lounged looks like, and say aloud what you think it means.
Word preview: lounged
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.
2. Find the clue for tracked (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. The penguins tracked muddy footprints. Point to the words earlier in the passage that tell you where the mud came from. Say aloud what tracked means here.
Word preview: tracked
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.
3. Try a plainer word instead (5 min)
Read the passage below again with a partner. Say the sentence out loud once with the word waddled, then say it again with the word walked instead. Tell your partner what you stop picturing when you swap the word.
Word preview: waddled
Penelope Parker lived on Penguin Place. She lived in a neat little white house with black trim. Short and stout, Penelope always wore her favorite colors, black and white. Penelope even waddled when she walked.
4. Say a sentence with a new word (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time. Then say your own sentence out loud using one of the new words: lounged, tracked or waddled. Your sentence must show what the word means, the way the book's sentence does.
Word preview: clue
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Act out lounged (5 min)
The teacher reads the passage below. Find the part of the sentence that tells what the penguins did with the chairs. Show with your body what lounged looks like and say what it means.
Word preview: lounged
Five little blue penguins from Australia lounged in the living room, they sat on all her chairs.
2. Find the clue for tracked (4 min)
Read the passage below. Point to the words that tell where the mud came from, then say what tracked means here.
Word preview: tracked
That summer, six royal penguins from an island near Antarctica went swimming in the cool water in her backyard pond. When they came inside, they tracked muddy footprints all over Penelope's carpets.

Three levels

Support: Work only with step 1. The teacher reads the passage and you echo it. Act out sitting on a chair the lazy way. Say the word lounged aloud twice.
At Grade: Read the passages in steps 1 and 2, name the clue words that show what lounged and tracked mean, and say each meaning in your own words.
Extension: The printed passage in step 1 puts two ideas together with only a comma between them. Say two sentences about how the second half changes what you picture for the first half.

English learners

These three verbs have no one-word equivalent in many languages, and two of them describe a way of moving rather than the movement itself. Act each one before defining it, so the meaning arrives through the body first. Invite students to name the walk or the sitting in their strongest language and then describe it in English. Rehearsable frame: Lounged means ___. I know because the book says ___.

Materials

The Penguin Lady, the passage printed in this step
space to move
word cards on the table
sentence frame card
Word cards: lounged, tracked, waddled, clue

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

10. This Just Won't Do: What Penelope Decides and Why Reading · Finding the Problem and the Solution in a Story

Near the end Penelope says her problem out loud and then does something about it. Students read the passage where she thinks it through, name the problem in their own words, and find the sentence that solves it. They also read the sentence where the trouble began, so they can say how a happy thing turned into a problem. This is story reading, not arithmetic.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read Penelope thinking out loud (6 min)
The teacher reads the passage below once. Then read it together. Find the sentence where Penelope says what the trouble is. Find the sentence where she asks herself a question. Say aloud what her problem is, in your own words.
Word preview: problem
The penguins were loud and messy. This just won't do, she thought. I can't send them all back. What can I do with them? Penelope called her local zoo.
2. Find where the trouble started (5 min)
Read the passage below, which happens much earlier. Something good happens here that later turns into the problem. Tell a partner what it is. Say one sentence beginning: The trouble started when ___.
Word preview: trouble
The local newspaper heard about them and sent a reporter to write a story about Penelope and the penguins. Her picture was on the front page of the newspaper. When people read her story, they started sending Penelope orphan penguins from all over the world.
3. Find the solution (5 min)
Read the passage below with a partner. This is the answer Penelope finds. Say aloud who solves her problem with her, and say one reason the zoo was a good place to call.
Word preview: solution
Do you need any more penguins? Why yes, they said we do.
4. Say the problem and the solution together (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time. Then say two sentences to a partner: first the problem, then the solution. Use the frame: The problem was ___. She solved it by ___.
Word preview: solved
The penguins were loud and messy. This just won't do, she thought. I can't send them all back. What can I do with them? Penelope called her local zoo.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read Penelope thinking out loud (5 min)
The teacher reads the passage below once. Find the sentence where Penelope says what the trouble is and the sentence where she asks herself a question. Say her problem in your own words.
Word preview: problem
The penguins were loud and messy. This just won't do, she thought. I can't send them all back. What can I do with them? Penelope called her local zoo.
2. Find the solution (4 min)
Read the passage below. Say who solves the problem with Penelope, and give one reason the zoo was a good place to call.
Word preview: solution
Do you need any more penguins? Why yes, they said we do.

