The Adventures of Penguin and Panda: Surprise,

by Brenda Maier,

Lesson Plan

⏱ 45–50 minutes📦 A copy of The Adventures of Penguin and Panda: Surprise by Brenda Maier, document camera or other way to display pages, paper, pencils, crayons or markers, chart paper; optional three-panel comic templates

Learning Goals

Use illustrations, dialogue, and panel order in The Adventures of Penguin and Panda: Surprise to explain what happens in a selected scene.
Describe Penguin’s and Panda’s feelings and responses, supporting ideas with details from the words or pictures.
Make a prediction about a surprising moment and revise it after reading.
Create a short comic showing how a surprise affects Penguin and Panda, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Activity Steps

1.Introduce the book and the activity, “A Surprise in Three Panels.” Examine the cover and title. Ask: “What might surprise Penguin and Panda? What clues support your prediction?” Record several predictions without confirming them.
2.Read a selected episode aloud, displaying the pages. Model how to follow the panels and distinguish speech bubbles from other text. Pause before a surprising moment so students can predict what will happen next.
3.Finish the episode and revisit predictions. Ask students to identify what surprised a character and point to dialogue, facial expressions, or actions that reveal the character’s response.
4.Have partners retell the episode using “first,” “next,” and “finally.” Discuss: “How do Penguin and Panda respond differently? What do their responses tell us about them?” K–1 students may retell orally; grades 2–5 should include specific evidence.
5.Give students paper divided into three panels. Invite them to invent a new, friendly surprise for Penguin and Panda: panel 1 introduces the situation, panel 2 reveals the surprise, and panel 3 shows their responses. K–1 students may draw and dictate; grades 2–5 should add dialogue and visual clues to feelings.
6.Share comics with a partner. Partners identify the surprise and explain one character’s feeling using a picture or dialogue clue. Close by asking students how pictures and words worked together to tell their story.

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.K.3 / RL.1.3 — Identify characters and major events; describe characters and events using key details.
ELA: RL.2.3 / RL.3.3 — Describe how characters respond to events and how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
ELA: RL.1.7 / RL.3.7 / RL.5.7 — Use illustrations and visual elements to understand characters, events, and meaning.
ELA: W.K.3 / W.2.3 / W.4.3 — Use drawing, dictation, or writing to create a sequenced narrative with character responses.
SEL: Social awareness — Interpret emotional cues and consider how two characters may respond differently to the same situation.