By Henry Fountain, The New York Times, A Feat of Engineering That Doubles as a Home

ESL Voices Activities With Answer Key.

Video: Cape Weaver Building Nest-by gavmei

This is a great article featuring the book “Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer and Build, by Peter Goodfellow, who describes the complex nest building constructions of various birds that he’s studied over the years. He’s written two books about the subject thus far. The following is an excerpt:

“Mr. Goodfellow is a retired teacher of English language and literature and a lifelong bird-watcher, although he takes his bird-watching only so far. “I’ve never actually gotten into the work of the scientist, who might well watch for a whole day or week while a bird makes a nest,” he said. “I’ve never had that deep science bent that’s made me sit down to do that sort of thing. I enjoy the reading and the writing.

He first had the idea to write about nests 35 years ago, and the result was a book called Birds as Builders. This time, Mr. Goodfellow adds “designer” and “engineer” to the job description, and that does not seem at all like a stretch. Nest designs fit into about 10 broad categories, and “Avian Architecture” provides what it calls “case studies” of each, with photographs and detailed drawings of construction techniques.

There are minimalist approaches like scrape nests — the small depression that the piping plover makes on a beach, for example — and hole nests like those that the red-cockaded woodpecker, a species found in the southeastern United States, drills into pine trees. (The exuded sap coats the tree surface around the hole, trapping snakes and other potential predators.) Aquatic nests of grebes and other freshwater birds are only slightly more complex, often made just by piling up vegetation until it forms a floating mass. Mound nests, made on land, are also often simple piles of mud, leaves or rocks…Far more elaborate are the familiar cup and dome nests, and the less familiar hanging nests, that grace trees worldwide. These are where birds’ engineering skills shine. The song thrush, for example, a common European bird, begins building her (in many species, the female does the work) cup nest with a foundation of sturdy twigs, then adds moss and dried grass to form a crude cup, which is lined with wood pulp and mud and decorated on the outside with moss and leaves for camouflage. The Baltimore oriole weaves its nest of plant fibers, vine strips and hair from two or more attachment points on a tree branch. And that long-tailed tit uses the spider silk in Velcro-like fashion, detaching it from the lichen and moss and then reattaching to expand the nest if it has a larger brood. Those examples, and the many more included in “Avian Architecture,” make the book a good gift for anyone who has doubts about Darwin…”

Read the entire article for more information about this topic. See Activities Below.

A Cape Weaver building its nest-Photo- Charles Taylor

ESL Voices Activities for this article.

Language Skills – reading, speaking,  and vocabulary skills.

Level: intermediate-advanced

Time: approximately 1 hour.

Materials: article excerpt, dictionary.

Goals: Learners will learn new vocabulary, and practice reading and speaking skills.

I. Pre-reading Tasks

A. Prediction: Have students  read the titles (of both this post and of the original article) survey the photos, to see if they can predict what the article will be about.

B Stimulate background knowledge: Have learners brainstorm to build a list of all of the words they can think of associated with the terms:  Avian, engineers, and design.

II. While Reading Tasks

A. Vocabulary: words in context

Have students infer the meanings of the words in bold, taken from the article.

• Mr. Goodfellow is a retired teacher …
• I’ve never had that deep science bent…
• This time, Mr. Goodfellow adds “designer” and “engineer” to the job description…
• Nest designs fit into about 10 broad categories…
• detailed drawings of construction techniques.
• There are minimalist approaches…
• The exuded sap coats the tree surface
• …trapping snakes and other potential predators…
• Aquatic nests of grebes…
• …often made just by piling up vegetation until it forms a floating mass.B. Reading Comprehension: Answer the following statements as True (T) or False (F)

  1. Mr. Goodfellow taught English and Math.

  2. Mr. Goodfellow has a science background in bird watching.

  3.  He wrote his first book about nests last year.

  4. According to Mr. Goodfellow, there are 10 categories for nest designs.

  5. The piping plover and the red-cockaded woodpecker are examples of birds that build minimalist nests.

  6. Grebes are a type of nest.

  7. Mound nests are constructed on land.

  8. The cup, dome, and hanging nests are simple structures.

  9. The song thrush is an American species. 10. The Baltimore oriole makes its nest of plant fibers, vine strips, and hair.

