For this month's meeting, the kids read Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms. It was a little longer than our previous picks, so we made sure everybody knew they could still come even if they hadn't finished. (Click here for the book spotlight with online resources and other ideas.)

Our book trivia challenge took the form of Beech Road Bingo (click for printable) where the kids each filled out their own bingo card with significant numbers and letters from the book. 

Next, we took a page from April, May, and June's book and tried to make our own edition of the Beech Road Guardian. We divided the kids up into teams and gave them an assignment for our newspaper. We had news, weather, a fabulous feature article, and several movie reviewers. Click here for the PowerPoint template I used to put the newspaper together after the meeting was over. (I emailed the finished project to the parents so the kids could print their own copies of the paper.)

If we'd had more time (and hadn't been quite so noisy) we would have done the Bird Behavior Scavenger Hunt. But since we were running a little late, we went straight to the main event...

The magic show! The kids watched with great attention while I performed the tricks and couldn't wait to learn how to do them themselves. And hopefully their careers as magicians are just beginning thanks to their take-home magic kits. :)

We finished up the meeting by eating brownies and cupcakes (just like Stuart and the triplets). We had so much fun this summer and the wheels are already turning for next summer's meetings...

About the Book: As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the “skinny thug” that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who “smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain.” In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. In this stunning novel, Schmidt expertly weaves multiple themes of loss and recovery in a story teeming with distinctive, unusual characters and invaluable lessons about love, creativity, and survival.

My Two Cents: Memorable characters, beautiful writing, amazing book. Here's the bottom line: This is probably my favorite middle grade book. Yes, #1 favorite of all time. All I have to do is see that bag-face cover and I want to laugh and cry and read the whole thing again. 

Grade Level: 4-8

Additional Resources: 

• Visit Gary D. Schmidt's website.
• View more images of Audubon's Birds of America from the National Gallery of Art.
• One of Doug's talents is memorizing baseball trivia. Test your own baseball trivia knowledge, learn new facts, and solve baseball sudoku and crossword puzzles here.
• Learn how to play horseshoes like Doug does.
• Doug's brother Lucas comes back from Vietnam. Find photos, video, and facts about what Vietnam is like today at the National Geographic Kids website.
• The novel Jane Eyre is important in this book. Read a quick summary ofJane Eyre for kids here.
• Doug isn't a big fan of poetry in general and Shelley in particular, but he seems to like birds. Do you think he'd like this poem Shelley wrote about a bird?

More to Read: 

• A companion novel to Okay for Now: Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars (Or maybe read this one first and see how your perception of Doug changes...)
• Another novel that features John James Audubon (this time as a character): A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole
• Another book about a young boy in about the same era (with a very similar cover): Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Today's guest post is from artist, author, and all-around lovely person Kate Birch. Visit her blog here and look for some of her own original artwork! Kate took a page out of this week's book, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, and gives us this great activity so we can learn to draw from Audubon's work just like Doug did. Take it away, Kate!

John James Audubon was known for his amazingly realist illustrations of birds compiled in his best-known work, The Birds of America. One of the things that made Audubon’s work so interesting is that the birds actually looked like they were drawn straight out of nature. Audubon did his best to make his birds look as life-like as possible. Because it would be impossible to draw a live bird in its natural setting, Audubon staged dead birds with wires in elaborate sets that he spent days preparing. Audubon knew that to create the most life-like bird on the page he would have to observe the most life-like bird in real life.

As artists, we have to learn to see the world differently. Many people will look at a bird, or a tree, or a plant without truly seeing it. Our brains are used to making generalizations about objects—a bird has wings and a beak, a tree has a trunk and branches—but this doesn’t mean that all birds have the same shaped wings or beaks. Artists have to learn to see each little detail in the world. Artists can’t make assumptions.

One of the best ways to really start seeing the world without letting our brains generalize is to draw upside down. Today, you’ll learn how to take one of Audubon’s birds and learn to see it a new way.

Step One: Print off your favorite of Audubon’s birds. I’ll be using part of the Blue Yellow-Backed Wood Warbler.

If you’d like to make it a little bit easier on yourself you can use this black and white version of the same illustration:

Step Two: After your picture is printed off. Set it in front of you upside down on the table. Now it will look like this when you begin to draw:

Step Three: As you draw, try to concentrate on the lines and shapes that you see. Instead of thinking about drawing the bird’s eye, or beak, or wing, simply think about the lines themselves. Are they short or long? Are they close together? Do they curve?

