Bluebirds of the Meadow

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Learn about Bluebirds and Soar into Learning

Summer nears and the bluebirds start nesting along the fenceline. The children are fascinated with the way they fly back and forth to build their nests. They become the focus of our next Unit Study, Bluebirds of the Meadow.

As your little bluebirds flit from place to place they will find educational activities at every turn. Your students will read about Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin as they sit under the tree, paint with feathers, spell with birdseed and count the bird tracks. Open your wings and fly!!!

Bluebirds at Calendar Time 

Look outside the Window




At Calendar time we add pictures of birds that represent the ones seen outside the classroom window. We add the name of the bird below it's picture making this bulletin board a Word Wall for the children to use when writing. Materials for drawing, coloring and cutting out are in the observation center near the window.


When do the Birds come Back? 

Project BudBurst is not just for counting when the flowers begin to blossom. It is also watching for other signs of Global Warming such as shifts in bird populations.

Bird Count 

BirdfeedersBirdfeedersBirdfeedersBirdfeeders


Feed and Count the Birds
Feed the birdsHere Birdy, Birdy Kindergarten Telecollaborative Project

In the fall a kindergarten class started a project for counting birds. They were officially joined by students from Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Costa Rica to the project.


Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent.

Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts.

It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It's free, fun, and easy-and it helps the birds.

Bird Counting 

Keep track of the birds that visit your feeder with this cleaver bird counting center.

To see bluebirds you need to have a large open field with lots of insects and bluebird houses placed about ten feet off the ground facing the east. See bluebird house construction below.

Bird Graph
Bird Feeder

Lay a bulletin board down on a table near the window. Make columns with bias tape. Children use push pins to record the birds seen outside the window.

Even if you have a field outside your window, it will be easier for your children to count and identify the birds at the feeder nearer the window. Having field guides and laminated posters of common birds for your area will help in identification.

Bird Feeders 

Bluebird eating mealworms

Bluebirds love meal worms. Bluebirds rarely eat birdseed.

They eat mostly insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, spiders, and caterpillars.

During winter months they may eat suet.

They like the fruit of plants such as flowering dogwood, eastern red cedar, holly, and pokeweed.

Mealworms can be fed from a cup hung from the porch.

Birdfeeder

You can make your own bird feeders.

COOKING IS FOR THE BIRDS: Your kitchen station should be near water and an outlet. Have a toaster oven, aprons, hot mitts, bowls, measuring cups and spoons, and basic foods such as flour, vinegar, salt, and ingredients for making suet available. A small refrigerator with a freezer is ideal for doing experiments with ice.

1. Write a recipe for suet. Laminate it and post it in your kitchen cooking station. Whenever the birds need more suet you can open this station and the children can measure and mix food for the birds reading the recipe.

2. There could also be recipes for healthy cookies that could be rolled out and cut with letter shaped cookie cutters. Children at this station could cut out their names or theme related words and later share them with the rest of the class during snack time. (This station probably needs a parent volunteer.)

The Woodland Cafe 

A Mathematical Activity

Bluebird Cafemoney worksheetmenu math worksheet


WOODLAND CAFE:

1. Write a menu for the Woodland Cafe with pictures and labels of foods that the Woodland Creatures would eat.

2. Make sure that there are 12 items on the menu.

3. Give a value of 1 to 12 either cents or dollars to each item.

4. Have chits (bills) available that have room to write down the name of the customer and two items of food ordered with the amount written beside it and a place to total the bill.

5. Using a 12 sided die or rolling two regular dice find out the food eaten and add up the total.

6. The die could tell the total amount of the bill and the students could try to figure out the two items he/she must have eaten to come up with that total.

Have twelve counters available to help them work out the problem.

Math in the Meadow 

Math for this Bluebirds of the Meadow Unit Study

Winsome Bluebird 

Gather Your Little Bluebirds for Story Hour

Thornton Burgess wrote many stories about the little creatures of the woodlands and meadows like Winsome Bluebird.

Winsome BluebirdReading about bluebirds

After lunch recess, we like to gather on the rug under Grandfather Tree and loose ourselves in the Green Meadow with all the Merry Little Breezes, Peter Rabbit, Reddy Fox, Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin.

These are easy reader chapter books that teach about nature while imparting the wisdom of friendship, honesty etc. Learn about Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin. They are friends and cousins who signal to the other little creatures of the meadow that spring is here. These are the some characters that are found in "The Adventures of Little Joe Otter"

Blacky the Crow (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Thornton W. Burgess

Blacky the Crow (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Thornton W. Burgess

Children will love this wonderful tale of a crow w more...3 points

Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Thornton W. Burgess

Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Thornton W. Burgess

Poor Mrs. Quack the Duck has suffered terrible mis more...3 points

The Adventures of Mr. Mocker by Thornton, W. Burgess

The Adventures of Mr. Mocker by Thornton, W. Burgess

"If you please, Mistah Buzzard, you can tell more...3 points

The Adventures Of Bob White (1919) by Thornton Waldo Burgess

The Adventures Of Bob White (1919) by Thornton Waldo Burgess

Burgess was the model for talking animal stories. more...3 points

Beginning Bluebird Readers 

These books are for children just learning to read. Each book tells a tale of bluebirds and with limited vocabulary and simple sentences to help the children practice their new found skill at reading while learning more about bluebirds.

From the grasses that shape the meadow to the insects that the bluebirds eat, these books will help children develop a better understanding of the bluebird's habitat in a colorful easy to read format.

Learn all about bluebirds and the meadows they live in.

