This book explores the many different kinds of nests that birds build.

Materials

Bird feeder with bird seed

Bird nest in a ziplock bag

Picture of three birds from the story.

2 toilet paper tubes per child

assorted stickers or assorted colored tape

tongs or clothes pins that pinch open and close

24 pack of paper or plastic cups

bag of colored feather

Pipe cleaners cut into a variety of sizes to represent worms

Vocabulary

• Ornithology  (the study of birds)
• Sturdy (strong)
• Cavity Nest (built by woodpeckers, a hole in a tree.  Kind of like a cavity in your tooth, a hole in your tooth)
• Craggy (rocky rough cliff edge)
• Burrow ( a hole in the ground used for a home)
• Talons (the eagles claws or nails)

Before Reading the Story

Hold up cover of book and read title.  Guess what story about.  Ask the children what they think the big green ball is for? Ask children to share any knowledge they have about bird nests. (how are they built, what is a nest used for, where do you find nests). As the children talk about what they know about nests and birds, write their responses on a large piece of paper to pin to the wall. Make a KWL chart with the children. K=what we know about the subject, W= what we want to know about the subject, L= what we learned after reading/investigating about the subject.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and ability to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

Stop and talk about the different birds, especially those that live in your area. When you get to the 2^nd to last page (robins outside the window) ask the children what the author means when she says that they have a nest of their very own?

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, anad poems.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children to share with you some of the facts that they learned about nests. On a third piece of paper write their responses. Hang on the wall with the other two sheets.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and ability to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Discovery

Tape the picture of the three different birds to the wall. Have a discussion with the children how they are alike and how they are different.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute.

If you are lucky enough to have a bird nest you can bring in to share with the children .  Put it in a ziplock bag so that it does not get torn apart or if there are any small bugs in the nest, they do not get into your classroom.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather informations, investigate materials, observe processes and relationships.

 Add a bird identification book and a birdfeeder where the children can easily view it.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather informations, investigate materials, observe processes and relationships. AND Literacy/ Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus.

Tape two toilet paper tubes together to make binoculars.  Punch two holes in of the ends to add string to go around neck.  Give the children stickers or bits of colored tape to decorate their binoculars.

Music and Movement

Put together the Rockin Robin Booklet and sing along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-OteAgvINc

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction books, and poetry.

Sing and act out the movements to The Bird Song. Sing it to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.

This is the way we scratch for worms, scratch for worms, scratch for worms.
This is the way we scratch for worms so early in the morning.

This is the way we peck our food, peck our food, peck our food.
This is the way we peck our food so early in the morning.

This is the way we sit on our eggs, sit on our eggs, sit on our eggs.
This is the way we sit on our eggs so early in the morning.

This is the way we flap our wings, flap our wings, flap our wings.
This is the way we flap our wings so early in the morning.

This is the way we fly away, fly away

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, swinging, finger plays, games, and performances.

Do the finger play Two Little Blackbirds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjv5Jwgsn7I

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Blocks

Add the cups to the center today.  Show the children how to stack them upside down one on top of the edge of two to make a pyramid.  Or to stack them bottom to top to bottom to top.  Both of these building activities take patience and good hand-eye coordination.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Art

Make nests with playdough (Pinch pot).  Can the children roll small balls to be the eggs?

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Physical Health & Development;Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, hammer.

If your school has a petty fund, make bagel bird feeders.

To make one bird feeder, you will need:
1 day old bagel, lard, birdseed, string or ribbon for hanging

Spread the lard on the bagel.
Roll the bagel in the birdseed. (Or you may place the bagel in a gallon sized zipper bag that contains birdseed; shake the bag to coat the bagel.)
Tie ribbon or string through the hole of the bagel to hang the bagel. One of the good things about this bird feeder is that the birds can eat the whole thing!

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Sand and Water

In the sensory table add mud, bits of play dough, twigs, grasses, bits of yarn, thread, small pebbles, etc.. Explain to the children that today they are going to be birds and challenge them to build a nest. Give each child a pair of tweezers or tongs and explain that birds can only use their beaks (tweezers) and feet (hands) to build their nest.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Library and Writing

Add bird identification book to center.  Encourage the children to learn the name of one or two familiar birds to your area.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather informations, investigate materials, observe processes and relationships. AND Literacy/ Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus.

Dramatic Play

Encourage the children to pretend to be birds. Bring in several boxes big enough for the children to be able to sit in. To your center add; pipe cleaner worms, plastic Easter eggs, beaks made from sentence strips.

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

Ahead of time, take pieces of pipecleaner and bend into worms. Think of size and /or colors that the children can sort by. Use tongs or tweezers to practice fine motor skills and pretend that you’re a bird gathering food with its beak! For older children you might try using colored feathers.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, hammer. AND Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing ability to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Outdoor Play

If you are lucky enough to have pine trees that drop their needles ,or do this activity in the fall when the leaves are dropping, have the children rake needles/leaves into a pile and then use to make a bird nest with them being the birds.

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations. AND Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Transitions

Ahead of time cut out and hide egg shapes around the classroom.  Let the children go on an egg hunt.  Have the children count how many eggs they found within the allotted time.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or interactions, despite distractions and interruptions.

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