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My contribution to this project was mainly to the bookshelf and the “big ideas” portion of this as well. For the bookshelf portion, I helped find similar and impactful books that will help with this story and get further background knowledge before this read. I also contributed to helping find the video segments on YouTube to incorporate with this book as well.

I learned a lot about incorporating play within the classroom and it helped me with this assignment as coming up with ideas to help the students retain more information throughout the story. I learned that you can create many different themes from one specific book. This book showed me that there is more than one theme within a story and how to focus on not only one specific theme itself.

This course has shown me a lot throughout my college experience and this activity has also shown me that play based activities can help with comprehension for students. Moving forward, it is important to create a safe space and allow open communication with the parents as well. It is important to incorporate activities that are inclusive and benefit all students as well.

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During this project, I contributed by finding the books that we used for our bookshelf and helping with creating the rationale for our project. Specifically, I found the quote that we used in our rationale. Overall, this was a group effort and we all made fair contributions.
I learned that a lot of extension activities can be applied in the classroom by simply reading a book. I also learned that incorporating play in the classroom helps children's comprehension and understanding of learning topics.
This course has taught me so much. I have really enjoyed it. Specifically, this activity has opened up my eyes to how much effort goes in to creating activities and lesson plans for your classroom. I realize it is important to include students' families into their learning as well. Overall, this was a great project and I learned so much about play, development, and learning in the classroom.

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This project was a very successful group collaboration. Each group member contributed a specific part to making this project work. My part was to find activities for children with special needs and extension activities for children to do at home. There were many different activities on Teacherspayteachers.com for students with disabilities, I picked the ones that I thought would be more applicable for third graders to grasp and understand. I was also able to search and find the different PA standards that we will be teaching for this book. Once I narrowed down the grade level and subject area, finding standards that matched the themes we were searching for (life cycle process and geography) was very easy. There were many parts within the project that I was able to help contribute.

The book And Tango Makes Three, was able to teach me many valuable lessons. Whether that means how all different types of families are present, the life cycle of a penguin, or the geographic region that penguins live in. There are so many different extension activities that this book can help implement. I was able to obtain so much information while doing this project. I think this project was a great way to understand the connection between play-based activities and comprehension. I learned that there are many different directions you can go when trying to create a lesson plan based on a book. For example, our book, And Tango Makes Three, is a great example of this. We were able to create extension activities focusing on science and geography even though these were not the main focuses throughout the book. I also learned how important it is to create activities and lessons that are inclusive for all students. I was able to realize this when I found our special needs extension activities. Overall, this project was a great reflection of the key learning concepts that we learned throughout the semester.

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I contributed significantly to this project. First, I created a way for my group members and I to organize our thoughts and ideas on a separate document before transferring all of our information onto the Padlet. I found the standards that best connected to our big ideas from our book and used those to help me create our objectives. I also helped find different resources for our project, specifically activities centered around students with special needs. I also created the home-school learning link to help communicate with families. Overall, I feel as though I contributed to all aspects of this project and gave my best effort while creating the Padlet.

This project helped me gain a new perspective when it comes to teaching. Our book, And Tango Makes Three, was centered around some topics that could be considered controversial or not easily understood by young children. However, I learned that you do not always have to focus on what seems like the blatant theme of the book. Instead, you can find other ways to make connections between what the students are reading in the book and other educational themes or topics.

Ultimately, I feel as though this project gave me many valuable insights for my future career. First, I have never used Padlet before, which allowed me to learn a new way to create and share information. Next, I think this project allowed me to understand the importance of creating lessons, games, and activities that are inclusive for all students and their families. Having to include resources for special needs students and different means of communication helped me realize how important that is to have in a classroom. Finally, this project helped me make the connection between play and learning. It is extremely valuable for students’ growth, development, and learning to incorporate play in the classroom.

