Title – Owls: Parts of the Body

By – Mandi Cooley

Primary Subject – Science

Secondary Subjects – Language Arts

Grade Level – K-3

Duration – 45 minutes+

Objectives:

• The kindergarten students will answer comprehension questions after the teacher reads the expository text “Quiet Owl”.
• The kindergarten students will label the parts of an owl with computer-generated labeling strips after learning about the parts of an owl’s body.
• The kindergarten students will write descriptive words about one part of the owl’s body after reviewing what each part of the body does.

Nashua-Plainfield Benchmarks/ Standards:

• K-2 Science:
  • Standard IV: Understands the functions of living organisms and their relationship to each other and their environment.
    
  • Benchmark 4.1: Understands plants and animals have similarities and differences in the way they look and things they do.

• K-2 Language Arts:
  • Standard 1: Reading with understanding.
    
  • Benchmark Comprehension: Can comprehend intended meaning from print.

• K-2 Language Arts:
  • Standard 2: Participate in diverse literary experiences.
    
  • Benchmark Appreciation: Has an awareness of various types of literature and literary forms.

• K-2 Language Arts
  • Standard 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
    
  • Benchmark Process: Participate in the writing process

Materials:

• 
  Quiet Owls
  
  by Joelle Riley
• 
  All About Owls
  
  by Jim Arnosky (for information only)
  • Owls have four toes, stiff wing feathers, sharply hooked beaks, see in dark, feathers are light
  • Add this to
    
    Quiet Owl
    
    information.

• CD -
  
  Hooting Owls
  
  or sounds taken from this site:
  

  http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php

  1. Megascops-kennicotti – #2
  2. Megascops-asio – #4
  3. Bubo-virginianus – #4
  4. Bubo-virginianus – #2
  5. Bubo-virginianus – #9
  6. Bubo-scandiacus – #1

• Large poster board with outline of owl
  • Any owl outline would work. Microsoft word clipart online has many different owls to use as well as this free owl clipart site:
    

    http://www.owlpages.com/owl-clipart.php

  • Velcro on spots to label the owl parts and descriptors.
    
  • Laminated strips to label owl parts:
    
    head, eye, beak, feathers, foot, talon, and wing
    
    .
  • Laminated strips for descriptor words:

    head	big	round
    eye	see in dark
    beak	sharp	hooked
    feathers	soft	light
    foot	4 toes
    talon	sharp	catch food
    wing	stiff	quiet

• Worksheet for each student with owl outline
  • Glue
  • Pencils: Students can write descriptors next to the labels of the parts if there is time.
  • Word strips for students to glue onto owl:

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

    Head Eye Beak Feathers Foot Talon Wing

Introduction to Lesson:

1. Anticipatory Set:
   • “We are going to listen to some sounds today that you may never have heard before. I will play them for you and then you can guess what animal makes the sounds.”
   • Play the CD with owl sounds.
     Remind students to listen until the sounds stop and then raise their hands to guess what animal made the sounds.
   • “Great guesses. It is an owl making the sounds.”

2. Purpose:
   • “We are going to learn all about owls and their body parts.”

Major Instructional Sequence:

3. Instruction:
   • Introduce and read the book:
     • Riley, Joelle.
       
       Quiet Owls
       
       . Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2004.
       
       (Expository text)
   • As the story is read, point out the parts of the body and emphasize the descriptors the students should focus on. Remember to add the information from:
     • Arnosky, Jim.
       
       All About Owls
       
       . New York: Scholastic, 1995.
       
     • Owls have four toes, stiff wing feathers, sharply hooked beaks, see in dark, and their feathers are light.
   • Questions:
     • Are owls all the same size? (no, big and small)
     • Where do owls live? (forest, cold places, brush, trees, cliffs, ground)
     • What does an owl’s head look like? (big and round)
     • Why are owls’ feathers soft? (so they can fly quietly)
     • What are talons? (sharp claws that owls use to catch their prey)
   • Label the parts of the owl on the poster board. Go back and talk about each part, adding the descriptors.
   • Take off all of the labels and descriptors to show students the activity they will be doing.

4. Modeling:
   • Show the students how to label the owl. Use think-aloud to help students understand what the words mean and where they should go.
     “Here is the word
     
     head
     
     . I need to look at the owl and decided where this word should go. I know that the head of the owl is at the top and that the eyes are in the head, so the label head must go at the top. The owl’s head is
     
     big
     
     and
     
     round
     
     too.
     The next word is
     
     talon
     
     . I think I remember that this word means the same thing as claw. My dog has claws on his feet, so I know the owl must have claws on his feet too. I will put the word
     
     talon
     
     by the owl’s claws.”

5. Checking for understanding:
   • Ask students where they put the labels.
   • Ask students what clues can help them put the labels on.
   • Ask a few questions about descriptors of the parts.
   • After demonstrating how to put on the labels and where they go, remove all the labels and ask for a student to volunteer.

Concluding Sequence:

6. Guided Practice:
   • Have the students place the labels on the poster board. Try to have each student label a part.
   • As a student places a label on the poster board, ask questions like “How do you know where to put that label?”
   • Another example, if the student has the word head and places it in the correct spot, ask the student “What is an owl’s head is like?”
     
   • Explain the seat activity:
     • Each student will get his or her own owl with labels that will need to be glued on. Demonstrate how the students will complete the sheet.
     • Send the students back to the tables and pass out the materials and glue.

7. Independent Practice:
   • Students complete the owl diagram with labels.
   • If there is time left, add the description words to the posterboard owl and have the students pick one part of the owl to add descriptor words underneath the labels. They will need to have a pencil to write the descriptors.

Evaluation/Closure

8. Formative:
   • The teacher will evaluate answers to comprehension questions as the students answer. If anything needs to be readdressed, the teacher will correct it immediately.

9. Summative:
   • The owl diagrams will be turned into the teacher. The teacher can check to see if the parts of the owl were labeled correctly. If time allows and students complete the third objective, the teacher will read the written descriptors to determine if they fit with the chosen body part.

E-Mail

Mandi Cooley

!