FEATHERY FRENZY

By Penny Taub

Peacock

With spring just around the corner, Aaron Reynolds latest picture book NERDY BIRDIE will inspire children to look at birds in a whole new way. Matt Davies illustrations of birds and animals will have children and parents laughing at their antics. The story tackles the tough issues of being different than the rest of the cool flock and finding friends that share your interests. Despite being a Nerdy Birdie who looks different and likes books, he meets a great group of other Nerds. The book celebrates respect, encouraging children to treat new friends with kindness. (Published by Roaring Brook Press, 2015)

STEM

The book provides many opportunities to incorporate STEM into Grades K – 2.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 ACTIVITY 1

 Hatch some chick eggs in the classroom to teach about the life cycle of birds or have students watch a video on this topic. 

ACTIVITY 2

Allow students to search the Internet for various habitats. New vocabulary terms include: wetlands, forests, grasslands, mountains, treetops, and cities to discover the interesting and strange world of birds. 

ACTIVITY 3

Take students on a nature walk to find locale birds to draw and learn about.

ENGINEERING

Students will use various materials to design and build a bird’s nest. Then use golf balls for eggs to determine how much weight the nest can hold. Have students’ determine which is the strongest building material.

 

MATHEMATICS 

ACTIVITY 1

A fun art activity that incorporates listening skills and following directions while learning the names of geometric shapes: oval, circle, triangles, squares, and rectangles, to create their own Nerdy Birdie.

ACTIVITY 2

Create a class graph of the different color Nerdy Birdies made by the students. Use the graph to create several word problems for the class to solve.  

ENGLISH

Write the following sentences on chart paper to use as a choral reading activity.  They can be made into a class big book to read aloud.  Have students make mini books to color and practice reading. Dictate similar sentences for students to practice letter-sound correspondence. These activities are perfect to ease boredom in the classroom by allowing children to be active learners.

EXAMPLE SENTENCES

 The red bird sings.              

The brown bird dances.

The yellow bird can play.

The green bird can talk.

 

The black and white bird can swim.

The little bird eats a bug.

The big bird flies to a tree.

The blue bird makes a nest.

WRITING

Teacher will model writing by asking questions and brainstorming ideas with students using Calkins Writing Approach. Students will Draw, Label, and Write a 3-page picture story about a bird(s).

 GEOGRAPHY

 ACTIVITY 1

Display a map of the United States of America. Have students use the Internet to discover each states' state bird. Add a compass rose to create activities incorporating the vocabulary North, South, East, and West. This can be expand to have class learn the state names and capitals.

ACTIVITY 2

Display a map of the seven continents. Have students use the Internet to investigate the birds and animals found on each continent. Add a compass rose to create activities incorporating the vocabulary North, South, East, and West.

 BIRD FRENZY LITERATURE CONNECTION

FROODLE by Antoinette Portis (2014), another clever story where a bird follows his own heart and sings a new song. 

PEEPSQUEAK! By Leslie Ann Clark (2012), a baby chicken hatches and wants to fly.

A BIRD’S LIFE by Ellen Lawrence (2013) this non-fiction book includes a table of contents, photographs of birds building a nest, eggs hatching, chicks feeding, and growing up to fly!

BRILLIANT BIRDS by Thea Feldman (2015) another non-fiction book explores what factors make an animal a bird and the different types of birds.

In A BIRD IS A BIRD by Lizzy Rockwell (2015) the illustration explore all the different places around the world birds live.  This colorful non-fiction book shares many bird facts. 

MAMA BUILT A LITTLE NEST by Jennifer Ward (2014) explores all the different habitats and ways birds create nests.

ONE COOL FRIEND by Toni Buzzeo (2012) is a great way to have students compare penguins to other birds in this 2013 Caldecott Honor Book.