Write the Room and Who's Hatching 

Children love to wear feathered goggles and pretend to be bluebirds as they flit around the classroom reading bluebird words from the word walls.

Write the Room

WRITE THE ROOM: Give children 10 cut up pieces of sentence strips. They will look for a word to copy onto each of the cards. They can use toilet paper binoculars, sunglasses, funny glasses etc. and pith helmets to look for the words. When finished they put them in the Bird Mailbox and put the flag up. (These cards will be used in the next activity.)

Cut up WordsWord Egg Center
WHO'S HATCHING: Keep plastic easter eggs in a nest. Inside each egg put the letters to form words being studied. Have your Little Bluebirds find out the names of the baby chicks by unscrambling the letters to form words.

Bluebirds on Stage 

Making a Puppet Theater

FINGER PUPPETS:

Have a parent volunteer help children to make finger puppets from felt.

1.Take the felt and fold it in half.
2. Slip your finger into the fold and cut a straight line up leaving enough room to sew a seam.
3. When you get to the tip of the finger angle the cut to a point.
4. Take this piece and sew up where you cut.
5. Now cut a half circle out on the fold where the tip of your finger comes.
6. Put your finger back in and draw a face directly on your finger with a pen or marker.

You now have a Finger Gnome. Change colors of felt, add wings, ears etc. and you have animals. Make lots of animals and put them near the Puppet Theater below.

PUPPET THEATER:

1. Take a couple of tin buckets with tall grass growing in them.
2. Put an overturned milk carton between them and a 9X13 pan of short grass on top of the milk crate.
3. The milk crate could be covered in brown dirt colored cloth.

Use the finger puppets from the above activity to act out scenes from the Green Meadows.

Verbs on the Telephone Wire 

One Crow on the Telephone Wire

Birds on the Wire

VERBS ON THE WIRE:

1. Read "One Crow" by Jim Aylesworth.
2. Notice how birds often sit on telephone wires especially on the edges of meadows. They are looking for insects and often flit off to catch one and then return to the wire.
3. Hang a telephone wire near the door where you line up to go out.
4. Cut out bluebird shaped pieces of card stock.
5. Keep a stack of them in a nest near the door with a marker.

As you wait for stragglers brainstorm verbs. Write the verb on a bird and hang it on the line. While you are waiting point to different verbs and have those in line act the action out in place

One Crow: A Counting Rhyme

One Crow

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Eggs in the Nest Bulletin Board 

Nothing keeps them on task and learning like a good game.

Word Egg Center

1. Make a meadow scene with a row of fence posts running across it.
2. On each fence post put a Jello box that has been decorated to look like a bluebird house with the roof hinged so that eggs can be added and taken out.
3. Each birdhouse has a number on it that represents the answer to a number problem.
4. Eggs have number problems or word problems.
5. The students put the eggs back into the right nests.
6. If you have 10 birdhouses and 20 eggs the back of each egg could correspond with the color on the inside of the roof of the birdhouse for self checking.
NOTE: Move the birdhouses often so that they don't memorize the colors instead of the math problems.

Bluebird Math Activities 

Children love to practice their math facts with the Cracking Eggs Center. Add the two numbers and check by cracking the egg and looking at the number on the chick.

Store the eggs in a bluebird house and use them during Center Time.
Number Sequencing from lilteacher.com
Miss Renée's Kindergarten Pad

Egg Math

Number Sequencing- Program 3 egg patterns with numbers, laminate, and connect with a brad. Children guess what number will be found inside eggshell.

Fly into the Vowel Houses 

Fly into the Vowel Houses
Fly into the Vowel Houses
Each student had a supply of laminated bird cutouts at their desk. Whenever the student "landed" upon a good example of a vowel sound during reading time, he or she could "fly" the bird to the correct vowel house (staple to the area near the right house). This not only allowed me to see who needed extra review, but gave the children an opportunity to show off their new found skills! Plus, it got them away from the rote identification of vowel sounds and had the added bonus of giving them a little more motivation to read.

Bluebird Mail 

BLUEBIRD MAIL: Students dress as mail carriers, passenger pigeons or Bluebird Mail carriers with mail sacks and hats. They take the cards from the mailbox and put the flag down. The then deliver the mail to the correct birdhouse. The bird house will have signs on them that correspond to phonic skills being studied for example
-words beginning with letter b on one house and d on the other.
-verbs vs. nouns
-three letter words vs. four letter words(Ask the students for other ideas to reuse these words.)

Shadow Puppets 

Bird Silhouette

SHADOW PUPPETS: In a dark corner or in the cave of the tree (see River Otter Unit Study) hang a white sheet with a flashlight behind it. Cut shapes of different meadow creatures out of black card stock. One student holds the flashlight. One student moves the puppets and tells the story. Two children are in the audience. Use a timer to limit let them know when to rotate roles.

Go Fish or Concentration 

/

Make two sets of bird cards. Write the name of each bird on the bottom. Teach the children how to play Go Fish or Concentration with these cards.

GAME TABLE: Make theme related cards with words to play Bingo, Concentration, or Go Fish. Allow up to 4 at this station. Max by Family Pastimes (see below) is a wonderful game where children cooperatively try to help a bird, mouse and chipmunk get back to their tree before Max the Cat comes to eat them.