  10. The book “Avian Architecture” is about  Charles Darwin.

  III. Post Reading Tasks

  A. WH- and How questions

  Have  learners discuss the article using the  Wh-questions. Who or what is the article about?  When did the event occur?  Why or  how did the event occur?

  Recommended Websites for Additional Activities

  Lesson Plan for Rainforest Birds very good lesson plan by P. Mastroleo for levels 1-2; (ESL levels: beginner-low intermediate)

  Research/Informational Sites About Birds

  All About Birds This is a good site that provides some  information that teachers can use directly.

  Angry Birds Game (Google Chrome is required to play this game, and can be downloaded from this site).

  ANSWERS

  II. While Reading Tasks

  A. Vocabulary: words in context

• retired adjective. having left one’s job and ceased to work; a retired teacher.
• bent noun. a natural talent or inclination; she had no natural bent for literature.
• designer  noun. a person who plans the form, look, or workings of something before its being made or built, typically by drawing it in detail; he’s one of the world’s leading car designers.
• engineer noun. a person who designs,  builds, or maintains engines, or machines;  a skillful contriver or originator of something; aeronautical engineer.
• categories  noun. a class or division of people or things regarded as having particular shared characteristics; five categories of intelligence.
• construction  noun. the building of something, typically a large structure; : there was a skyscraper under construction.
• techniques [technique] noun.  a way of carrying out a particular task, esp. the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure; an established athlete with a very good technique.
• minimalist  adjective. moderate; being within reasonable or average limits; not excessive or extreme;  they had minimalist ideas, so their home had simple furnishings, just a few tables and chairs.
• exuded  verb. discharge (moisture or a smell) slowly and steadily; the beetle exudes a caustic liquid; the tree produced a sticky sap in summer.
• sap noun. the fluid, chiefly water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, that circulates in the vascular system of a plant.
• approaches  [approach]  noun. a way of dealing with something :we need a whole new approach to the job.
• predators [predator] noun. an animal that naturally preys on others : wolves are major predators of rodents.
• Aquatic adjective. (of a plant or animal) growing or living in or near water : the bay could support aquatic life.
• mass noun. a coherent, typically large body of matter with no definite shape : from here the trees were a dark mass.

• Source: New Oxford  American Dictionary

  B. Reading Comprehension: Answer the following statements as True (T) or False (F)

  1. False he taught English language and Literature.

  2. False

  3. False, his first book was written  thirty-five years ago entitled Birds as Builders.

  4. True

  5. True

  6. False   Grebes are a  type of  aquatic bird.

  7. True

  8.  False, they are much  more elaborate.

  9.  False,  the song thrush is European.

  10. False, the book supports Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

  III. Post Reading Tasks

  A. WH- and How questions

  Students’ choice.

Tags: Birds, Cape Weaver

Fireflies, Following Their Leader, Become a Tourist Beacon, By  Robbie Brown, New York Times

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this article With Answer Key.

Firefly or Lightning Bug

An interesting article about a group of people including  biologists, engineers, teachers, (and students) who travel  to Elkmont, a small trailhead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to view the rare and brief spectacle of thousands of Synchronous fireflies!

Fireflies at night photo: Google

“It’s as though they wear little watches, said Ms. Faust, 56, a biologist and naturalist who has studied fireflies for decades. It’s awe-inspiring, it’s beautiful, it’s rhythmic and it’s bright. You’re surrounded by the fireflies…the finer details of Photinus carolinus remain mysterious. The synchrony is more a race than a drum beat. One dominant male blinks and then all of the others flash almost instantly too. They follow a pattern, Morse-code-like, of roughly six seconds of flashing and then six seconds of darkness that lasts for about two hours after dusk.

Biologists believe the rhythm provides an evolutionary edge, making male fireflies somehow more attractive to females. Perhaps by casting a beacon of light farther. Perhaps by preventing the flashing from becoming too chaotic. Think of it like a crowd of people talking… If everyone has a separate conversation, it can be hard for anyone to be heard. But if the whole crowd chants the same words, the message gets out — in this case, the message of male fireflies to potential mates…”

Be sure to read this enchanting article!

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this article.

