Speaking, and Listening: Making Observations about Birds | EL Education Curriculum

You are here

Home › Our Curriculum › ELA Grade 1 › ELA G1:M3 › ELA G1:M3:U1 ›

ELA G1:M3:U1:L2

Speaking, and Listening: Making Observations about Birds

In this Lesson

You are here:

These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.1.1a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • SL.1.1b: Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
  • W.1.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Download Materials

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can build onto others' ideas while talking about what I know about birds. (SL.1.1, SL.1.1a, SL.1.1b)
  • I can gather facts from different resources to explain what I know about birds. (W.1.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During Work Time B, use the Speaking and Listening Checklist to monitor students' progress toward SL.1.1a and SL.1.1b (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • During the Closing and Assessment B, look at students' Birds Research notebooks to track their progress toward W.1.8.

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Poem and Movement: "Bird Walk" Poem (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Reading Aloud: Just Ducks (10 minutes)

B. Making Observations: Birds (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Shared Writing: Notices and Wonders about Birds (10 minutes)

B. Independent Writing: Launching Birds Research Notebooks (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This lesson connects to Next Generation Science Standard 1-LS3-1. During Work Time B, students continue to focus on the following science and engineering practice: Make observations (firsthand or from media) to construct an evidence-based account for natural phenomena. Encourage students to use evidence from the videos and photographs as they share their observations. Also, during Closing B, students begin to think about the following disciplinary core idea: Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways.
  • Continue to nurture an inquiry-rich classroom environment by inviting students to observe and ask questions about birds as they look at photographs and watch videos during Work Time B.
  • During Work Time B, students engage in an observation activity with bird photographs and videos. Providing engaging experiences coupled with opportunities to speak, draw, and write about those experiences honors young learners' natural curiosity while building their language skills.
  • This lesson is the second in a series of three that include built-out instruction for the use of Goal 4 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation (adapted from Michaels, Sarah and O'Connor, Cathy. Talk Science Primer. Cambridge, MA: TERC, 2012. Based on Chapin, S., O'Connor, C., and Anderson, N. [2009]. Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn, Grades K-6. Second Edition. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications). Goal 4 Conversation Cues encourage students to think with other students to expand the conversation. Continue drawing on Goal 1-3 Conversation Cues, introduced in Modules 1-2, and add Goal 4 Conversation Cues throughout Modules 3-4 to more strategically promote productive and equitable conversation. Refer to the Tools page for additional information on Conversation Cues. Consider providing students with a thinking journal or scrap paper.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • Students began to learn about adjectives in Module 2. In this lesson, they continue to practice identifying them as they build toward distinguishing shades of meaning of adjectives in future lessons in the unit.
  • This lesson follows a similar routine to Lesson 1 as students listen to a read-aloud of text about birds, engage in small group observations, and share their thinking about the unit guiding question.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may need support and reminders as they practice building on others' thoughts during the conversation in Work Time B.

Down the road:

  • This lesson introduces the engagement text, Just Ducks, by Nicola Davies. Students will revisit this text in Lessons 3-8 as they begin to learn about specific bird body parts.
  • In this lesson, students begin to use their Birds Research notebook by completing page 1. Students will continue to use their Birds Research notebook throughout the unit, so consider finding an opportunity for students to create a cover for the front of their notebook as well as develop a storage system so students can access their notebooks independently and efficiently.

In Advance

  • Prepare the technology necessary to play the bird video links in Work Time B. If possible, set up three or four computers with the videos so students may watch them in small groups. If multiple computers are not available, set up one computer with a projector to show the videos to half the class.
  • Prepare Bird Word Wall cards for the words beak, feather and wing.
  • Pre-distribute Materials for Work Time B at workspaces.
  • Strategically group students for small group work during Work Time B. Divide the class in half (one group will visit the Bird Photographs observation station and the other half will visit the Birds Videos station). Consider breaking these larger groups into groups of four to five students each.
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1 and 2 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.
  • Work Time B: Students will need access to the bird videos on the following website: "Cornell Lab FeederWatch." All About Birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 28 Nov. 2016

