Week Four: Woodpeckers and Beaks

While all birds have beaks, not all beaks are the same.  This week we learned about different beaks and how they are amazingly good at getting the food the bird needs. 

As on each week, we started with reviewing the parts of the bird, focusing on beaks. 

We followed with our bird song.  This week I added a version about a woodpecker:

This is the way we hammer a tree, hammer a tree, hammer a tree.  This is the way we hammer a tree, just like a woodpecker!

To learn more about beaks, we skimmed through "Beaks" by Sneed B. Collard III. 

Stabbing "fish" with her
Great Blue Heron Beak

For activities this week, we did three different stations that our friends rotated through. 

1:  Beak activity:  In this activity children simulate different beaks by using a hammer and chisle, tweezers, mesh strainer, nutcaker and a spear-like chopstick. 

2.  Woodpecker craft:  We had this free printable paper woodpecker toy cut out and ready for our friends to assemble. 

3.  Bird Seed buffet:  Different birds eat different things.  At our bird seed buffet, each friend took a scoop of each of our options including black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts in the shell and dried cranberries to make a bird feed mix to take home. 

We did this rhyme to come back to the circle: 

“Fly with the Birds”

Fly high, fly low

Fly fast, fly slow

Let’s dive for a drink

Let’s rest on a hill

Fly high, fly low

Fly fast, fly slow

Up, up and away!

Next we listened to a Five Little Woodpeckers song by Pam Donkin with the help of our tree trunk and woodpeckers. 

We closed with The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward and beautifully illustrated by Lisa Falkenstern.  This is a wonderful book that easily shows how much each tree means to the world. 

We didn't have time for this rhyme, but it is a cute one: 

Tap Tap Tap
Tap, tap, tap goes the woodpecker (tap wrist)
As he pecks a hole in a tree. (make hole with pointer finger and thumb)
He is making a house with a window
To peep at you and me. (hold hole in front of eye)

Next week:  Turkeys!

Anna at Future Librarian Super Hero is hosting this week's Flannel Friday Round-Up. Visit the Flannel Friday blog for more information on our group.

Thanksgiving Flannel Friday Round-Up

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Flannel Friday Round-Up!  We have quite the felt feast for you, so without further ado: 

As a guest on Trails & Tales, Kathryn shares two delicious PIE flannels with us. 

Anne at So Tomorrow shares two with us!  She tells a turkey tale while drawing one and shows us some beautiful silly sharks from a new storytime book by Judy Sierra. 
Lisa at Libraryland brings us a wonderful audience participation flannel in Turkey Feathers. 

Though not a Thanksgiving story, Kelly shares her co-worker Lou's Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash which is an amazing felt tour de force! 

Miss. Courtney shares with us her Turkey Wore a Red Feather.  As you can imagine, he ends us with feathers of many colors! 

We have Five Fat Turkeys on a clothesline at Sandy's Storytime Sparks and,

Five more Fat Turkeys are at Sarah's Ram Sam Storytime.

Dorothy at The Wielded Pen - Children's Corner shares a felt version of the poem "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" by Jack Prelutsk. 

Sarah at Read It Again shares her Thanksgiving storytime including a flannel board song about a turkey with some pretty amazing feathers!

Amy at Catch the Possibilities shares with us a cute Turkey Number Matching Game.  I'm making this one for my girls tomorrow!

Kay at Storytime ABC's shows us just how cute Little Owls can be with her rhyme and game.

Andrea shares the Thanksgiving story with us through a bracelet at rovingfiddlehead kidlit. 

Finally, I share my Thanksgiving retelling of a classic in The Very Hungry Pilgrims. 

And that's it!  Thanks to all for contributing.  If you are new to the round-up, learn more about Flannel Friday and join us! 

Thanksgiving Flannel Friday: The Very Hungry Pilgrims

Inspired by yet another childrens' book classic, I decided to put together a flannel story Thanksgiving retelling of Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  I think it is important to teach kids the actual history of events and people in addition to the mythical stories that have develped over centuries.  I use this story as a way to share with kids that the first Thanksgiving was very different from what we know today, including the food! 

