Second Grade is All about Birds

bird banding station 

Our avian awareness is increasing daily, from our field trip to Rushton Woods and the visit with three owls from the Academy of Natural Sciences to making informal observations around campus and even through our classroom windows.

 
enjoying the herb garden            a bird in the hand          exploring the perennial herb garden

Our most recent read-aloud book was For the Birds by Margaret Atwood. Although Atwood is best known for her adult fiction and poetry, she has written several books for children. She blends fantasy with factual information in this tale of a young girl who is becomes a Scarlet Tanager and experiences life from a bird’s point of view. From this new perspective, she learns about the lives of birds and the effects of development and pollution on wildlife.

In book groups we have begun reading about penguins. Students are taking notes as they read looking for and categorizing information, building on the techniques used in first grade animal research. Students have started looking at our classroom collection of bird books. We have quite a selection! The students are starting to think about their individual bird research projects. After choosing a species, they will use books as an initial source and collect notes about specific aspects of their bird’s life.

During our bird studies we use a variety of resources: videos, websites as well as books. One to start with is the Cornell University website. It has lots of information about birds. You can learn about a specific species: where it lives, what it eats, and even listen to the sound it makes. You can also use the site to help identify birds seen in your neighborhood.

Our next read aloud book is Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. This autobiographical book, set in Saskatchewan in Canada, tells the often-humorous story of the author’s two pet owls, Wol and Weeps. You can look forward to hearing about the interesting adventures Billy has with his two winged friends!

  

                                    Owls from the Academy of Natural Sciences  - Hands on!