Lesson:  Learning About the firefly

Time: approximately 1 1/2 hours.
Level: Intermediate -Advanced
Materials: article excerpt, vocabulary, questions for comprehension and discussion,  music video.
Objectives: Students will practice reading comprehension, listening, vocabulary and writing skills. They will also learn about the phenomenon  of  fireflies in the Great Smokey Mountains.

Procedure:

I. Pre-Reading Tasks 

A. Prediction:

Have students  read the titles (of both this post and of the original article) survey the photos, to see if they can predict what the article will be about.

B. Stimulate background knowledge:

Review Antonyms, Synonyms and Homophones with students.

After the  review, place students in groups and have them use a dictionary to find the antonyms and synonyms  for the following words (in bold) from the article.

1. It’s awe-inspiring, it’s beautiful, it’s rhythmic and it’s bright.
2. …the finer details of Photinus carolinus remain mysterious.
3. The synchrony is more a race than a drum beat.
4. One dominant male blinks…
5. They follow a pattern, Morse-code-like…
6. Biologists believe the rhythm provides an evolutionary edge…
7. Perhaps by casting a beacon of light farther.
8. If everyone has a separate conversation, it can be hard for anyone to be heard.
9. But if the whole crowd chants the same words…
10. in this case, the message of male fireflies to potential mates…

B. Questions for Comprehension

1. Where do people go to observe the fireflies?
2. What is Ms. Faust’s profession?
3. Among the fireflies, who is the first one to “blink”?
4. After dusk, how long  do the fireflies continue to blink?
5. According to biologists, what is the cause of the rhythm of the fireflies blinking?
6. Who are the male fireflies sending messages to?

IV. Listening Task

Fun Listening Activity

Let students hear and see the You Tube video (below) then see if they can answer the questions.

“Fireflies” by Owl City

Questions from Music video

1. According to the song, what would the fireflies do as he [the singer] fell asleep?

2. What does he believe about planet earth?

3. The singer would  “get a thousand__from ten million lightening bugs”.

4. What problem is  the singer  having?

5. What will the singer do if  his dreams “get real bizarre” ?

ANSWERS

I. Pre-Reading Tasks 

Students’ choice.

II. While Reading Tasks

Synonyms /Antonyms

1. awe-inspiring- syn.- magnificent /  ant.- boring

2. rhythmic -  syn. balanced, musical, /  ant.- unbalanced

3. finer-  syn.-subtle /ant.- imperceptive, dense

4. mysterious- syn.secret, concealed / ant.- apparent, known

5. synchrony- syn. existing, occurring at same time / ant.- asynchronous, divided

6. dominant- syn.-superior, controlling /  ant.-humble, inferior

7. pattern- syn.-arrangement, order /ant.- disorder, disorganization

8. evolutionary [evolution] syn.- development, progress, /ant.-growth / decline, decrease

9. casting [ cast] syn.-emit, give /ant.- receive, take

10. separate-syn.- disconnected/ant.- combined, connected

11. chants-syn.- say or shout repeatedly in a sing-song tone/ant.-clip, shorten

12. potential -syn.-prospective, possible/ant.- impossible, unpromising

Tags: Fireflies

ESL Voices, June 9, 2011

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Afternoon on a Hill” (1892 –1950)

Hi Everyone,

The weather is wonderful and (as you’ve guessed by now) it’s all about the flowers!

We wanted to take a moment and share these beautiful photographs of  flowers. Teachers might consider using the photos as a starting point for some of the following activities. Enjoy!

(To R. D. and L. J. — They are truly beautiful — Many Thanks)

Foxglove- Photo: courtesy of R. Deck

Red Dahlia-Photo: courtesy of R. Deck

White Peony- Photo: courtesy of R. Deck

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.  ~Basho

Pink Peony- Photo: courtesy of R. Deck

‘Tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes!

~William Wordsworth, “Lines Written in Early Spring,” Lyrical Ballads, 1798

Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, (1803 – 1882)

Lesson Plans:

For those of you working with young ESL learners or beginning students, here are several very good lesson plans that include practice in all of the language skills.