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Activities for Children with Special Needs 

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Activities for Children with Special Needs 

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https://ecdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/All-About-Penguins-Differentiated-Non-Fiction-Writing--5112492-1576922473/original-5112492-3.jpg

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Activities for Children with Special Needs 

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Activities for Children with Special Needs 

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https://ecdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Paper-Plate-Penguins-Art-Project-1603315-1470947987/original-1603315-1.jpg

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Suggestions for working with Special Needs

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Suggestions for working with Special Needs

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Use large pieces of paper for art activities to allow for large movements characteristic of children with developmental delays

Children with cerebral palsy will benefit greatly from consistent physical and/or verbal cues to use the less functional hand as a stabilizer while painting with the other

Use high-contrast materials for students with visual impairments

Allow extra time to complete projects, encourage frequent breaks

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“Open-ended art activities are most appropriate for children with developmental delays. Some effective techniques to use are demonstration, task breakdown, and hand-over-hand assistance as needed.”

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Life Cycle of an Emperor Penguin: Lesson for Kids - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Explore the life cycle of an emperor penguin, the largest species of penguin. Discover the features of a life cycle and the stages of the emperor...

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Exploring the Arctic for Kids: Arctic Animals and Climates for Children - FreeSchool

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All About Penguins for Kids: Penguins of the World for Children - FreeSchool

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1. Bean Bag Maps: This is a simple but fun way to review geography. Have a supply of small bean bags handy and a large map of the world and/or the U.S. posted on the wall. One at a time, ask a student to toss a bean bag at a site on the map, for instance, the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, or Colorado. If they make an accurate throw they get a point, and if they miss, they must tell you what they hit instead. Kids could play this in a small group or with a partner, taking turns calling out locations and tossing the bean bag. Or, you could use this activity for a whole-class review.

2. Pass the Globe: Most kids love studying the globe. This circle activity is a geography version of hot potato. Have students sit in a circle, then turn on some music. Students will pass a globe around the circle until the music stops. When it does, the student holding the globe must identify the spot under their right thumb. Start the music again and play until everyone has had a turn. More than likely, students will learn the names of places they’ve never heard of before.

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Learning about the big wide world can be a lot of fun for students, and geography is the perfect subject for hands-on learning. These geography games and activities will introduce new concepts, broaden perspectives, and allow your students to practice valuable skills.

This fun game is a one minute speed test for kids to identify as many states as they can. To play, pull a labeled stick and mark the state off your map. If you pull a SNAP stick, though, you'll have to erase your map and start again.

Learn more: 123Homeschool4ME

2. 20 Questions

The classic game of 20 questions can be a perfect fit in your geography study. First, have one student come up with a state, country, or continent. Then, allow students to ask a yes or no question, one at a time. For example: "Is this state in the north?", "Is this state on the coast?", "Was this state one of the original colonies?", etc. The goal, of course, is to guess the correct answer in 20 questions or less.

Kids will recognize this fun game as a version of the card game War. Download these free trading cards with colored illustrations of each state, along with interesting facts. To play, deal all of the cards out to two players, face down. Each player pulls the top card, keeping it to themself, and calls out a category (population, electoral votes, etc.). Each player reads off the appropriate number, and the player with the higher number keeps the cards.

Learn more: Deceptively Educational

4. Bean Bag Maps

This is a simple but fun way to review geography. Have a supply of small bean bags handy and a large map of the world and/or the U.S. posted on the wall. One at a time, ask a student to toss a bean bag at a site on the map, for instance, the Pacific Ocean, Mexico, or Colorado. If they make an accurate throw they get a point, and if they miss, they must tell you what they hit instead. Kids could play this in a small group or with a partner, taking turns calling out locations and tossing the bean bag. Or, you could use this activity for whole-class review.

How fun is this? Students look at pictures of international landmarks and try to recreate them with LEGO bricks. Landmark flashcards can be found through Amazon, Etsy, Walmart and more. Or better yet, have students do research on the computer and make their own.

Learn more: HomeGrownLearners

Flags are an important part of a nation's identity, and learning about flags helps kids identify and remember places around the world. For this activity, ask each student to choose a country they are interested in. Have them do a bit of research and create a copy of that country's flag on an 11×14 piece of construction paper. String all of the students' flags to create a banner across your classroom to give it an international flair.

Learn more: ArtBar

Have a little geography fun Bingo style and help your students recognize and remember the 50 states. Click on the link below for instructions, free downloadable Bingo cards and calling pieces.

Learn more: Deceptively Educational

8. Alphabet Game

This is a fun circle game that can help students memorize all fifty states. It's perfect as a warm-up or as a geography review. (It also builds literacy skills.) The first student in the circle will say the name of a state. The next must name a state that begins with the last letter of the previous student's state. For example: Student 1: California, Student 2: Arkansas, Student 3: South Carolina, etc. You can also play this game with countries. For example: Ireland/Denmark/Kazakhstan, etc.