Wings 

Bluebird Costumes

BIRD WINGS: Using large pieces of felt make sets of wings. Sew two inch wide strips of felt on the top and bottom of each wing so that the child can slip his/her arm through. Make two more two inch wide strips about a yard or so long attached at the shoulders only. These cross the child's chest and tie in the back. Make one set blue for Winsome Bluebird, one set red for Welcome Robin. Find a couple of pairs of bright yellow socks such as soccer socks to use for bird feet. Children can act out the roles of Winsome and Robin.

Birds of a Feather Read Together 

Read Together

ABC BOOK WRITING CENTER: Brainstorm ideas as a class for each of the letters of the alphabet. Post these ideas above the Writing Center. Children work alone or in pairs to write and illustrate a page, cross it off the list, sign their names beside it and put the page into a folder hanging beside the list. When all pages are completed ask a parent volunteer to bind it. Read it to the class and add it to the class library or Book Nook.

POEMS AND CHANTS: Copy poems, songs, and chants onto large poster boards and have them laminated.

READ THE ROOM: Children can use theme related pointers to read the charts with a partner. Favorite Beginning Readers

HIGHLIGHTER TAPE: Children can use Highlighter Tape on the charts to highlight verbs, beginning letters, rhyming words etc. Favorite Beginning Readers

Birds of a Feather Write Together 

Put the letters for spelling bluebird on this magnetic bird shaped board. Add a picture of a bluebird with magnet attached and the word bluebird. Children unscramble the word.

Variation: Unscramble the sentence.

BIRD FIELD GUIDES 

The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley

The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley

David Allen Sibley, America's most gifted contempo more...1 point

The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (A Stokes Backyard Nature Book) by Donald W. Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes

The Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds (A Stokes Backyard Nature Book) by Donald W. Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes

The best book on bluebirds! Attract the "blue more...1 point

The Bird Lover's Backyard Handbook: Attracting, Nesting, Feeding by Jan Mahnken, Hugh Wiberg, Rene Laubach, Christyna Laubach

The Bird Lover's Backyard Handbook: Attracting, Nesting, Feeding by Jan Mahnken, Hugh Wiberg, Rene Laubach, Christyna Laubach

The bird lover can attract hummingbirds to the gar more...1 point

Birds (Fandex Family Field Guides) by Michael W. Robbins

Birds (Fandex Family Field Guides) by Michael W. Robbins

Bringing the world of Birds to your fingertips, Fa more...1 point

Birds of Oregon by Roger Burrows, Jeff Gilligan, Ted Nordhagen (illustrator)

Birds of Oregon by Roger Burrows, Jeff Gilligan, Ted Nordhagen (illustrator)

Too bad it's limited to Oregon birds, because I fo more...1 point

Scientific Birds 

Bird Navigation
Scientists now believe that birds have navigational systems nearly as sophisticated as those of commercial airlines.

Background For Teachers:
Birds are a group of animals with very specific characteristics. They are warm blooded, have feathers and hollow bones, and lay eggs. All birds have wings, but not all birds fly. They all have beaks, but each type of bird has a different type of beak, depending on the kind of food it eats.

Science Table

SCIENCE TABLE: Collect feathers, egg shells, nests, seeds, etc. Have a cage of parakeets or finches nearby. Magnifying glass, tweezers, nutcracker, lab coat, safety goggles, etc. for examining the collection. Field guides such as "The Sibley Guide to Birds" by David Allen Sibley should be handy. Record your observations.

Dissect a Chicken

OPERATING ROOM: With the teacher or an experienced parent volunteer, dissect a chicken, turkey, and a quail. Check for skin, where feathers attach, muscles, fat, bone structure, etc. Move the wings and see how the ligaments hold the bones together. -Dissect chicken, duck, emu, and quail eggs.
-Dissect a rabbit and any other animal you can acquire. How about clams, muscles, fish, snails, lobster, shrimp...

Classroom AviaryClassroom AquariumClass HamsterClass Vivarium
CLASSROOM ZOO: Compare the birds to the fish in your Aquarium, your hamster, butterfly, frog and turtle. What do they have in common? How are they alike? Record your observations.

Jar of Dirt

SOIL SCIENCE: Go on a walk and collect samples of soils in different habitats. (meadow, riverbank, forest, etc) Store these samples in labeled baby food jars. At the Science Table open each one and smell, observe, touch, and rub some between your fingers to hear the similarities and differences.(Do not taste them.) Draw pictures of your observations. If they are dry try adding water with eyedroppers. Observe and record the differences. How do the different soils effect the types of vegetation growing in the different habitats and how does this in turn effect the types of animals living there.

Raising Baby Chicks 

Bluebird Meadow 

Turn your Classroom into a Meadow for the Bluebirds

BLUEBIRDS nest in small cavities in lone trees or fence posts on the edge of fields. The fields are full of many different types of grasses and wildflowers as well as insects, snakes, and other birds. (Look in my other lenses for ideas on how to add trees and water to your room.)

FLANNEL BOARD:Set up a Flannel Board with a meadow scene (see below). Add plants and animals from the meadow.

More variety can be added by cutting out pictures and gluing them onto scraps of flannel. These pictures can have words written on them.

Words such as AND, THE, IS, can also be glued to the flannel for writing sentences.

RICE TABLE MEADOW: Surprise your little bluebirds by dumping a bag of potting soil into the rice table. Give them some birdseed and a little water to sprinkle to make streams run through. Add Playmobile figures or other little plastic animals, small twigs, etc. and let them make up stories as they go.

Keep a cover on it whenever it's not in use. In a few days they will be surprised when the seeds sprout and start to grow. Record this growth on a chart nearby.

PLANTS: Grasses grow easily in shallow containers.