Growing Flowers- Lesson plan by C. Gorman, and J. Haynes

April Showers-Bring Me Flowers! Lesson plan by  T.  B. Grünenfelder

The Four Main Parts of a Flower -Lesson plan by L. Martin

(Intermediate-advanced level)

Science: Discovery Education

This is an interesting lesson plan for more advanced  ESL students.

Plant Pollination-Lesson plan by  M. C. Cahill

Additional Activities

Place students in groups and have them try to create a poem about flowers.

Have students try to draw the flowers presented in the photos above.

For more advanced students, have them try to create a haiku about flowers.

image of Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)

First day of spring–
I keep thinking about
the end of autumn.

by Basho Matsuo

Image of Basho Matsuo, courtesy of Mushimegane

Tags: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Flowers, Ralph W. Emerson, spring

By Sarah Sweeney, The Harvardgazette, The one, indispensable book

Quote: Garrison Keillor

Harvard University recently  celebrated its 2011 Commencement, and as a parting gift, several of Harvard’s  faculty who were featured in Harvard Bound, shared what they felt were the essential books for the new Harvard graduates. The following are excerpts from some of  their responses.

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Noah Feldman, Bemis Professor of International Law and author of “Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices”:

“Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. This book has everything in it: religion, philosophy, a theory of human nature, government, even international affairs. It helped set the stage for the modern world.”

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English and of Visual and Environmental Studies and author of The Use and Abuse of Literature:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare.
I … still hope that voyaging in the company of Shakespeare, and encountering the pleasures of some of his least known — as well as his most-celebrated — works gave these students the exhilaration it has always given me.

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

James Kloppenberg, Charles Warren Professor of American History, chair of the History Department, and author of Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition :

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. From my perspective, the novel’s enduring significance derives as much from its complex politics as from its mastery of the techniques of literary modernism or its value for illuminating aspects of African-American history.

The Prime Of Miss Jean Brody by Muriel Sparks

Sarah Braunstein, fiction instructor at Harvard Extension School and author of  “The Sweet Relief of Missing Children”

“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie  by Muriel Spark. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, is a slim, hilarious, devastating novel,”

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and author of “Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier”

“The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Smith’s magnum opus created the field of economics, and it remains the best introduction to the economist’s mindset.”

The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi

Howard Gardner, John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education and author of “Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed”

“The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi.
The autobiography is neither artfully worded nor elegantly composed,  but it describes in remarkably informative detail the ways in which Gandhi developed his own persona, learned from his mistakes, and inspired others.”

Ideas and Lesson Plans for additional novels from ESL Voices:

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover

Extract from an ESL Voices Lesson Plan for Reading:

The Bean Trees by Barbra Kingslover

Pre-Reading Discussion Questions

In the novel The Bean Trees by Barbra Kingslover, there are several themes discussed. You might want to have discussions with students to check if  they understand the these topics.

For example, immigration, and the consequences of illegal immigration. Mattie, is one of the characters in the story,  who transports and protects illegal aliens. The immigrants Estevan and Esperanza are depicted sympathetically, and Taylor’s horror at their past life changes the way she sees the world. Kingsolver depicts those who denigrate immigrants not as evil, but as ignorant or misguided.

Another theme that comes up in the novel is that of family. Traditionally  the word “family” meant a father, mother,  and children (usually just 2 with the father being the provider, and the mother the caregiver.  Kingslover presents several untraditional models of family. The first mother introduced in the novel, Alice Greer, sets the stage for all the models of motherhood to come. Alice is a loving, responsible single mother, who raises her daughter without a father.  Taylor (the main character) becomes an adoptive mother overnight, acquiring a child of a different racial makeup and background than her own, and Lou Ann gives birth to a child on her own.

The bean trees have a symbiotic relationship with bugs called rhizobia, which move up and down the wisteria vine’s roots and provide a network that transfers nutrients. This mutual aid symbolizes the help and love human beings give one another. The bean trees, like people, only thrive with a network of support.

Words and  Terms:

immigration

legal immigrants

illegal aliens

adoption

family/ motherhood/fatherhood

Cherokee Indians

symbiotic relationship

For the complete Lesson Plan and the plans for additional novels visit Reading Lessons.

Menachem's Seed by Carl Djerassi

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts

Tags: Books, Harvard University, Reading