Three levels

Support: Work only with step 1. The teacher reads the passage and you echo the first sentence. Point to the words loud and messy. Answer aloud: what was wrong with the penguins?
At Grade: Read the passage in step 1, name Penelope's problem in your own words, and point to the sentence in it where she decides to do something.
Extension: The printed passage in step 1 has Penelope rule out one answer before she finds another. Say two sentences about why the writer shows her rejecting an idea instead of going straight to the zoo.

English learners

This passage carries a character's unspoken thinking with no quotation marks around it, so the shift from narration to thought is signalled only by she thought. Read the two sentences before and after that phrase and say who is speaking each time. Invite students to describe a problem they solved, in their strongest language, and then name the problem in English. Rehearsable frame: The problem was ___. She solved it by ___.

Materials

The Penguin Lady, the passage printed in this step
sentence frame card
Word cards: problem, trouble, solution, solved

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

11. A Full House and an Empty One: Reading the Beginning Against the Ending Reading · Comparing How a Story Begins and How It Ends

The book starts with one penguin arriving and ends with a quiet, empty house and a sign about puppies. Students read the two passages side by side and say what is the same and what has changed. They also read the nickname sentence and say why it still fits, or no longer does. The skill is holding two parts of one story together, which is reading work and nothing else.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the beginning (5 min)
The teacher reads the passage below, which is near the start of the book. Say aloud who sends the penguin and what Penelope does with it once it is in the house. Then say what her house is like at this point in the story.
Word preview: beginning
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
2. Read the ending (6 min)
The teacher reads the passage below, which is the end of the book. Say aloud what the house is like now. Then say what Penelope sees at her neighbour's house, and what you think she will do next.
Word preview: ending
It was too quiet, and she was very lonely. Then she saw a sign at her neighbor's house. Dalmatian puppies for sale.
3. Say what changed (5 min)
Read the two passages below, one from the start and one from the end. Hold up one finger for the beginning and two for the ending. Then say one sentence about what is different: At the start ___, but at the end ___.
Word preview: changed
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
It was too quiet, and she was very lonely. Then she saw a sign at her neighbor's house. Dalmatian puppies for sale.
4. Does the nickname still fit? (4 min)
Read the passage below, which gives Penelope her nickname. Then tell a partner whether the children would still call her the penguin lady after the ending, and say one reason for your answer.
Word preview: nickname
Soon all the children on her street called her the penguin lady.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the ending (5 min)
The teacher reads the passage below, which is the end of the book. Say what the house is like now, what Penelope sees at her neighbour's house, and what you think she will do next.
Word preview: ending
It was too quiet, and she was very lonely. Then she saw a sign at her neighbor's house. Dalmatian puppies for sale.
2. Say what changed (4 min)
Read the two passages below, one from the start and one from the end. Say one sentence about what is different, using: At the start ___, but at the end ___.
Word preview: changed
On her birthday, her brother sent her one penguin from the Galapagos Islands. The penguin walked all over the house, looking in all her closets so Penelope kept him in the garage.
It was too quiet, and she was very lonely. Then she saw a sign at her neighbor's house. Dalmatian puppies for sale.

Three levels

Support: Work only with step 2. The teacher reads the ending passage and you echo it. Point to the words quiet and lonely. Answer aloud: how does Penelope feel at the end?
At Grade: Read the passages in steps 1 and 2 and say one sentence about what is different between the start of the story and its end.
Extension: The ending passage in step 2 puts a lonely house next to a sign about puppies. Say two sentences about what the writer wants you to expect, and why she does not just tell you.

English learners

The ending relies on a reader supplying what is not said the sign about puppies implies what Penelope will do next and that inference is culturally loaded, since a for-sale sign on a house may not be a familiar sight. Say plainly what the sign is and where it is, then ask what it suggests. Invite students to say in their strongest language what they think happens next. Rehearsable frame: At the start ___, but at the end ___.

Materials

The Penguin Lady, the passage printed in this step
sentence frame card
Word cards: beginning, ending, changed, nickname

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.