Put 1-2 inches of soil in 13X9 baking pans. Children can scatter birdseed, grass seed, or collect seeds from plants found on walks. Add some wild flower seeds. When you go on walks look for varieties you haven't seen before. Keep notes in your journal.

FEEDING STATION: Set up bird feeders outside near the window. See The Bird Lover's Backyard Handbook: Attracting, Nesting, Feeding by Jan Mahnken.

Write a recipe for suet in the cooking center and have children make and replace the suet as needed. Measure and record the amounts of different kinds of seeds eaten by birds daily.

Put binoculars and pith helmets in the loft of the tree (see River Otters Unit Study lens) and record your observations of the birds at the feeder.

Join the Kindergarten Class from the Here Birdy, Birdy Kindergarten Telecollaborative Project in recording the birds at your feeder at Calendar Time. (See link below)

FLANNELBOARD MEADOW 

and the science of Grass

Meadow - Sky Flannelboards
Note: A Mounted flannelboard is adhered to two sheets of heavy guage cardboard backing. The Large & Medium fold in half and the Small includes a cardboard tabletop stand that pops out of the back. Unmounted flannelboards are do-it-yourself, where you need to mount it with your own material or use it as a loose sheet of fabric.

All of our flannelboards are made with high quality 100% polyester felt.
How Grass Works
At the base of the grass plant, roots grow down into the earth. Typically, grass roots are fibrous, or threadlike. They extend into the soil like fingers, collecting nutrients, soaking up water and securing the plant to the ground. (Click on link to see the whole article by Tom Harris)

Other Animals that Share the Meadow with the Bluebirds 

Bluebirds in Flight 

BIRDS ALL AROUND: Put plush birds by Wild Republic (See below) in the tree and a bluebird on a post out in the open.

During circle time put several of these birds in a sack. Squeeze one at a time and have them guess which one it is from the call.

In the listening center play CD's of Bird Calls (See Below)

FLYING BIRDS: Ask parent volunteers to help you make the Bird Mobiles by Anne Wild (see below). Read about each type of bird as you hang them up. Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Birds by Jim Arnosky (see below) has beautiful illustrations and easily captures children's attention.

Bluebird Photos 

Capture Bluebirds on Film

Have a digital camera available near the window so that children can take pictures of the birds they see. Now that digital cameras have become available it is possible to allow children to take as many pictures as they like.

Download the pictures onto your computer and let the children use them to illustrate books about the bluebirds and other birds they see and learn about.

 by a little tune

angel of happiness by a little tune

angel of happiness

bluebirds46 by undrwaterfriend

bluebirds46

bluebirds53 by undrwaterfriend

bluebirds53

bluebirds51 by undrwaterfriend

bluebirds51

Bluebird Picture Books 

Picture Books about Bluebirds and other birds to Read Aloud

As you read each book, come back and vote it up or down. The little green arrow will help you keep track of the stories that you and your children liked best.

If you know of any other bluebird tales, please add them to the list so that others may enjoy them as well.

Leaving the Nest by Mordicai Gerstein

Leaving the Nest by Mordicai Gerstein

Book DescriptionWhat do a baby blue jay, a kitten, more...2 points

Building Bluebird Houses 

How to Build a Bluebird House

At the time that Thornton Burgess wrote about Winsome Bluebird and Welcome Robin, bluebirds were common. With habitat loss, pollution and the introduction of the English Sparrow, Bluebirds have become quite scarce.

Some children would love to learn
how to build a bluebird house. One year we visited a local farmer and bluebird enthusiast who took the time to show the children how to make bluebird houses. We now have several along the fenceline of our meadow.

All About Bluebirds 

Bluebirds
The Bluebird Box
FAQ's, articles and photo gallery about bluebirds and bluebird boxes.

LINKS TO GAMES 

Bird Flash Cards
Flash My Brain
Create and print out your own flashcards.

Flash My Brain allows you to create and save your own sets, play more games, save and view your study progress, print in a variety of formats, generate iPod flashcards, and access 100,000s more flash cards. You can manage flash card decks, splitting and combining them, and you can even import flash cards from CSV files and other formats.

All you need to get started is a net-connected computer that can run Flash Player 8. Flash My Brain is Net-powered software which means you can use it at school, work, or home.
Counting Birds Wall Cards
Beautifully printed 8 x 10 wall cards feature Cardinals, Hummingbirds, Wrens, Sparrows and everybody's favorite digits: 1 thru 10. Heavy card stock. Display on shelves or tack to wall. Suitable for framing. Attractively gift packaged in an illustrated box with ribbon.

Birds in the Trees 

A Cooperative Game for Little Bluebirds

In this variation on Musical Chairs there are no losers; everyone gets to play.

1. Talk with the children about protection. Trees form a shelter for birds in a storm.

Bluebirds seeking Shelter

2.In this game some children will be trees and others will be bluebirds. When the music plays it is sunny and the birds fly through the trees. When the music stops, it signifies the calm before the storm when all the birds need to seek shelter under the trees.

Children playing

3. After each round a tree becomes a bird until all the trees become birds and the teacher is the last tree.

The Peaceful Classroom: 162 Easy Activities to Teach Preschoolers Compassion and Cooperation

Amazon Price: $14.92 (as of 07/05/2009) Buy Now

Edible Bird Nests 

Edible Bird Nests

While birds are busy outdoors building nests and starting new families, you and your students can create edible nests in the classroom.