The Very Hungry Pilgrims

The heads are felt stickers from Michaels,
the bodies and clothes from die cut.

Nearly 400 years ago on a fall day in 1621 pilgrims began preparing for a harvest feast. 

 

Wompanoag bodies by die cut, clothes free-hand. 

Hearing the commotion, their neighbors, the Wompanoag came by to see what was going on. What they found were some busy and very hungry pilgrims.

 

So together they began to gather food for the feast.

Clam from a Michael's Createtology set; corn, duck and
turnips free-hand, squash a felt sticker from Hobby Lobby.

On Monday they gathered clams, but they still wanted more.

On Tuesday they gathered corn, but they still wanted more.

On Wednesday they gathered ducks, but they still wanted more.

On Thursday they gathered turnips, but they still wanted more.

On Friday they gathered squash, but they still wanted more.

 

Crab and fish from Createtology set, spinach, onions
 and bowls of beans and nuts free-hand 

On Saturday they gathered
crabs,
spinach,
beans,
fish,
onions,
nuts,
geese,
eel,
fruit, and
And FIVE Deer! 

Goose and eel free hand, apple from die cut,
deer are felt stickers from Hobby Lobby

Then they finally had enough.  The pilgrims and the Wompanoag feasted for three days eating three meals a day together and playing games and having contests in between meals. 

Now the pilgrims weren’t hungry anymore and their neighbors, the Wampanoag weren’t just neighbors anymore.  They were good friends. 

The End

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm proud to be hosting the Flannel Friday Round-Up this week.  See the entire round-up here or learn more about Flannel Friday here. 

Flannel Friday Guest Post: PIE!

Trails & Tales is proud to host Kathryn Roach, Wendell Library, Wendell NC; part of the Wake County Library system of Wake County NC with her Thanksgiving Pie Flannel Friday. 

 

For Thanksgiving I like to present a  program about food, mainly pie!  I like to read, The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, and All For Pie, Pie For All by David Martin. I use several flannel board rhymes too.  I’m not sure where I found this rhyme originally.  It was a very long time ago.  I take a piece off and pretend to eat it…they always think this is hilarious! 

ONE WHOLE PIE  

One whole pie

Set by the door,

Cut into pieces,

 I count four.

Four pieces of pie

All for me,

I ate one piece,

Now there are three.   

Three pieces of pie

For me too,

I ate another piece,

Now there are two.

 

Two pieces of pie

Oh! What fun!

I ate another piece,

Now there is one.

One piece of pie

I can’t wait!

I ate that last piece,

 Empty plate!                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another rhyme that I use and then play a game with is Yummy Pies.     

After I sing the song and put up the flannel pieces, we talk about the different colors of the pies and we play “Which One Did Miss Kathy Eat?”  The children close their eyes, I remove one piece and they guess.  When they guess correctly, I show them the piece and pretend to gobble it up!  Laughter ensues! We play several times.

 

Yummy Pies
Tune: "Three Blind Mice"

By Jean Warren -  Adapted by Kathy Roach

Pies, pies, pies,
Pies, pies, pies.
Yummy pies,
Yummy pies.
Strawberry, blueberry, and cherry, too.
Apple and Key lime to name a few.
Chocolate, lemon, how about you?
I love pie!
That's no lie!

To make the pie pieces, I used a Google image, deconstructed it and used that as a pattern. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

Amanda at Trails & Tales is hosting this week's Flannel Friday. Visit the Flannel Friday blog for more information on our group. 

Thanksgiving Flannel Friday Round-Up Place Holder

Hello all!  Welcome to the place holder for the special THANKSGIVING edition of the Flannel Friday Round-Up!  Once again, I am so very thankful to be your host this week.  I can't wait to feast on this week's flannel!

Please leave a link to your Flannel Friday ENTRY (not your main blog site, but the specific entry url) in the comment section below.  Thanks!