SMART96 For the Birds

FOR THE BIRDS....ACTIVITIES

OBSERVING BIRDS:

As an introductory activity, children will observe and record local birds sighted.

LANGUAGE ARTS

BIRDS A-Z

Divide a piece of chart paper into 26 boxes. Label a box with each letter of the alphabet. Students can have an ongoing project recording the names of birds they have observed or read about. A good resource is a book by Jerry Palotta called The Bird Alphabet Book. This chart could also be used to record the birds that are sighted by participants around the world.

POEMS

Have children write poetry together as a class or individually. Some suggestions are:

Couplets - a two-line poem that rhymes. Each line contains the same number of syllables.
i.e. A hummingbirdÕs wings
Are fast little things.
Use the following pattern to describe a bird. (Robert McCracken)
Noun_____________ Penguin
Describe__________ Comical, intriguing,playful
Doing_____________ Swimming, toboganning,
waddling
Where____________ On the Arctic ice
Noun_____________ Bird
Alliteration - Create a phrase or sentence containing a bird name.Each word must start with the same sound. For example:
Eager eagles eat.
Cheeping chicks chew chips.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? - Have a class or group discussion about the meaning of the following idioms:
- to parrot someone
- to eat like a bird
- nest egg
- the early bird gets the worm
- as light as a feather
- watch the birdie
- to be as wise as an owl
- birds of a feather flock together
BIRD RIDDLES - Have students write riddles about birds. Classmates can try to guess the correct answer. Students could compile ideas for a class book.
i.e. This bird has a colorful tail that opens up like a fan. (peacock)

PAIRED VERBAL FLUENCY:

This activity helps students to activate prior knowledge about birds.

Establish partners in the class. Have each team decide which partner will be person #1 and which will be person #2.
Assign the topic (birds) which each partner will discuss in turn. Partners listen carefully to each other. During their own turn they cannot repeat anything said by the other person.
The teacher says GO and partner #1 begins. After the selected time elapses, the teacher says, SWITCH, and person #2 takes over.
The teacher determines the number of rounds and timing of the rounds to match the dynamics of the class and the students content knowledge.
It is often helpful to have a trial run using topics students know well.

CAROUSEL BRAINSTORMING:

Place large sheets of newsprint around the room. There should be one sheet for every 4-6 students. Each sheet will have one of the following questions written on it:

What is a bird?
What do birds eat?
What birds have you seen?
What would you like to learn about birds?

Each group sits in front of one of the newsprint sheets. After brainstorming possible answers for the question, the recorder for the group draws or writes a response. At the signal, groups rotate to the right until they have been to all four sheets. They may not draw or write anything that is already on the paper.

READING LINK

Students will separate facts about birds from fiction through literature. (i.e. The Real Thief, The Crow and the Fox)

SCIENCE:

BUILDING A NEST
Gather up the same sort of materials that birds find - dried grasses, twigs, scraps of paper and other trash and even some materials that you might put out for the home builders. (i.e. yarn) Have students weave all these bits and pieces into a nest. Students will appreciate how skilled birds really are, and how patient they must be to take on the task of nest building year after year. ItÕs not so easy as it looks!
BIRD SONGS
Most songbirds sing special songs in the spring to attract mates and to establish and defend territories. Other calls may communicate messages such as danger or food sources. The purpose of the clock chorus activity below is to show that each species of bird has its own song and its own favorite time to sing.

Lead a brief discussion on the general times of day when birds sing. Give each child a bird tag with one of the following possibilities written on it:
- Robin: cheerio cherry me cherry me (4a.m.)
- White-throated sparrow: poor Sam Peobody-Peobody-Peobody (4a.m.)
- Redwinged Blackbird: konk-la-ree (5a.m.)
- Eastern Meadowlark: sweet spring is here (5a.m.)
- Yellowthroat: witchity-witchity-witchity (6a.m.)
- Blackcapped Chicadee: chick-a-dee-dee-dee or fee-bee (6a.m.)
- Goldfinch: potato chip - potato chip (7a.m.)
- White-breasted nuthatch: yank-yank (7a.m.)
The teacher moves the hands of the clock from midnight to noon. As the appropriate time arrives, the respective birds should be singing. By 7a.m. all birds should be singing, and around noon all should be quiet. If desired, the clock can progress until evening when songs are often sung again.
CLASSIFICATION - Each cooperative group will classify one set of pictures of birds in several different ways. (i.e.body structure and function, color, migrating and non-migrating) The students will ex- plain the rules they devised for each way they classified the pic- tures.
DRESS LIKE A BIRD
(source unknown) Cooperative groups will select one card from each pile of cards describing the structure and function of the beak, eyes, feet, wings, and tail. Each group will follow the directions on the cards as they dress one member of their team as a bird using various scraps (felt, fabric, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners, construction paper, etc.).The reporter from each group will explain how and why they dressed their bird as they did.

Use the information below to make the cards which are needed.
You catch mice in your.....
You catch fish in your.......
You eat bugs under......
You climb up and down.......
You spend a lot of time.....
You fly after your food....
You use your TAIL to ......
You attract a mate with your.....
You catch fish with your....
You hammer holes in....
You tear flesh with your....
You can spot a mouse......
You catch insects with....
You dig for worms in the......
You crack hard seeds.....
You paddle around in the.....

MATH

WORD PROBLEMS

Provide or have your students write word problems about birds. For example: A robin laid 4 eggs in her nest. A wren laid 3 eggs in her nest. How many more eggs did the robin lay than the wren?

GRAPHING
Give each student a small handful of mixed birdseed. Have them sort, count and graph their data.
Create a graph that compares the height of birds in inches.
GEOMETRY
Make birds out of geometric shapes. (i.e. tangrams, pattern blocks, or construction paper.)

SOCIAL STUDIES

MAP SKILLS
As information pages for the bird booklet become available from other areas of the world, the class will locate places on the map.

ART
1. Origami birds
2. Make a bird feeder - You can recycle all sorts of containers and found objects and turn them into bird feeders. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
  For seed
  Coffee can with half a plastic cover on both ends.
  Glass jar hung horizontally
  Empty coconut shell cut in half
  For Suet
  Mesh bag (The kind onions come in)
  Coconut shell filled with melted suet
  Drill hole in log and fill with melted suet
  Other Ideas
  Hang coconut half upside down (some birds love coconut)
  String peanuts, popcorn, cranberries, or cereal on wire or heavy string.

MUSIC

MUSIC PARTICIPATION

After learning songs about birds, the older students will teach them to the younger students. This could be done near the beginning of the project as a means of leading into a discussion on birds and throughout the project as well.
Suggestions:
1. Autumn (music by Ernst Richter) p. 54. Why do birds fly south? What is this called? (migration)
2. Something Told the Wild Geese (words by Rachel Field, music by J. Wolverton) p.58. In what season do the birds fly south? What words tell you it is fall? (berries luster-glossed, fields lay golden)
3. The cuckoo (French Round) p. 110. When does the cuckoo sing? (morning) This could also be taught in French.
4. The Spring is Here, canon (words by E. Noxon, music by C. Cornish) p. 154. This song has two parts. Each part could be assigned to some older and some younger students.
5. El mes de abril (The Month of April) p. 132. This is a two-part song and could be sung in Spanish or English.
MUSIC APPRECIATION

Listen to music wherein birds are represented by instruments.
Suggestion:
Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.