Heat one container of chocolate frosting in a saucepan. (It liquefies when heated.) Then add 1 bag chinese noodles. Blob the mixture onto wax paper and have kids "form" nests using plastic spoons. Use jelly beans for eggs. Nest hardens as it cools.

By Sherri Mcwhorter

Label the Bluebird 

Label the Bird

LABEL THE PARTS OF THE BLUEBIRD: Attach a large picture of a bluebird to a magnetic board or tray. Use magnet words or cards with magnet strips attached to label the parts of the bird. Have a Bird Field Guide handy.

Chickens Aren't The Only Ones 

Alligator Eggs

Oviparous

Oviparous Animals
When studying birds I like to diverge a little and learn about all the other oviparous animals, animals that lay eggs. Quail eggs, duck eggs and emu eggs can often be found to bring in to class. I like to put them into a paper sack and ply 20 Questions with the children so they can guess what I have brought in. The questions can only be answered with a yes or no. This develops a lot of excitement and anticipation. We then estimate the circumference and weight and then check our estimates with a tape measure and scales. Each of the children gets to hold the eggs and then we disect them very carefully looking at the membrane, the yolk and the white parts.

We brainstorm all of the animals that we can think of that lay eggs and then I read "Chickens Aren't the Only Ones".

Mrs. Flanagan has more great Oviparous ideas.

Snail Eggs
Last year we went on a field trip to the Everglades during nesting season. There was a Great Blue Heron nest right beside the Visitor's Center. Many Anhingas were nesting in trees along the path and we found the eggs of the Pondapple Snail in a sinkhole along the path.

Did You Ever See An Egg?
Sung to: "Did You Ever See a Lassie?"

Did you ever see an egg and think what was inside it?
Did you ever see an egg and think what was inside?
It could be a chick, or a fish, or a lizard.
Did you ever see an egg and think what was inside?

For next verse, substitute other oviparous
animals in place of chick, fish, and lizard.

Eggs
Lots of animals come from eggs
Some with fins
And some with legs.

Some that chatter
And some that cheep
Some that fly
And some that creep.

Eggs
Some that slither
And some that run
Some with feathers
And some with none.

Animal eggs can be quite small
Or just as big as a tennis ball.

The animals here
They're quite a few
Hatch from eggs
And lay them, too.

Mrs. Pohlmeyer has lots more Oviparous ideas too.

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones (World of Nature Series)

Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 07/05/2009) Buy Now

Educational Games and Toys to Learn More About Bluebirds 

The Great North American Bird Watching Trivia Board Game

Birders everywhere, its time to drop your binocula more...2 points

Birds of Prey Standard Poker Playing Card Deck featuring Owl, Hawk, Eagle, and many more

This exquisite pack of playing cards shows 54 diff more...2 points

Window Bird Feeder

Children can watch and learn about our feathered f more...2 points

MCNAUGHTON SODA BOTTLE HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER

MCNAUGHTON SODA BOTTLE HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER Recycle more...2 points

Breezy Singer Eastern Bluebird

This bird will enlighten, amuse, educate and fasci more...2 points

Bird Lover Magnetic Poetry

Whether you occasionally watch birds in the backya more...2 points

Scramble Squares: North American Birds

Unscramble the nine 4 X 4 square pieces by perfect more...2 points

ANIMAL AND BIRD TRACKS KNOWLEDGE CARDS

Close observation of our surroundings is one of th more...2 points

Magnetic KidUSA State Birds

Our staff artist, Judy Richardson, hand-painted th more...2 points

Sea Birds Chessmen

The perfect gift for all you wildlife lovers! Feel more...2 points

Sea Birds Chess Set

Chess is not just any old game. It is one of the m more...2 points

Birds of Summer

A Co-operative Card GameTM.<br /&am more...2 points

Set of 9 Birds-Pre-Cut Feltboard Figure Set

"The Color Birds Flannelboard les more...2 points

ELEMENTARY SCIENCE: BIRDS CLEVER CATCH BALL

This Clever Catch® is one of the new additions to more...2 points

Large Farm Figures Set w/Meadow/Sky Flannelboard - Kit

"This Farm Flannelboard activity less more...2 points

Bird Games on eBay 

These are games that would make great Learning Centers or games to be included in Literacy Bags.

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Birds of a Feather Draw Together 

Bluebird Art

DRAWING: Children can use their talents to illustrate journals, books, posters, etc. It also helps them to develop better fine motor skills for handwriting. (see list below)

ART CENTER: Besides having lots of paper, writing utensils and craft supplies, provide a basket or shelf of books on how to draw. Find step-by-step directions for drawing bluebirds and post them above the art table. Keep a 3-ring binder with simular directions of other animals. Laminating them will not only make them last longer but allow your young artists to trace over the examples with dry erase markers.

DRAWING BLUEBIRDS: Birds are fun to see flitting through the sky, digging up worms, sitting on branches--and they are fun to draw. To make a red bird, all you need are two red triangles, one orange triangle, a red circle, a red C, an eye dot and a few simple lines for legs and feet. Change the reds to blue and you've got a bluebird. Change them to brown to make a robin. It's magic! (See picture) http://www.greenwoodfirstumc.org/child_draw_fun.htm

How to draw Bluebirds 

Books about Drawing

Origami Bluebird 

Make your own Bluebird

Check out these step-by-step instructions on how to make
origami bluebirds. Origami bluebirds would be nice hanging from the ceiling as if they looking for insects. I like to hang them using thread and watch them move around in the breeze from an open window, fan or heat duct.

