Book of the Week: A Place for Birds

Educators often ask me which of my books would work best in their classroom. So this year, I’ve decided to feature a book each week and highlight related teaching materials and strategies.

A Place for Birds was originally published in 2009, but was revised and updated in 2015, so it has the latest information about the challenges birds face and how we can do simple things to help them survive.

You could share one or two spreads to support NGSS PE K-ESS3-3 or read the whole book as part of a lesson that addresses NGSS PE 5-ESS3-1.

I have also created a Teacher’s Guide that makes connections to a wide variety of NGSS and Common Core standards. You can find additional activities here.

This book is great for Reading Buddies programs. For more information, read this article and look at the materials on my CCSS ELA RIT #1 & 2: Reading Buddies pinterest board.

The main text of A Place for Birds has both a cause & effect text structure and a problem-solution text structure, while many of the sibdebars compare past human activities that hurt birds to current more-bird-friendly activities. That makes it a great mentor text for students learning about nonfiction text structures.

Enjoy!