Helen Lester
Lesson plans for Tacky the Penguin

Reader's Theater script for 8 readers. Free, downloadable. Adobe Reader required for access.

After reading Tacky the Penguin students write and illustrate their own Tacky stories.

Antarctica, New Zealand, Denmark, the United States: a variety of webcams to let students see penguins in action.

A webquest on penguins to accompany Tacky the Penguin .

This script calls for 6 penguins, 5 narrators, and 4 hunters.

Students make predictions, copy cheers, and make inferences as they read Three Cheers for Tacky . This lesson is designed for grades 3-5.

Four activities for first graders.

Students complete an art activity and a classroom graph. This lesson includes downloadable handouts, extensions, and assessment ideas.

Students practice noting details. Includes text-dependent questions, vocabulary words, a culminating task, and additional learning activities. Word processor required for access.

Online activities for Oral Language and Research.

Pages 5-7 present a lesson on choosing topics for nonfiction writing. 63 pages; Adobe Reader required.