Blue Jay: A Seed Eater

In our Bird Expedition we began to think about birds in three categories; seed eaters, birds of prey, and water birds. Our first in-depth investigation was on a seed eater; the blue jay.  Students used informational packets with several different texts and drawings about this bird.  We read through them together, discussing facts and determining important information.  Using a graphic organizer we took notes about 6 basic areas; feet, beak, food, habitat, nesting, size and special features.  Second graders have become very good at taking notes!  Another day we spent time analyzing how the design of their beak and feet help them survive.  Did you know that a blue jay can mimic the sound of other birds?  We also put our interactive white boards to good use by watching short clips of blue jays in action.  This allowed our young scientists to see these birds in their natural environment eating, bathing, taking care of their nests and looking for food on the ground.  Students also practiced drawing careful, realistic sketches of the blue jay.  Next students wrote reports about the blue jay, using their notes.  They followed the steps of the writing process and after editing and revising each child wrote a final copy.  This got turned into a beautiful pop-up booklet, which are up in our hallway.

Using the edited rough draft to record a final copy.

Students in various stages of report writing, designing the covers and illustrating their blue jay pop-ups.

The final product - a blue jay pop-up book!

An example of the graphic organizer we used to take notes about the blue jay.

Students working in teams to research the blue jay.