1st, 2nd and 3rd grade teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Tacky the Penguin will love this post. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book.
With themes of individuality and bravery, this Tacky the Penguin picture book by Helen Lester is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will become one of your favorite penguin books for kids too!
Engage Your Students with Tacky the Penguin Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Tacky the Penguin.
- 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 Tacky the Penguin reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
TACKY THE PENGUIN SUMMARY
Tacky the Penguin did not seem to fit in with his companions. Others would greet each other quietly and politely, while he would shout “What’s happening?!” Others would march in a perfect line, while Tacky would slide and groove.
One day, the hunters came and wanted to take the neat, organized penguins. Much to their dismay, Tacky was there to trick them into thinking all of the penguins are actually odd, like Tacky.
In the end, Tacky saved the day!
TACKY THE PENGUIN 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 Tacky the Penguin, 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 Tacky the Penguin reading comprehension questions focus on:
- summarize/retell
- analyzing character
- making connections
- author’s purpose
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- individuality
- bravery
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- pronouns
- commas
- adjectives
TACKY THE PENGUIN 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 Tacky the Penguin?
- Lexile® Measure: AD630L
- Guided Reading Level: O – P
- DRA Level: 34 – 36
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 3.5 – 3.7
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Helen Lester. It was illustrated by Lynn Munsinger.
What genre is Tacky the Penguin?
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.
