Tacky Is an Odd Bird...

Have you ever felt out of place? Thought you did not belong just because you were different from everyone else? 

Tacky the Penguin written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger is about an outcast named Tacky. Tacky is an odd bird because he is different in his appearance and behavior from his companions: Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. While his companions are doing everything proper, Tacky marches to the beat of his own drummer. He wears an Hawaiian shirt, does splashy cannonballs, sings his own songs, and greets his companions with a hearty slap on the back and a loud "What's happening?" Tacky knows who he is and does not change for anyone. One day three greedy hunters invade the penguins' nice icy land singing, "We're gonna catch some pretty penguins, And we'll march 'em with a switch, And we'll see 'em for a dollar, And get rich, rich, RICH!" It will take a lot more than a bunch of perfect penguins to save the day. But who will be the hero?

Tacky the Penguin is a great book to use when teaching students how to summarize what they just read. Summarizing teaches students how to pick out the most important ideas in a text, how to ignore unrelated information, and how to combine the central ideas in a meaningful way. In other words, summarizing is the restating of the main ideas of the story in your own words. Students can summarize through writing, orally, drama, art, and music. Readers identify key elements into their own words during and after reading to solidify meaning. Making a "Story Summarizer" fold-able is a great activity for students to practice summarizing. The teacher will read Lester's Tacky the Penguin aloud to the class. After reading, students will make a fold-able to summarize what they just heard. To make the fold-able: fold a piece of paper hot dog style leaving some room on the side to write the title of the book, then cut the paper into four flaps, write 'Somebody, Wanted, But, So' on each flap. The students will write the main character under the 'Somebody' flap. They will write what the main character wanted under the 'Wanted' flap. Then write what the problem was under the 'But' flap and how did the character try to solve the problem under the 'So' flap. Creating this fold-able helps students summarize and comprehend what they read. The following is an example of a "Story Summarizer" fold-able.

 

Tacky the Penguin is an awesome book to read in the classroom because it shows readers that individuality has its own advantages. Everyone is unique in their own way and we should accept people or penguins for who they are. Do you follow the beat of your own drummer or the crowd's?