Getting Started with
Get to Know Birds

1. Read the Background for Teachers essay. It contains more in-depth information that will help you answer questions and guide students’ exploration.
2. Familiarize yourself with the For Kids content for “Get to Know Birds.”
3. Review the classroom- and field-based hands-on activities in Teacher-Led Activities and choose the ones suited to your curricular needs and classroom circumstances.
4. Introduce the topic with a discussion. Here are some suggested discussion-starters:
• What different kinds of birds have you seen? (What are their names, and what do they look like?)
• How can you tell one kind of bird from another?
• What do birds eat?
• How do birds get their food?
5. Review these topic-specific vocabulary words or have students define them as they discover them in context in the “Get to Know Birds” student magazine (PDF):
   
   conservation
   crest
   diversity
   field mark
   habitat
   herbicide
   

   nape
   migration
   native
   naturalist
   pesticide
   

   species
   predator
   talon
   unspoiled
   wildlife
   
   Definitions for all vocabulary words can be found in the online Naturalist’s Glossary.
6. With the whole class or in small groups, review and discuss the content and features of the student magazine and other student content that you’ve incorporated into your teaching or that students have explored on their own.
7. Do the hands-on activities you’ve selected, and follow up with review and discussion.
8. Download the Assessment questions and answer key to use as a tool for evaluating students’ learning with “Get to Know Birds.”
9. Extend learning with topic-specific print, online, and video resources found in the Naturalist’s Bibliography.

Photo: Camilla Cerea.