Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Second grade has been working really hard to improve their observational drawings techniques.  Upon seeing how this group is so interested in animals, Mrs. Hock arranged for a visit from a very special guest. A real hawk! Her father cares for hawks and he gave a presentation on this beautiful bird.

She was nervous when she saw all of the students.

We were able to spend time observing the hawk and then use the combination of live hawk and photographs to improve upon our observational drawings.

I led a conversation about the hawk. The students not only provided me with facts about the hawk, but they demonstrated empathy for the hawk's feelings of nervousness. 

A Brown Hawk with Yellow Eyes!

Mrs. Hock, upon seeing how interested this group is in animals, provided an opportunity for the students to be visited by a real hawk.

To prepare them for the visit, students sketched some observational drawings from photographs of hawks. The students then had the visit. I came in after the visit and, while they continued their drawings, I asked them to talk about the visit.

I sat with Megan, Joe, Kelis, Janivette, Wilson and Devonte.

Teacher- Tell me about the visit from the hawk.

Joe- when we came into the room, there was a huge box. Mrs. Hock and her dad came in and he was telling us about the hawk's body. They have a stomach right here and when they eat a small animal, it goes straight down their throat. If they eat something big and their stomach is full, there's like an extra stomach on top. He wore a leather glove so the claws don't hurt him. When he can't digest the bones, he spits them out and that's what they call a pellet.  His eyes are on the side of his head. That is why they move their head around to see.

Kelis- When he was carrying him, he was scared. When he took him out of the box, he started moving around and jiggling. When he was on the rug, he was moving around and he came closer to our table, and I started moving to the side because I thought he was going to come close to me and when he touched his tail, he started moving and jiggling around again.

Joe- when he came to my table, I thought he was going to move around and it scared me. When they are babies, they have a small tail, but when they are big, they have a big tail.

He shows me a photo of an adult hawk and points to the board, which shows a juvenile hawk.

Joe- See the tail? That is a big one. That one is a baby.

Teacher- Is that the only difference?

Joe- No,  that one has a darker eye. See it? When they are trying to catch mice and stuff, they go 100 miles an hour. When he's up in the air, he can see fish under the water.

Mr. Roberts comes in and asks questions about the bird.

Mr. Roberts- What kind of bird was that?

Megan- it was brown with yellow eyes!

Ariana- It was a red-tailed hawk.

Teacher- What else did we learn?

Wilson- I learned about the bell. When he hears the bell, he goes and follows the bell sound to find him.

Joe- He can find the eagle when he goes hunting.

Teacher- The Eagle?

Joe- Oh! I mean hawk!

Megan- When he put the bell on, he goes and catches prey and then he can follow the sound of the bell and he can find out where he is to take him back home.

Teacher- Janivette, what is something you learned?

Janivette- when he took him out the box, then his wing came out and Mrs. hock's dad he got him out and then he was over there and then he was flapping his wings and then he got nervous cause you know how he's nervous that he's never seen a lot of people like this. Then he came to the rug and he was saying questions about what he does. He brung a glove to protect him and a leash so he doesn't run away.

Wilson- he brought the leash so it could stay calm.

Joe- it's like a dog leash, but it's not for a dog.

Teacher- Devonte, you are pretty quiet. What could you add to this conversation?

Devonte- He has sharp feet and they're spiky.

Joe- they're called talons.

Devonte- it was brown and it was huge and that's it.

Joe holds up his hands to show me a pretty accurate representation of it's size- about 1.5 feet tall.

Megan- When he took the hawk out, it was hard to get him out. When he got it out, we were telling him what we learned about the hawk and then after, he was getting nervous and he started flapping his wings.

Teacher- I have a weird question. Have you ever felt like the hawk?

Joe- Yeah. On the first day of school.

Kelis- oh, yes! On the first day of school! When I saw Jayla the first day, I grabbed her and hugged her.

Janivette- when I see Yanmarie at lunch, I give her a hug.

Teacher- Do hugs help when you feel nervous?

Janivette- Yes.

Joe- Hugs and maybe... No, just hugs. The hawk was very, very nervous.

Teacher- I wonder if we could hug the hawk?

Joe- no!

Megan- I would if he didn't have sharp claws. Or no scales on his legs above the claws, either.

Yaneliz joins us. 

Yaneliz- you should've seen how the hawk was hooked to his hand and the hawk was nervous and going crazy and he was trying to fly away but he couldn't.