Online Bird and Word Matching Game 

Birds of a Feather

Match the bird to it's shadow and then match it's name to the bird.
Birds of a Feather
Budding naturalists can have fun with abstract shapes and life sciences by playing games like Bird Watcher. Kids delight in matching the birds to their silhouettes and habitats.

Listen to the Bluebirds 

Keep them learning all the time.

Put a CD player in the bathroom on continuous play. Play CD's of bird calls.

This idea actually came from reading "Cheaper by the Dozen" which is a wonderfully funny look at teaching and learning. Father didn't allow any wasting of time so he had the children listen to French and German Language Learning records in the bathroom as they brushed their teeth etc. (Don't watch the movie. It has no relation to this wonderful book.)

Learn Bird Calls 

Can you recognize a bluebird just from it's call?

The Bird Song Identiflyer just might revolutionize the learning of bird songs! -- - Plays digitally recorded bird songs. -- - Identify bird songs at the press of a button -- - Instant audio recognition right at your fingertips -- Listen to the call of the bird of your choice any time you want any where you want with just the touch of a button.

Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song

Amazon Price: $31.50 (as of 07/05/2009) Buy Now

Bird Song Identiflyer

Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 07/05/2009) Buy Now

"Here Comes a Bluebird": A Bluebird Song and Dance Game 

To PLAY the game

"Here Comes a Bluebird"
1. Choose a "Bluebird."

2. The rest of the class joins hands in a circle, holding hands high.

3. Children sing the song as the "Bluebird" weaves in and out
of the "windows of the upraised arms of the children in the circle.

4. On the words "Pick a Little Partner," the "bluebird" takes the nearest child out of the circle, joining both hands with the new partner and hopping into the centre of the circle with the partner.

5. The two children drop hands, and begin the game again, now with the partners becoming two "bluebirds." The circle rejoins hands and repeats the song. Both "bluebirds" now picking partners.

6. Continue repeating the song, accumulating "Bluebirds" until there is no circle left!

http://www.musickit.com/resources/bluebird.html

Music, Song and Dance 

Bird Costume Bird Costume
Bluebird Song and Dance
Go to this link to listen to the song, read the words, see the musical score and read directions to the dance.
Bluebird Costume
Click here to see bluebird costumes for sale.

Bluebird Songs 

Bluebird Poetry

Over in the meadow,
In the sand in the sun,
Lived an old mother toadie,
And her little toadie one,
"Wink!" said the mother;
"I wink!" said the one,
So they winked and they blinked,
In the sand in the sun.
Over in the meadow,
Where the stream runs blue,
Lived an old mother fish,
And her little fishes two,
"Swim!" said the mother;
"We swim!" said the two,
So they swam and they leaped,
Where the stream runs blue.

Bluebird
Over in the meadow,
In a hole in a tree,
Lived an old mother bluebird,
And her little birdies three,
"Sing!" said the mother;
"We sing!" said the three,
So they sang and were glad,
In a hole in the tree.

Over in the meadow,
In the reeds on the shore,
Lived an old mother muskrat,
And her little ratties four,
"Dive!" said the mother;
"We dive!" said the four,
So they dived and they burrowed,
In the reeds on the shore.

Beehive
Over in the meadow,
In a snug beehive,
Lived a mother honey bee,
And her little bees five,
"Buzz!" said the mother;
"We buzz!" said the five,
So they buzzed and they hummed,
In the snug beehive.

Over in the meadow,
In a nest built of sticks,
Lived a black mother crow,
And her little crows six,
"Caw!" said the mother;
"We caw!" said the six,
So they cawed and they called,
In their nest built of sticks.

Cricket
Over in the meadow,
Where the grass is so even,
Lived a gay mother cricket,
And her little crickets seven,
"Chirp!" said the mother;
"We chirp!" said the seven,
So they chirped cheery notes,
In the grass soft and even.

Over in the meadow,
By the old mossy gate,
Lived a brown mother lizard,
And her little lizards eight,
"Bask!" said the mother;
"We bask!" said the eight,
So they basked in the sun,
On the old mossy gate.

Frog
Over in the meadow,
Where the quiet pools shine,
Lived a green mother frog,
And her little froggies nine,
"Croak!" said the mother;
"We croak!" said the nine,
So they croaked and they splashed,
Where the quiet pools shine.

Over in the meadow,
In a sly little den,
Lived a gray mother spider,
And her little spiders ten,
"Spin!" said the mother;
"We spin!" said the ten,
So they spun lacy webs,
In their sly little den.

http://www.ongoing-tales.com/SERIALS/oldtime/POETRY/meadow.html

FIVE LITTLE BLUEBIRDS
(Can be sung to Two Little Dickie Birds)

Five little bluebirds, hopping by my door
One went to build a nest, and then there were four.
Four little bluebirds singing lustily
One got out of tune, and then there were three
Three little bluebirds, and what should one do,
But go in search of dinner, leaving only two.
Two little bluebirds singing just for fun
One flew away, and then there was one.
One little bluebird sitting in the sun
He took a little nap, and then there was none.
- Children's Nursery Rhyme

BLUEBIRD WINTER
In summer, juicy insects crawl
On leaves and through the grass.
I feast on bugs until late fall
Then catch them less and less.
Soon winter comes with snow and ice
And winds all in a flurry.
The bugs are gone, but in their place,
a berry February!
--Mariam Kirby

http://www.sialis.org/children.htm

Links to Classroom Activity Sites 

Bluebird Game
Children's Bluebirdy Activities
Classroom resources about bluebirds.