Step Four: After you are done, you can flip your drawing around. Did you draw the bird differently than if you had been looking at it right side up?
 
Thanks so much, Kate! Can't wait to try this with my kids!

About the Book: B95 can feel it: a stirring in his bones and feathers. It’s time. Today is the day he will once again cast himself into the air, spiral upward into the clouds, and bank into the wind.
He wears a black band on his lower right leg and an orange flag on his upper left, bearing the laser inscription B95. Scientists call him the Moonbird because, in the course of his astoundingly long lifetime, this gritty, four-ounce marathoner has flown the distance to the moon—and halfway back!
B95 is a robin-sized shorebird, a red knot of the subspecies rufa. Each February he joins a flock that lifts off from Tierra del Fuego, headed for breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, nine thousand miles away.  Late in the summer, he begins the return journey. 

B95 can fly for days without eating or sleeping, but eventually he must descend to refuel and rest. However, recent changes at ancient refueling stations along his migratory circuit—changes caused mostly by human activity—have reduced the food available and made it harder for the birds to reach. And so, since 1995, when B95 was first captured and banded, the worldwide rufa population has collapsed by nearly 80 percent. Most perish somewhere along the great hemispheric circuit, but the Moonbird wings on. He has been seen as recently as November 2011, which makes him nearly twenty years old. Shaking their heads, scientists ask themselves: How can this one bird make it year after year when so many others fall?  

National Book Award–winning author Phillip Hoose takes us around the hemisphere with the world’s most celebrated shorebird, showing the obstacles rufa red knots face, introducing a worldwide team of scientists and conservationists trying to save them, and offering insights about what we can do to help shorebirds before it’s too late. Through prose, research, and images, Hoose explores the tragedy of extinction through the triumph of a single bird.

My Two Cents: This is a well-written account of a really amazing bird, complete with helpful maps, gorgous photos, and profiles of the scientists who are working to help migratory birds. I especially loved the appendix "What You Can Do", which will help young readers channel the enthusiasm and interest they gain by reading the book into helpful outlets.

Grade Level: 4-8

Additional Resources (most from the "What You Can Do" section of the book): 

• Phillip Hoose's website
• Games, activities, and ways to help at the National Audubon Society's Just for Kids page
• Check out the Shorebird Sister Schools Program and connect with kids all over the world as you follow the migration of shore birds.
• See how arctic animals migrate at Wandering Wildlife, which tracks actual animals of several species using radio telemetry.
• Learn about the rufa red knot and why it's in trouble at Parks Canada's site.
• Find out when International Migratory Bird Day is in your area and what you can do to celebrate.

More to Read: 

• A fun Phillip Hoose picture book about being kind to little creatures:Hey, Little Ant
• Another inspiring book by Hoose: It's Our World, Too! Young People Who Are Making a Difference
• Another great middle grade book where birds are featured: Okay for Now  by Gary D. Schmidt
• Another middle grade book where Audubon himself shows up: A Nest for Celeste  by Henry Cole
• Another book about animals making, well, an incredible journey: The Incredible Journey  by Sheila Burnford

In this week's book, Moonbird by Phillip Hoose, we read the true story of a bird that's flown an amazing distance in its life. This week's science activity is a guest post by biologist (and good friend) Kate Grandison, who knows a whole lot about birds. Take it away, Kate!

Look what that bird’s doing! Birds not only have different physical characteristics but different behaviors.  A bird’s behavior may result from an adaptation that helps the bird survive. For example, flocking (grouping together) helps birds in several ways. It can protect a bird from a predator by safety in numbers- most flocks can more easily drive away predators as a group than alone. And birds can warn each other about predators, spending more time feeding and finding food sources.

With a friend or by yourself, look for the behaviors listed below (or click here for a printable version). Check those you find, then list the specific location or habitat.If you can, identify the species using an online or printed bird guide. If not, list some identifying characteristics. How many can you find in 15 minutes? I bet you’ll be surprised.

Can you find a bird doing each of these things?