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 1.I.A.1, 1.I.A.3, 1.I.B.5, 1.I.C.9, 1.I.C.10, and 1.I.C.11

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs through opportunities to learn language through poetry and movement, opportunities to engage in activities that foster inquiry, and through participating in structured discussions.
  • ELLs may find the work with shades of meaning challenging, particularly if they do not know the meaning of the words being presented (see "Levels of support" and the Meeting Students' Needs column).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • During Work Time B, consider inviting an ELL to model what building onto someone's ideas looks like/sounds like, asking the question "What do you think about what I shared?" after they have shared their own idea.

For heavier support:

  • In preparation for the work with shades of meaning in upcoming lessons, consider circling the adjectives in each stanza in the same color to bring students' attention to the idea that the two adjectives in the stanza describe the same bird the dad and the kid are looking at (e.g., pretty and gorgeous refer to how nice the bird looks).
  • During Closing B, some students might find it challenging to capture their learning about birds in their Birds Research notebook. Provide support by reviewing the Ideas about Birds anchor chart, having students talk about what they want to write about, and/or providing sentence frames for them to practice orally before they write.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, students listen to the poem "Bird Walk." Some students may benefit from having an individual copy of the poem to follow along in near-point as it is read aloud. Support transfer of learning by offering multiple representations of the poem. Consider providing an annotated or illustrated copy of the poem for students as support for information processing strategy development and comprehension.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): Support students' ability to appropriately express knowledge about the content by varying the options for composition and communication. Match students' abilities and the demands of the independent writing task by offering alternatives for students to articulate their observations of birds (e.g., offer partial or full dictation as students verbally share their learning about birds).
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During independent writing, some students may need examples of how to problem-solve when they want to write a word with tricky spelling. Emphasize sustained effort and process by modeling how to sound out a word with tricky spelling and demonstrate how to use environmental print to support spelling accuracy.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • beak, feather, wing (L)

Review:

  • adjective, build onto (L)

Materials

  • "Bird Walk" (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Just Ducks (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Bird Experiences anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1; added to during Work Time A)
  • What Researchers Do anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Classroom Discussion Norms anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Ideas about Birds anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Bird video links (from Lesson 1; videos; play in entirety; see Technology and Multimedia)
  • Bird photographs (from Lesson 1; one of each per small group)
  • Index cards (one per student)
  • Pencils (one per student)
  • Bird Word Wall (begun in Lesson 1; added to during the closing)
  • Bird Word Wall cards (new; teacher-created; three)
  • Birds Research notebook (page 1; one for teacher modeling and one per student)
  • Birds Research notebook (answers, for teacher reference)

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Poem and Movement: "Bird Walk" Poem (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Display "Bird Walk."
  • Tell students that this is an echo poem and that they should repeat each line you read.
  • Invite students to chorally read the poem. Encourage them to find the rhythm of the poem by tapping the tops of their knees or the floor with their hands.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What is happening in this poem?" (A kid and his dad are walking in the park.)

  • Reread the first stanza of the poem. Point out the underlined words and ask:

"What type of words are underlined?" (adjectives)

  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is an adjective? Why would we use adjectives?" (a word the describes a person, place or thing; we use them to give details about something or someone.)

  • If productive, use a Goal 4 Conversation Cue to encourage students to compare their ideas:

"How is what _____ said the same as/different from what _____ said? I'll give you time to think." (Responses will vary.)

  • Tell students that they did a wonderful job of finding and using adjectives when learning about the sun and moon, and now they have a chance to find and use some new adjectives.
  • Draw students' attention back to the poem and reread the second stanza aloud as a class.
  • Invite students to whisper a response into their hand:

"Look at the poem and identify one adjective." (little, pretty, gorgeous, big, humongous)