Bluebell and Bluebird 

by Margo Fallis

Bluebell, the fairy, sat on the branch of a willow tree. Its long, leafy limbs reached to the ground as if it was trying to push itself up. Sitting on the branch next to her was a bird's nest. Lying inside, on top of bits of twigs, string, and leaves, was a bluebird. His feathers were a little darker than Bluebell's dress and wings. He had a bright yellow beak that twinkled when the sun shone on it. Bluebell sighed, "I'm much too bored, Bluebird. Take me for a flight around Periwinkle Glen, so I may see all the glorious flowers."

Bluebird whistled a pretty tune as the fairy climbed on his back. He flew out of the nest, through the leaves and branches of the willow tree, into the clear blue sky. "Wheee," shouted the fairy. Her pale blue wings were fluttering back and forth as the wind blew against them. "I can see the whole glen from here," she laughed. Bluebird tipped to the side and then back over to the other side. He flew straight up into the air and then flew back down towards the ground. "Wheee," Bluebell cheered. They were having so much fun flying around the glen that Bluebird wasn't paying as much attention as he should and the next time he tipped to the side, he bumped right into an old oak tree, knocking Bluebell to the ground. She landed with a thud on one of the oak tree's roots. The bird circled around in the air and flew back, trying to find the fairy. He looked, but couldn't see her anywhere.

Bluebell stood up and brushed the dirt off her dress and wings. Her long, reddish-brown hair was filled with broken twigs, and bits of leaves and bark. She picked them out and tossed them to the ground. "Where am I?" she wondered, looking around. She'd never been to this part of Periwinkle Glen before. "Where's Bluebird?" She looked up into the tree and then around in the tall grass, but she couldn't see him. "It's very pretty here," she thought, and started walking about. "Look at the violets and buttercup." She stuck her nose into them and took a deep breath, covering it with bright orange pollen.

Just then she heard the sound of wings fluttering. It was Bluebird. "Come and smell the flowers," she called to her friend, who chirped and whistled. He landed next to her and stuck his beak into a few of the flowers. Bluebell started to laugh. "Look at your beak. It's covered with orange pollen too."

As Bluebell wiped the pollen off with a violet petal, Bluebird spotted something wiggling in the grass a few feet away. His eyes lit up and he tiptoed silently towards it. There sat a plump, juicy worm. Bluebird grabbed it in his beak and gobbled it down. When he finished, he rubbed his tummy and hopped back over to Bluebell. She was standing very still and in the palm of her hand was a ladybug with big black spot. "Look, Bluebird. It's a ladybug." She reached over and rubbed its soft head. Its long antenna tickled her face and she started to laugh. When the ladybug saw Bluebird, it opened its red wings and flew off, afraid it might be eaten.

The fairy climbed onto Bluebird's back. "Take me back to the willow tree," she said. Bluebird flew into the sky. "Wheee," shouted Bluebell. She held on tightly to Bluebird's feathers and looked down at Periwinkle Glen. "I see bright red tulips, and daffodils that are the color of honey. I can see yellow roses with pink centers and lots of big bumblebees. Oh, Bluebird, look at the mushrooms with umbrella caps and snails with shells," she called out.

Bluebird landed on the branch near his nest. The fairy climbed off and sat down on the branch. "We live in a lovely glen, don't we?" she asked and Bluebird whistled a pretty little tune

http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/stories/fairy2.htm

Remembering Bluebell Woods 

That most lovely of all wildflowers, Ms Bluebell, is starting to push her beautiful head upward and spring into life.

When I was a little girl, there was a place called Bluebell Woods. I would spend many enchantingly happy hours in Bluebell Woods. I was a very wistful little girl and the carpet of Bluebells in the shade of the trees was my favourite place to be. I would read up on the folklore that is said to surround Bluebells and I would create my very own fantasies involving fairies and witches. Many of my dreams were thought up within those trees and the flowers knew all my deepest desires and wishes.

And in Springtime, our house was abundant with the pretty flowers. I would pick handfuls, carry them home by the bundles and proudly present them to my mum who would always gasp with delight and promptly retrieve her assortment of vases and jars to display them in.

Of course, the Bluebell is now a protected wildflower and it is, quite rightly, illegal to uproot a bulb or damage the flower. Bluebells grow in ancient woodland and are a vital part of the eco-system. It's also vital therefore to prevent our woodlands from disappearing because they are the perfect habitat for Bluebells.

So, if you come across these vibrant and colourful flowers when you're out walking, absorb and enjoy their simple beauty. But leave them be. T'would not do to damage them. And, if ye are to believe the folklore, it certainly wouldn't do to happen upon a chiming Bluebell.
http://earthpal.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/remembering-bluebell-woods/

Bluebird Costumes 

Bluebird Costume

As Fancy Nancy says, every day is a great day to dress up. Here are some inspiring bluebird costumes.
Sleeping Beauty Bluebird Costume
Sleeping Beauty Bluebird Costume
FamilyFun: Crafts - and More Family Fun
Bluebird Costume
Classical Ballet Tutus
Made to measure professional quality classical ballet tutus for competitions, festivals and performances. Bespoke, elaborately decorated Princess Florine tutu for the Bluebird Pas de deux with professional standard bluebird headdress.

Sleeping Beauty Bluebird Costume
Boy in Bluebird Costume
Boy in Bluebird Costume

Links to Stories about Bluebirds 

Bluebell and Bluebird by Margo Fallis
A story of a bluebird and a fairy. (see above)
Remembering Bluebell Woods
See the story above.
Bluebirds at the National Elk Refuge (Pixel remix: the Ann-alog)
A series of bluebird nesting boxes can be seen along the boundary of the National Elk Refuge between Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park.