• Singing or calling
  

• Preening (looks as if it is nibbling, tugging, or combing feathers with its beak)
  

• Bathing in water
  

• Taking a dust bath
  

• Flying
  

• Perched on a branch
  

• Perched on a wire, or fence post
  

• Walking or hopping on the ground
  

• Standing on the ground
  

• Feeding
  

• Flying with a worm or insect in its mouth
  

• A group of birds perching together on a wire
  

• A flock of small birds chasing a large bird
  

• A group of birds flocking together
  

• Other (list behavior)

More Challenges: 

1. Choose one species of bird and record behavior patterns at different times of the day for a week or more. 
   
2. Conduct your observations in different habitats at the same time of day.
   

Helpful Resources:

• All About Birds: Online bird guide, general bird and bird ID information.
  
• Flying Wild: Curriculum and resources for environmental education, including math, language arts, and social science activities.

About the Book: As day breaks in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, a wounded mountain lion limps toward a Papago Indian hut. The lion fears people, but today he is desperately hungry. And he has caught the scent of Birdwing and her mother. Then a loud thunderclap warns Birdwing, the mountain lion, and all the creatures of the desert that danger is near. A flood will soon wash over the land - and some will not survive it.

My Two Cents: This is a very short book that still packs plenty of information about the wildlife and habitat of the desert. There's enough of a storyline mixed in with interesting animal, plant, and geological information that kids will zip right through this book. The best part is how much they'll learn in the process. This is just one title in a five-book series by Newbery-winner George.

Grade Level: 2-5

Additional Resources: 

• Take a look at the official Jean Craighead George website.
• Visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum--a great place to visit in person that also has fun online resources for kids, including fact sheets on tons of desert plants and animals.
• Check out this great article from National Geographic about life in the Sonoran Desert.
• Learn more about the four deserts of North America at this site or get an overview of deserts here.
• Even if you don't live in the desert, it's important to conserve water! Learn how and why we should save water and play a fun water-saving game at the WaterSense website.

More to Read: 

• The other books in George's habitat series: One Day in the Alpine Tundra, One Day in the Prairie, One Day in the Woods, One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
• Another desert adventure story: Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach
• Another desert survival story (for a slightly older audience): Holes by Louis Sachar
• Another quick read featuring animals in an unforgiving climate: Akimbo and the Lions (and all the other books in the Akimbo series) by Alexander McCall Smith

See how many desert animals you can find in this awesome painting by artist Arlene Braithwaite !

In this week's book, One Day in the Desert by Jean Craighead George, we met tons of cool desert animals: roadrunner, peccaries, tarantulas, headstand beetles, desert tortoises, honey pot ants, elf owls, foxes, and even a mountain lion. These animals have all made adaptations so they're fit to live in such a dry climate. But they're amazing in other ways too!

Use the animal facts here to learn about your favorite desert animals and how they've adapted to their climate. When you've picked some favorite animals and their adaptations, design an Olympic activity to compete with your friends and compare yourself to your favorite animal! Would you survive in the desert? 

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Kangaroo rats are tiny (their bodies are about 4-5 inches long), but they can jump up to 9 feet! How tall is your body? How far can you jump?
• Baby scorpions crawl on their mother's back and stay there until they molt (7-21 days). Have a scorpion relay race using empty gloves or stuffed animals as your baby scorpions. Be careful not to drop your "babies"!
• Hummingbirds can stick their tongues out 13 times per second to reach nectar. How long does it take you to stick your tongue out 13 times?
• Leafcutter ants can lift about 50 times their body weight, and male rhinoceros beetles (the largest beetle in North America) can lift 850 times their body weight! How much do you weigh? How much would you have to lift to be as strong as the leafcutter ant or the rhinoceros beetle? How much can you lift?
• Headstand beetles do a head stand to mix chemicals and shoot them at predators. Can you do a headstand? How long can you hold it?

When you're finished with your Olympic events, print one of these Desert Animal Olympics gold medals for each of your friends on card stock. Cut them out and attach a ribbon so you can wear them around your necks, and be sure to write some of your awesome results and favorite adaptations on the back

This lesson is adapted from Exploring Adaptations: Animal Olympics from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Conservation Education & Science Department. They have lots of great resources for kids and teachers. Be sure to check them out!

About the Book: The Poppers unexpectedly come into possession of a penguin, then get a penguin from the zoo who mates with the first penguin to have 10 baby penguins. Before long, something must be done before they eat the Poppers out of house and home!

A classic of American humor, this story of a gentle housepainter and his high stepping penguins has delighted children for generations.

My Two Cents: This classic is a fun, fast read that has aged remarkably well. It's unusual to see a middle grade book with a middle-aged man as the main character, but Mr. Popper is silly enough and the penguins are center stage enough that it totally works. And while the conclusion might not be totally ecologically sound, the idea that wild animals should be in the wild and their needs should come before those of their "owners" is a nice additional layer. 

