Polar Region Finale

I don't think I have mentioned that we have been studying the Polar Regions.  I love teaching children about these extraordinary areas of our planet!  This year I found Penguin Party Pasta!  This adorable pasta can be found at The Pasta Shoppe.  Penguin pasta was too good to pass up, so I grabbed a bag and started thinking about what I could do with it.  I thought it would be great to end our study of the Polar Regions with a Polar Region Luncheon.  The penguin pasta would be the main course.  As the date came closer and closer, I realized I did not have enough pasta to feed all 23 students and any adults who may be tempted by the smell.  Off I went to the store and to my horror and dismay they were out of the cute little penguins, but they did have Woodland Pasta.  Well, the grizzly bears and moose looked just like polar bears and caribou to me, so I added them to the penguin pasta to have polar animal pasta!  We had two crock pots going- one with pasta and one with sauce.  Here's a picture of the dueling crocks!

We also had Blizzard Salad; fruit salad with mini white marshmallows and coconut, very yummy and made by our classroom assistant!  For vegetables we served baby carrots, cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes, or as I like to call it, Caribou Crunch.  (I initially planned to have short veggie kabobs which we would call Veggie Inuksuk, but that plan fizzled.)  Last, we had Arctic Seal Cakes for dessert.  Very yummy and awfully cute.  

                                    

                                    

These little cuties were made from white cake mix (nope, not from scratch), white frosting, coconut and two chocolate chips for eyes.  Don't they look like baby arctic seals?  My students also thought they looked like polar bear cubs, ermines and arctic foxes!  They were so tasty!  We all ate together in the classroom (instead of the cafeteria) and it was a really nice time.  While we all visited I heard my kiddos talking about the polar regions, the food we were eating and that our classroom assistant and I are "good cooks".  Pretty great way to put this unit to bed.  

Origami March of the Penguins

Hello Bloggers!  Today I want to share with you a find from the internet.  My students and I began our Polar Region study last week.  The preschool at my school often does a penguin unit at the same time as our Polar Region unit.  My first graders really liked making the origami bats we made in October, so I thought it would be fun if we made something to inspire the preschoolers during their penguin study.  I found a great video of Michael LaFosse teaching penguin "storygami".  Michael tells a clever story of three penguin friends as he folds paper making the penguin.  The story is a great way to remember what the next step is in the folding process.  I loved it!  Please find the link below.

Click here for Michael LaFosse's penguin storygami!

I told the story to my first graders while folding the penguin and they were so excited to try it.  We decided to make an origami penguin mobile for the preschoolers.  It was fun to hear them repeat the story parts as we folded our penguins.  They were very proud of their work.  I found a wire hanger (don't tell Joan Crawford) and did my best to shape it in a spiral.  Then I pulled out my old glue gun and glued string to the penguins.  One dollop of glue on the hanger held the penguins to the "mobile".  When it was done it looked like penguins marching in a line - do you remember that scene from March of the Penguins?  My little first graders were so excited to present it to our preschool teacher.  They even asked it we could put it in our gift box.  The preschool teacher loved it!  She was really impressed with their work, even though she is not teaching a penguin unit this year.   Ah well, good intentions!  Here are some pictures of the mobile. 

We used black/white and gray/white paper for our penguins, but you could use some fun colors to make festive penguins! 
Hope you are doing something fun this weekend!