Bluebirds and the Writing Process 

Write a story about Bluebirds

Now that you have learned so much about Bluebirds it's time to write your own story.
Make Your Own Story
Most educators now use the Writing Process to teach children how to write. Children learn to write by focusing on the process of creating writing rather than the end product. When writing, students utilize the stages of the writing process which include prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Prewriting is the planning and idea-gathering stage. Drafting refers to time spent composing a rough draft. Revising is the process of improving the draft. Students reread their work and share it with a partner or small group; they then make changes in the writing based on the feedback from their peers. Editing is the process of correcting mechanical errors. Publishing is done when the work is in final form and ready to be shared. (Information gathered from North Central Regional Educational Laboratory)

Once the children have taken a story through these stages they are ready for publishing and "IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit" makes publishing simple. To publish the child simply uses the markers and special book pages included in the kit or the book can be made entirely online using Internet drawing and writing tools. The completed story pages are mailed in the postage paid envelope provided. In just a few short weeks you'll receive back a professionally typeset, hardbound book even includes a title, dedication page and "About the Author" biography page to give it a truly professional touch, ready to display in your classroom library and sturdy enough for the school library. At the end of the year parents will want it to proudly display on their coffee tables.

IlluStory is a multi-award winning activity kit and perennial best seller because few products, if any, can build as much self esteem and excitement for reading and writing. The quality of the finished book is a tremendous value and rewards any level of effort. Extra books can be ordered and are the ultimate gift for family and friends, especially since each can be separately dedicated to the recipient. Ages 5 and up.

IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit

Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 07/05/2009) Buy Now

More Bird Ideas 

Bluebirds
Real Learning: Education in the Heart of My Home
Check out the beautiful garden, bird feeding station, links and homeschooling ideas.

Teaching about Birds 

Teaching about Birds

In the fall, bluebirds shift their diet largely to fruit. A few of their favorites are dogwood, viburnums, American bittersweet, American honeysuckle, and the humble pokeweed.

Bluebird House on eBay 

Bluebird House

Mount a bluebird house or a series of them along the fenceline of a field and you encourage these beautiful birds to choose your neighborhood to raise their young.

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eBay

Bird Watching in the Woods 

A Walk in the WoodsA Walk in the Woods

There is a new group being formed in Squidooville. It's called A Walk in the Woods. Whitefoot the Wood Mouse is inviting you to join him there. If you are a member of Squidoo and you may join the group. The exposure that your lens gets by joining will boost your lens rank and add to the number of web pages linking back to your lens. If you are not yet a member of Squidoo you can still come over and read about those who are. Come take A Walk in the Woods.

Unit Studies to learn about Birds 

Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog 

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Bluebirds on our Farm 

Learn more about the Farm where our Bluebirds Live

We mount bluebird houses on the fence that Garner Rix built. The woodchucks look out from the barn where the hay is stored and see the bluebirds flying overhead. Sometimes the bluebirds land in the apple trees that Garner Rix planted.

The Bluebirds are in the Four Wheeler's Online Unit Study Directory 

The Four Wheelers Internet Directory of Unit Studies

Thank you to the Four Wheelers for including
Bluebirds of the Meadow
in their Online Unit Study Directory.
Internet Directory of Unit Studies
The Four Wheelers Internet Directory of Unit Studies contains a list, roughly arranged by subject, of links to unit studies that are published on the Internet.

Do you feed the birds? Have any of these ideas intriged you? 

Please let my know by leaving a comment here. Tell me about your favorite animal or teaching idea. Don't forget the stars at the top and if you lensroll this page or add it to your favorites please let me know so that I can reciprocate.

Heather426 wrote...

Evelyn, you always give so much and your lenses are all beautiful! 5* and favorite, lensroll

ReplyPosted May 23, 2009

marsha32 wrote...

a very sweet, neat and comprehensive lens!

ReplyPosted March 09, 2009

Redrod wrote...

I really like your Lens! 5* in my book.

ReplyPosted March 09, 2009

Lensmaster

G.L.Freeman wrote

Hey Evelyn -
Love this page!
Here's an article on my green-talk blog and wondered what you thought about it.
here's the link: http://greentalk2.ning.com/profiles/blogs/artificial-cavities-a-personal

Reply Posted March 09, 2009

HorseAndPony wrote...

Wow! What great ideas. You are a 5* for us. Welcome to the Backyard Birding group.

ReplyPosted February 16, 2009

 
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About the Author of this Lens 

Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.

Bluebird House

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I have a bluebird house on the fence looking out at the field. Some years bluebirds nest there.

Check out what else I'm doing:

Come Visit the Bluebirds in Vermont 

Come Visit Vermont

Driving in Vermont

Photo Credit: Vermont Dirt Road
on Flickr, Creative Commons.

Drive the scenic roads of Vermont North and South on Route 100. Then travel east and west over Lincoln Gap and come back over Appalachian Gap. Take the dirt roads where the trees still grow over the road forming a green canopy. And when you are done come back to Callenbeck B&B for the night.

The Bluebirds are on the Isle of Squid 

The Best Squidoo Lenses

The Isle of Squid
Bluebirds: Classroom Meadow Theme is now featured at the new Isle of Squid website. Isle Of Squid is a directory of the best lenses on Squidoo.com.

Check out Isle Of Squid and Review This Site.

 

by Evelyn_Saenz

My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that lea... (more)

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