Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Penguin Problems will find this post helpful. It includes tons of helpful resources and information for teachers like resource recommendations, information about the book, and free teaching ideas.
With themes of mindfulness and gratitude, this Penguin Problems picture book by Jory John is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It is sure to be a big hit in your classroom too!
Check out these other penguin books for kids and winter read alouds!
Engage Your Students with Penguin Problems Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Penguin Problems.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the book companion to make lesson planning simple with Penguin Problems reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
PENGUIN PROBLEMS SUMMARY
Penguins can have lots of challenges, but this character seems to only focus on these problems. He feels it is too cold, it gets dark too early, the ocean is too salty, and his friends squawk way too much!
One day, a wise Walrus comes and provides insightful reasons of why Penguin should be grateful for what he has. After listening, Penguin changes his mindset. After all, he is happy to have friends and family, and place to call home.
PENGUIN PROBLEMS LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Penguin Problems, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
The text-based Penguin Problems reading comprehension questions focus on:
- plot (problem and solution)
- analyzing character
- analyzing setting
- author’s purpose
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- gratitude
- mindfulness
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- contractions
- question marks
PENGUIN PROBLEMS ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for Penguin Problems?
- Lexile® Measure: 500L
- Guided Reading Level: N
- DRA Level: 24
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 2.7
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Jory John. It was illustrated by Lane Smith.
What genre is Penguin Problems?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 32 pages long.
