Avian Artistry / Birds in the Neighborhood Teaching Unit

Children in first, second and third grade reading classes have expressed interest in the birds that frequent the R.J. Wallis Elementary School courtyard where feeders draw them. Evening Grosbeaks, Chickadees, and White Breasted Nuthatch are common. When I presented the students with binoculars, they enjoyed close examination of each species. From day to day, they do not always remember which bird is which. Sometimes they say “dee, dee, dee” to identify the chickadee. This unit will teach students to construct new scientific knowledge through observation and investigation of the local indigenous birds concentrating on Raptors, long-legged waders, perching and water birds. Students will compare and contrast similarities and differences and use a classification system to describe the four groups of birds.

I developed the unit during a week course called “Artistic Expression Explored Through Science and Mathematics Institute”. The fellowship for Educators Science and Mathematics Institute Series was held at The Ford Forestry Center in Alberta, MI through Michigan Technological University. The instruction gave multiple ideas for developing this unit, which incorporates a multidisciplinary approach. It will teach the science standard of Organization of Living Things (LO) III.2. The unit will span two weeks of half hour lessons daily during regularly scheduled reading classes. The goal is to provide an identification system that children can use when they see birds.

On the first day of the unit, I diagram a bird showing the important external indicators of species. The children copy this diagram into their journal. I discuss beaks, feet, color, size, eyes and feathers. The children are fascinated with the different uses of beaks, feet and eyes. The Great Blue Heron stabs, a water bird scoops, while the eagle grabs and perchers peck. We closely examined the three types of feathers using magnifying glasses. The children drew the three examples of feathers and labeled them: Contour, flight and down. They give a description of the function of the type of feather. They wrote things like: “The flight feathers help the bird fly. The contour feathers streamline the bird and have the color of the bird. The down feathers help birds stay warm.” I chose to have the children draw a close-up picture of each feather through a magnifying glass. I modeled how to see the `zipper-grippers' that help the feathers stay closed. On day two, I show pictures of the four species. I want to teach the local birds, so I have included the ones we can see around the schoolyard and around our neighborhood. I let the children pick one of the types of birds to concentrate on for their individual study. Then I pass out coloring sheets of the bird they picked to color with colored pencils. The Audubon's Birds color sheets were the favorites. The class took their time and wanted to color accurately. After they finish the coloring, the picture is laminated and cut into a puzzle. I keep each bird in a labeled folder with the picture of the bird on the front. The puzzles are available for working during free time. Day three, I use special paper that simulates stained glass to make sun catchers for the window. The child makes the chosen bird's shape either free hand or from a bird stencil that I provide. This makes a colorful window display that teaches children to name the birds by color. They like doing this freehand. On day four, I model a writing lesson about birds. This can be a poem such as:

Flight from feathers

Wetlands, foliage and water habitats

The children write a poem or story into their journal. Most of the students wrote a factual story telling all they learned from this unit. The local Department of Natural Resources gives full color posters of animal habitats. We find various creatures in four of Michigan's habitats including: wetlands, forests, coastal dunes and Jack Pine. The children pick a bird to color with crayon in its habitat. The second step is to paint the drawing with watercolor paints. The crayon will resist the water paints. This is attractively mounted for placement into the Birds in the Neighborhood Journal that each third grade child is preparing.

During week two, I begin with a short review by asking detail questions, such as “Why is the Great Blue Heron's beak so long? What bird likes to be upside down? Which bird has a black cap? Why are a duck's feet good for swimming? There are red, white and blue birds. Give me the name for one of each. What does a bird have that no other creature has? This question leads to the focus on feathers for the day. After they guess, children can draw them, or stencil them from the imitation feathers I bring in. The kids like it when they learn that birds preen themselves. This is like zipping up their feathers. The young students pretend to fly, to get dirty then preen like a bird. If time permits, the children can make sun prints of feathers for their journal. Special sun print paper is available from a school supply catalog. This cyanotype paper will print in a photographic process that takes approximately twelve minutes. The flat object is placed on the paper, and printed in the sun for two minutes. The dark blue paper will turn into a lighter shade of blue. Develop it in a pan of water for one minute. Allow the paper to dry in a dark spot. This prints a permanent cyanotype blue and white image.

Our school uses Chicago math. To help the study of geometric shape, I make a simple bird outline for a tessalation using an equilateral triangle. The children follow the stencil to make four to place together in another large equilateral triangle to see the positive-negative pattern. This is a mirror tessalation and is produced on day seven. On day eight, I like to go for a bird walk to visit as many habitats as possible: a small lake and the St. Mary's river are in close proximity, but travel must be by bus. The woods around the school house many of the birds that frequent the bird feeder in the courtyard. It has excellent sighting potential.

After the instruction, I have the students share their journal. The group is allowed to comment on the things they like or to ask questions of the reporter.

I have been informally teaching about the birds that land at the feeders. The information may or may not stick. But with the addition of the binoculars and these activities, I hope to see my reading children identifying more birds by color, size, shape of body, beak, feet, or the habitat where the children happened to see the bird. This simple classification system will help.

What bird makes these tracks?

Swim like a duckling.

The game: Duck, duck, goose.

A game: Hunt like a Great Blue Heron.

How would you look, if you were a Nuthatch?

Music that integrates bird calls into it. (Such as Dan Gibson's Solitudes tapes)

http://www.michiganbirds.org/ Northern Michigan Birding, Keith F. Saylor, 2002.

Northern Michigan Birding

http://www.northbirding.com/ Northern Michigan Birding, Sandy Hoover, web administrator, Keith Saylor, 2002.

Allen, Hayward. The Great Blue Heron. Northword Press, Minnesota, 1999.

Audubon, J. Birds of America. 1995. Barnes and Noble Books, N.Y.

Bull and Farrand, Jr. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds.

Kennedy, Paul E. Rendered for coloring, Audubon's Birds of America Coloring Book. 1974. Dover Publishing Inc. NY.

Koch, Maryjo. Bird, Egg, Feather, Nest. 1998. Swans Island Books, NY.

Lingelbach, Jenepher and Lisa Purcell. Hands-On Nature. Vermont Institute of Natural Science, 2000.

Peterson, Roger Tory. Eastern Birds. Houghton Mifflin, Boston: 1980.

Seymour, Dale. Introduction to Tessellations. Dale Seymour Publication: 1989.

Stewart, Scot. “Seney Swans Trumpeters.” Upper Michigan Outdoor Journal, vol. 3 issue 6. May/June 2002.