VULTURE VIEW

By April Pulley Sayre
Publisher: Henry Holt
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7557-1

FROM THE FLAP: Wings stretch wide
to catch a ride
on warming air.
Going where?
Up, up!

TURKEY VULTURES soar on the balmy air, looking for their next stinky feast. These birds don’t hunt—they like their food to be already dead. Vulture’s are part of nature’s cleanup crew.

In her signature poetic, energetic style, acclaimed nature writer April Pulley Sayre introduces young readers to the world of the turkey vulture. Gorgeous illustrations by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Steve Jenkins capture these birds in all their surprising majesty.

KATE’S TAKE: Soar into national poetry month, spring, and a bird unit with April Pulley Sayre’s Vulture View.

BIRD COLLAGES (Visual/Spatial)

Ask students to create a paper collage of the bird of their choice.

BIRD COUPLET POEMS (Verbal/Linguistic)

Couplets abound in Vulture View. Ask students to write a poem about birds with couplets. To scaffold the activity write one together as a class. After you write the first line, ask students to brainstorm a list of words that rhyme with the last word on the first line. This will make it easier to think of the next line.

MIGRATION MATH (Logical/Mathematical and Visual/Spatial)

Vultures migrate all over the world. Here is a list of 10 vultures and their migration patterns. Pair students and ask each pair to calculate total miles traveled and for those students who want to extend their learning ask them to find the average miles traveled each day. Find more information at this link http://www.frg.org/hms/hms_tv.htm or use
the list below:

Vulture Name: Starting Location and Date to Ending Location and Date

Sabado: La Pampa, Argentina to Central Bolivia
3/31 to 5/15

Butterball: Central Florida to Kempton, Pennsylvania
3/3 to 3/26

Schaumbock: Jacksonville, Florida to Danbury, Connecticut
3/7 to 3/30

Quarry: Savannah, Georgia to Delaware
4/3 to 4/18

Rosalie: Washington State to El Fuerte, Mexico
10/3 to 10/26

Morongo: Guatemala to Oregon
3/11 to 4/08

Sill: Saskatchewan to Oklahoma
9/30 to 10/31

Blizzard: MacDowell, Saskatchewan to Rugby, North Dakota
9/25 to 10/07

Duck Lake: Duck Lake, Saskatchewan to Brandon, Manitoba
10/8 to 10/28

Ranger Ranger, Saskatchewan to Mexico/Guatemala Border
9/27 to 12/2

SOAR AND SEEK CLASS BOOK (Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial, Intrapersonal and Interpersonal)

Ask students to write the following sentence on an 8 ½ by 11 sheet of white paper: If I could soar anywhere in the world, I would go to ___________ and seek ____________. After they fill in their sentence, have them illustrate their trip. Form a class book and send home with each student on a rotating basis.

SOAR AWAY ( Kinesthetic and Interpersonal)

Take students outside to a field and have them catch a thermal and soar. Split them up into groups and have each child in the group lead the soaring.

BOOK BUDDIES:

-A Place For Birds by Melissa Stewart
-An Egg Is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston
-Birds of Prey by Dr. Gerald Legg
-Feathers For Lunch by Lois Ehlert
-Poppy by Avi