The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 183–184 · Part 1: Part First
54. The Sandpiper, and watching a bird
Goal: Your child talks about a poem's picture and feeling, and describes a bird's movements after watching closely.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
- A window with a view of birds, a feeder, or a pet bird
What's in the book
Section 183 is Celia Thaxter's poem "The Sandpiper", a woman gathering driftwood on a stormy beach with a little sandpiper, with study questions. Section 184 asks the child to watch a canary closely: how it moves, uses its bill and feet, drinks and dresses its feathers.
The lesson, step by step
Read the poem
The book says to read it two or three times until you understand it. Read it aloud.
One little sandpiper and I.
Talk it over
Ask the book's questions: What words help you see the beach and feel the storm coming? What does the poem tell you about the sandpiper? In the last stanza, what thought keeps the poet from fearing for the bird?
Watch a bird
The book uses a canary. Any bird works: a pet bird, or birds at a feeder or in the yard. Watch for five minutes. Use the book's questions: Does it walk or hop? How does it use its wings, its bill, its feet? How does it drink? How does it clean its feathers?
Watch wild birds without touching them or their nests.
Describe it
Your child writes 5 to 7 sentences describing what the bird did.
Check it gently
Read it aloud. Is every sentence something your child actually saw? If one is a guess, change it or take it out. Then check one punctuation habit.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
A sparrow hopped along the fence rail. It did not walk; it jumped with both feet together. It cracked a seed with its short, thick bill. Then it fluffed its feathers and picked at them under one wing. When a car went by, it flew off in a flash.