Discover interesting facts about places around the world while learning how to navigate an atlas. This scavenger hunt for middle schoolers has 26 fun clues from (A - Z), all related to world geography.

10. Memory Game

Download these free state and state capital flashcards and make multiple copies. Create decks of twenty cards: 10 states plus 10 coordinating capitals. To play, students shuffle the deck, then lay each of the cards face-down. The goal is to flip over two cards, looking for a match. If the cards don't match, they flip them back over. Play continues until all cards have been matched up.

These stacking cups are a great visual to help kids comprehend exactly where they live in the world. Each cup fits into the next, from home to city to state, all the way to the galaxy they live in. Download the free labels or make up your own.

Learn more: Undercover Classroom

12. Pass the Globe

Most kids love studying the globe. This circle activity is a geography version of hot potato. Have students sit in a circle, then turn on some music. Students will pass a globe around the circle until the music stops. When it does, the student holding the globe must identify the spot under their right thumb. Start the music again and play until everyone has had a turn. More than likely, students will learn the names of places they've never heard of before.

Creating their own treasure hunt is a great way for kids to learn about important map skills. This blog explains the activity with a home map. Adapt it to fit in the classroom by having kids draw a map of their classroom or their school. Then, once everyone has finished their maps, have students partner up to find each other's treasure.

Learn more: Beth Gorden

14. Coordinates Game

Learning about latitude and longitude is an important map skill. This game gives students practice finding locations on a map using coordinates. Make a list of world locations (or U.S. locations) using just coordinates. Pair students up and give them the list and a sheet of gold star stickers. Working together, they must find the location on the map and mark it with a gold star. When they have finished, give them an answer sheet to check their answers.

What better way to learn the names of the states, in alphabetical order no less, than with a song? This catchy tune has been around for years and years, and once you learn it, you won't forget it.

Learn more: YouTube

What are your favorite geography games and activities for kids? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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15 Geography Games and Activities Your Students Will Love

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Learning about the big wide world can be a lot of fun for students, and geography is the perfect subject for hands-on learning. These geography games and activities will introduce new concepts, broaden perspectives, and allow your students to practice valuable skills.

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1.  Children will be able continue to identify certain places in the United States and the world around them.
2. Children will be able to work on their teamwork skills if they choose to work as a small group by working together to accomplish a common goal.
3. Children will be able to identify different places and regions on the globe through game activities.

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Create a dramatic play center where students use props and other materials to pretend to be a penguin living in their specific environment. Additionally, create a craft center that has different activities relating to penguins.

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1. Children will be able to focus on the interactions between the penguin life cycle and how they interact with each other.
2. Children will be able to understand the mating process between penguins, how life is created through laying an egg, and how to care for the baby after the egg hatches.

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1. The process of how a penguin egg hatches
(life cycle, physical makeup, etc.)
2. Geography lesson: How different animals live in different regions and survive in different climates

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The Emperor's Egg

Written by Martin Jenkins & Illustrated by Jane Chapman

Dreamy Antarctica

Written by Maya Karthik

Penguin

Written by Polly Dunbar

Poles Apart

Written by Jeanne Willis & Illustrated by Jarvis

Glacier on the Move

Written by Elizabeth Rusch & Illustrated by Alice Brereton

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Standard: Social Studies (Geography) 7.2.3.A

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Standard: Social Studies (Geography) 7.2.3.A

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Identify the physical characteristics of places and regions.

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Describe animal characteristics that are necessary for survival.

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Illustrate how plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.

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According to Creative Activities and Curriculum for Young Children, the book states that  “through play, children learn about the world and engage in activities that encourage their cognitive, emotional, and social development” (Mayesky, p.137). In class, we read the story “And Tango Makes Three”. The main objectives that we chose to focus on with this book were the life cycle of a penguin as well as geography, specifically that surrounding Antarctica. As stated in the quote above, we chose specific activities that incorporate play. By doing so, children are able to promote their cognitive, emotional, and social development. As a result, children will be able to deepen their understanding as they learn about knew concepts and ideas and they will be able to make real-life applications.