Unit 2: Lesson 1 Grade Level: 1st

Central Focus Building Research Skills: Birds Feathers and Beaks

1W7: Recall and represent relevant information from experiences or

gather information from provided sources to answer a question in a
variety of ways.
Standard
1SL1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse peers
and adults (e.g., in small and large groups and during play).

Learning Students will be able to closely view pictures to gather information

Objective about bird beaks and feathers.

“Mystery Bird Body Parts” Riddle, Flight School by Lita Judge, What
Materials Researchers Do anchor chart, Close Viewing Protocol anchor chart,
Beak Pictures, Feather pictures, Birds Research notebook

The purpose of learning how to closely observe pictures of beaks

Purpose
and feathers is to help students gather information about these birds
special body parts so that they can be researchers.
Opening (~10 minutes):
Tell students that the class has received a mysterious riddle that
they will have to work together to solve. Tell students that just like
detectives, they must listen closely for clues in the riddle to help us
solve it. If students are unsure what a riddle is tell them it’s like a
mystery that they have to solve.

“Mystery Birds Body Parts”

We are birds.
We have unique body parts that help us survive.
Instruction One of our body parts can be soft and fluffy; it can be vibrant and
full of color.
These parts help some of us fly and others of us float on the water.
Another body part of ours can be light or mighty; it can be tiny or
massive, straight or curved.
They help some of us crush, build, scoop, and pull.
What are these special body parts?

Display the first two sentences of the riddle and have students listen
closely to it. Define body parts as a part or section of a human or
animal body and survive as to continue to live or grow. Slowly
reveal and read the next two sentences. Have students turn and
talk: What is something that is soft and fluffy? What is something
that is vibrant or full of color? Then, have one to two partners share
their responses. [Students should say that something that is soft
and fluffy and vibrant is feathers.]

Read and reveal the next two sentences and ask: What is another
word for mighty? What is something tiny? Massive? [Students
should respond by saying mighty=strong, and state something tiny
like a pebble and boulder for something massive.] Read the
remainder of the riddle and ask students to quietly give a thumbs up
if they know who and what the riddle is talking about. Tell students
that they will share their answers aloud together. Students should
guess that feathers and beaks are the mystery body parts. Ask a
few students to share specific clues from the riddle that helped them
solve it.

Work Time Part A: Read Aloud (~10 minutes):

Display the book Flight School and tell students that this book will
help them begin to learn about how special body parts of birds help
specific birds do different things. Read the book aloud to students
without interruption, reading slowly, fluently, and with expression.
After reading ask students: What will this book mostly about? What
special bird body part was this book about? [Possible response: a
penguin who wants to fly but who is not able to do so without some
special feathers given to him by his friends, feathers.]

Ask students what other special body parts that birds have? And
how do these body parts help them do different things? [Possible
response: 1) beaks, feathers, feet. 2) beaks help them eat; feathers
keep them warm.] Tell students that during this unit they will
investigate two special bird body parts-beaks and feathers- and
research how these parts help birds survive.

Part B: Close Viewing Protocol: Observations about Beaks and

Feathers (~25 minutes):
Tell students that they will now have a chance to look at some
pictures of different types of feathers and beak so that they can
learn more about them. Remind students that in the last unit they
practiced observing pictures and videos to learn about birds. Tell
students they will now use a new protocol called the Close Viewing
protocol to observe pictures of bird beaks and feathers.

Ask: Why do we sometimes observe pictures instead of real-life

specimens? [easier to observe pictures and we can see more
details by looking at a picture.] How does observing pictures help us
 gather important information? [we can see and notice things.] Then
explain the steps of the protocol to students [attached anchor chart
below]. Think aloud to model the protocol. Have students work with
a partner at their table to observe the feather and beak pictures.

Students will work with a partner to complete two close viewings:

one with a set of beak pictures and one with a set of feather
Learning Task pictures. They will complete Observations from Close Viewing
Protocol in their Birds Research Notebook. Students should write
what they noticed about the beak/feather and draw a quick sketch.

Refocus students and tell them they will now share some of their
observations from the close viewing of beaks and feathers. Have
Closing /
students share out their observations. Tell students that throughout
Debrief
this unit, they will continue to closely observe and research birds
special body parts, beaks and feathers.

1. Several Turn and talks during the lesson: What is something

that is soft and fluffy? What is something that is vibrant or full
of color?
Assessments 2. Birds Research Notebook: Observations from Close Viewing
Protocol during their work time.
3. Sharing of their observations from the close viewing at the
end of the lesson to see if students can participate in a
conversation about what they observed.

ELLs: Have students share their observations orally to you, have

sentence starters such as ‘I observed beaks/feathers, I wonder if
beaks/feathers…” During the read aloud of Flight School, read
Differentiation
slowly and make the pictures visible to students.
Students who need additional support: Pair students with a
partner that will support them. Have an example of how to fill out the
observation page in their research notebook displayed.
Academic Body parts, survive, feathers, beaks, researchers, close viewing
Language protocol,