Penguins Up Close: read-aloud with discussion questions
Read Penguins Up Close aloud on the projector: 14 pages of big type with each word lit as it is said, 596 words (about 4 minutes), level 8, grade 3, and 5 questions to talk about.
Page 1 of 14
A penguin is a bird, but it cannot fly. Its wings have turned into stiff flippers, and it uses them to swim. Under the water, it seems to fly. It zooms along like a bird in the sky. Penguins can even leap out of the sea onto the ice.
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page the questions come up on the screen. The same questions are below, with what to listen for.
About this book
- Level 8, Grade 3
- 14 pages, 596 words, about 4 minutes aloud
- A true book, gentle
Related
About Penguins Up Close
A 596-word true book that covers a lot about penguins in short paragraphs of one idea each. It is a good book for practicing finding the main idea of a paragraph, and it ends with the emperor penguins' winter, which most students want to hear twice.
A true little book about penguins, the birds that swim instead of fly. You will meet the tallest penguin, the smallest one, and a dad who keeps an egg warm through the winter.
Before you read
Ask the class to say one thing they think they know about penguins and write the ideas on the board. Read to see which the book agrees with and which it changes: not every penguin lives in the snow.
Words to preview
- flippers (FLIP-urz)
- swimming wings
- equator (ih-KWAY-tur)
- Earth's middle line
- colony (KOL-uh-nee)
- big group
- pebble (PEB-ul)
- small stone
- tobogganing (tuh-BOG-un-ing)
- sliding on bellies
Questions to talk about
- Why can't a penguin fly, and what does it do with its wings instead?Listen for: They have turned into stiff flippers for swimming. Under the water it seems to fly.
- How does a penguin's black-and-white coloring help it hide?Listen for: From above, a black back looks like the dark water. From below, a white tummy looks like the bright sky.
- The book says not every penguin lives in the snow. What is the example?Listen for: One kind lives on the Galapagos Islands, right on the equator, where it is warm.
- How do emperor penguin fathers keep the egg warm and take turns in the cold?Listen for: The egg sits on top of the father's feet under a flap of skin. The fathers stand close together and slowly move from the cold edge toward the middle, so every bird gets a turn to be warm.
- Which penguin fact would you most like to tell someone, and which paragraph is it in?Listen for: Any fact, with its paragraph. Good picks include the pebble gift, the mother's call and sliding on the belly.
Questions
How long does Penguins Up Close take to read aloud?
It has 14 pages and 596 words, so about 4 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is Penguins Up Close?
Level 8, Grade 3. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; level 8 sits at grade 3. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Where does this book come from?
It was written for Peabody's library as a true book. It is not copied from a textbook or another site.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.