  • Invite students to come to the front and circle the adjectives as time permits.
  • Continue reading aloud each stanza and circling adjectives until the poem is over.
  • Invite students to celebrate their hard work by standing in place and reading the poem aloud.
  • For ELLs: (Reading Chorally) Consider inviting a student to point to each word in the poem as it is read chorally.
  • For ELLs: (Pronouncing Correctly) Invite students to practice pronouncing some of the adjectives in the poem. Have students repeat each syllable, noting the stressed vowel ("hu*MON*gous" "mi*nus*cule").
  • For students who may need additional support with oral language and processing: Continue to allow ample wait time as students share their responses. (MMAE, MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reading Aloud: Just Ducks (10 minutes)

  • Refocus students whole group.
  • Display Just Ducks. Share with students that they can begin to learn about a special type of bird by reading this book. Draw students' attention to the title of the book and read the title aloud.
  • While still displaying the text, complete a first read of the text, reading slowly, fluently, with expression, and without interruption.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What was this book mostly about?" (a little girl who watches ducks)

"What is the word for duck in your home language?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Invite students to share the sounds a duck makes.
  • Ask for volunteers to share:

"Has anyone ever seen a duck? What did it look like? What was it doing?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Follow the same routine from Work Time A of Lesson 1 to ask students what they think about ducks and if anyone they know has had experiences with them and to capture their thinking on the Bird Experiences anchor chart.
  • Tell students that they will reread sections of Just Ducks in future lessons as they learn about specific bird body parts.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with text structure: (Using Text Features: Print) Students may find it challenging to understand what kind of text feature the smaller print in the text Just Ducks is since the book looks more like a story. Bring to students' attention to the text and how the larger font carries the story and the smaller font carries the information. (MMR)
  • Continue to provide white boards and dry-erase markers as an option for students to record (in drawing or writing) their ideas. This helps scaffold active listening for key details. (MMR, MMAE)

B. Making Observations: Birds (20 minutes)

  • Tell students that just like in the previous lesson, today they will practice being bird researchers.
  • Direct students' attention to the What Researchers Do anchor chart and briefly review it by asking:

"What did you do in the previous lesson as researchers when you visited the picture or video observation station?" (observed closely, asked questions, discussed ideas with others, recorded observations)

  • Invite students to mime something they are excited to do as a researcher today.
  • Tell students that they have two learning targets to practice while they are at their observation station today.
  • Direct students' attention to the learning targets and read the first one aloud:
    • "I can build onto others' ideas while talking about what I know about birds."
  • Draw students' attention to the Classroom Discussion Norms anchor chart and point to the last norm:

"Respond to others' ideas by adding on or asking questions."

  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What does it mean to build onto someone's ideas?" (listen to what they say; add new or different details)

  • Remind students that yesterday, they discussed their ideas after doing some research in small groups. Tell them they will practice discussing and building onto others' ideas again today.
  • Direct students' attention to the learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can gather facts from different resources to explain what I know about birds."

  • Invite volunteers to explain the target in their own words.
  • Direct students' attention to the Ideas about Birds anchor chart and read aloud the unit guiding question at the top:
    • "What makes a bird a bird?"
  • Read through a couple of responses from the previous day. Encourage students to look for new ideas in their research today.
  • Preview the bird video links and the bird photographs in workstations and remind students of their assigned small groups.
  • Invite students to mimic your bird call to show they are ready to begin working at their observation station.
  • Announce students' assigned small groups and direct them to a designated observation station.
  • Follow the same routine established in Lesson 1 to complete the small group research:
    • Invite students to begin looking at a picture or watching a video.
    • After 3 minutes, focus students' attention with a bird call and lead them through a Turn and Talk about their observations.
    • Remind students that they are practicing building onto others' ideas in today's conversation, so they may also ask their partner, "What do you think about that?" after they have shared their own idea.
    • Focus students' attention with a bird call and repeat this process of observing and discussing with a new picture or video.
    • Distribute index cards and pencils and invite students to draw a picture or write a sentence about something they noticed from their bird research.
    • Give students specific, positive feedback on their ability to build onto others' ideas during the conversation.
  • Invite students to give a partner a high-five to acknowledge their hard work.
  • For ELLs: (Summarizing the Target) For ELLs: Check for comprehension by asking students to summarize and then to personalize the first learning target. Ask:

"Can you put the first learning target in your own words?" (I can listen to what they say, and add new or different ideas.)

