Bird Walk

Coloring Book

Species Specialist

Read a Book

Set Up Feeder Area

Study Pigeons

Put Up a Nestbox

Classroom Birdscope

Write a Story or Poem

Research

 
Read a Book, Make Connections

Read a book such as Flute's Journey by Lynn Cherry.  This is a wonderful story of the migratory journey of a Wood Thrush from its wintering grounds in Central America to its summer breeding grounds in northeastern U.S.

Make the connection between habitat destruction -- or preservation! -- on a bird's breeding or wintering grounds and the effects on the overall population of that bird species.

Teacher description:

• During our reading instruction students read two books about  the Everglades (Save the Everglades and The Talking Earth).  We used field guides to learn about the birds described in the books. In this way I am able to integrate bird studies into other parts of our day.
  -- Doris Waud, Fyle School, Rochester, NY

• We read the book "Flute's Journey" written by Lynne Cherry. We used an activity I got from the Cincinnati Zoo. It had a Wood Thrush migrating and what things could happen to a bird when it migrates across the Gulf of Mexico. The bird's trip is full of dangers: cell towers, cats, tall buildings, birds of prey, change of habitat. Students had to draw a number to determine what happened to them (each number represented a different fate), then the students recorded their fates. Now they are in the process of writing their own picture book about their lives as a Wood Thrush.
  -- Elizabeth Henline, Hamersville Elementary, Hamersville, OH

Other books to read and discuss:

Washing the Willow Tree Loon, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, 1995, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, ages 5-8. Illustrates the importance of conservation by following the rescue, cleaning, and release of one particular bird. 28 pp.

See the Bibliography in the Teacher Resources section for more book and video titles.

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