"How do you feel about that target?" (It might be a little hard, but it is interesting).

  • For ELLs: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Classroom Discussions) Mode thinking aloud what building onto someone's ideas looks like using the question "What do you think about what I shared?" after they have shared their own idea.
  • For ELLs: (Summarizing the Target) Ask students to summarize and then to personalize the second learning target.
  • For ELLs: (Correcting Errors) As students interact, jot down and share with the class samples of effective communication and one or two common language errors (pervasive, stigmatizing, critical).
  • For students who may need additional support with working memory: Invite them to record their observations (in drawing or writing) while they view the photographs and video. (MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Shared Writing: Notices and Wonders about Birds (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What did you write or draw on your index card?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Use the same routine from Closing and Assessment B of Lesson 1 to capture students' ideas on the Ideas about Birds anchor chart:
    • Ask students to consider what they think makes a bird a bird after observing the pictures and videos today.
    • Invite responses from the group and clarify and capture students' ideas on the anchor chart.
    • Repeat this process with what students wonder about birds.
  • After completing the brainstorm, show students the Bird Word Wall cards for beak (hard part of a bird's mouth), feather (one of the soft, light parts of a bird that grows from their skin and covers the body) and wing (part of the body used for flying) and follow the same process established in Modules 1 and 2: provide its definition, clap out its syllables, use it in a sentence, and place the word wall card and picture for it on the Bird Word Wall.
  • For ELLs: (Using Charts) Before inviting students to share, point to the What Researchers Do anchor chart and remind them that, as researchers, they will share and discuss ideas.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with organizing their thinking for verbal expression: (Using Sentence Frames) Use sentence frames to prompt sharing and discussing and to model standard syntax. Examples:
    • "I observed birds that can _____."
    • "I observed that birds have _____."
    • "I wonder if birds _____."
    • "I wonder why birds _____." (MMAE, MME)

B. Independent Writing: Launching Birds Research Notebooks (10 minutes)

  • Think-Pair-Share:

"Based on your research yesterday and today, what do you think makes a bird a bird?" (Remind students they may share an idea from the Ideas about Birds anchor chart.)

  • If productive, use a Goal 4 Conversation Cue to encourage students to explain why a classmate came up with a particular response:

"Who can explain how your classmate came up with that response?"

  • Invite students to return to their workspaces.
  • Tell students that they will now receive a special researcher's tool: their very own Birds Research notebook.
  • Display the notebook and share that they will use this to capture their learning about birds.
  • Distribute notebooks and invite students to open to page 1, as you do the same on the displayed version.
  • Point out the lines provided and tell students they should write their idea about what makes a bird a bird on these lines.
  • Dismiss students to their workspaces.
  • Circulate to support students as they write. Encourage them to use classroom resources (Word Walls, high-frequency word lists, and alphabet or letter sound combination charts) as necessary. Refer to Birds Research notebook (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • As students finish, encourage them to also write something they wonder on page 1 of their notebook.
  • Review students' Birds Research notebooks to track their progress toward W1.8.
  • At the end of the lesson, invite students to stand up and flap their wings five times in a celebratory bird dance!
  • For ELLs: (Providing Think Time) Before inviting students to share with a partner, consider giving students time to think and process the question. Say:

"I'll give you time to think."

  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with sustained effort: (Writing Complete Sentences) While circulating, support students in writing complete sentences by prompting them to reflect on their work. (Example: "Hmm, this just says wings. Can I learn what you think about birds by just reading that word? What can you tell me about wings? I want to learn more!") (MME)
  • For students who may need additional support with fine motor skills: Continue to vary methods for responses by offering options for writing tools. (MMAE)

Copyright © 2013-2024 by EL Education, New York, NY.

Get updates about our new K-5 curriculum as new materials and tools debut.

Sign Up

Help us improve our curriculum.

Tell us what’s going well, share your concerns and feedback.

Terms of use. To learn more about EL Education, visit eleducation.org

Leave feedback