Grade Level: 2-4

Additional Resources: 

• Find lesson ideas and vocabulary words on Scholastic's Mr. Popper's Penguins page or with this very in-depth curriculum guide
• Learn more about Captain James Cook and other polar explorers
• Learn more about emperor penguins from National Geographic Kids
• Watch this video to learn more about real penguin families, or this video to see a real expedition to Antarctica
• Listen to the music that Mrs. Popper plays for the penguins' act: Schubert's Military March, Lehar's Merry Widow Waltz, and By the Brook
• Track the penguins' journey across the USA through Seattle, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston, New York

More to Read: 

• Another classic about an average family whose life takes a turn toward adventurous: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming
• Another book about birds and letting them live where they really belong: Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
• Another great book about letting pets into your life, even when it doesn't go smoothly: Mason Dixon: Pet Disasters by Claudia Mills

About the Book: Eleanor "Groovy" Robinson loves cooking and plans to go to culinary school just as soon as she's old enough. But even Groovy's thoughtfully-planned menus won't fix the things that start to go wrong the year she turns eleven--suddenly, her father is in jail, her best friend's long-absent mother reappears, and the swallows that make their annual migration to her hometown arrive surprisingly early. As Groovy begins to expect the unexpected, she learns about the importance of forgiveness, understands the complex stories of the people around her, and realizes that even an earthquake can't get in the way of a family that needs to come together.

Kathryn Fitzmaurice's lovely debut novel is distinctively Californian in its flavor. Her rich characters and strong sense of place feel both familiar and fresh at first meeting--and worth revisiting, again and again.

My Two Cents: This is a lovely book that's not loud or overbearing, set firmly and beautifully on the California coast. Groovy has a realistic set of problems and a realistic set of strengths, and the way both develop over the pages of this book are really touching. A great lesson in loving, accepting, and forgiving imperfect parents, being a loyal friend, and pursuing your passions.

Grade Level: 3-6

Additional Resources:

• Kathryn Fitzmaurice's website, including discussion questions
• An article for kids on the swallows--and how they're starting to skip San Juan Capistrano
• Recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pops (I think Groovy would approve!)
• Earthquake overview, facts, and activities
• A fun migratory bird game--it's like Oregon Trail for birds! :)

More to Read:

• Another book with a strong heroine where both animals and a complicated parental relationship factor in: Notes from a Liar and Her Dog by Gennifer Choldenko
• Another seaside story about a young girl figuring out her place in the world: Junonia by Kevin Henkes
• Another book with a strong sense of place and a girl who finds strength beyond her family: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

For Groovy Robinson in The Year the Swallows Came Early, the best time for birdwatching was in March. But in many parts of the world, winter is a great time for birding! 

Birds around a bird feeder made from a Coke bottle in Johannesburg, South Africa. From left to right, a male Southern Masked Weaver, a male Cape Sparrow, a female Cape Sparrows, and two male Cape Sparrows. Photo credit here.

If you want to be an amateur ornithologist (even for a day), you'll probably want a bird feeder, a pencil and notebook, and a sharp pair of eyes.

Don't have a birdfeeder? Not a problem! All you need to make one is an empty plastic bottle, a pair of sharp scissors, and a few dowels, chopsticks, or twigs. And don't forget the birdseed!

1. Wash, dry, and remove the labels from an empty plastic bottle. Cut four dime-size holes about 3 inches from the bottom of the bottle. These will be the holes that the birds feed from. Cut four pea-size holes about 1 inch from the bottom of the bottle. Slide your chopsticks (or twigs or dowels) through the holes. These will serve as perches for the birds. If you want your feeder to be extra fancy, you can cut off the tops of other bottles and attach them to the feeding holes as shown in the picture above.

2. Fill your birdfeeder with birdseed. A standard mixture will usually work, but black-oil sunflower seed is the best attractant in many areas. (Click here for more information on what birdseed to use.)

3. Find a place to hang your feeder. Look for a tree or overhang where the feeder will be well off the ground, visible to the birds, and inaccessible to other animals like cats and squirrels. 

4. Step back and observe! Count the number of birds you observe each day and graph the results. (Math!) See if you can identify the different species of birds using an online field guide or these posters. (Science!) Sketch the birds you see most often (Art!) or write a story about them. (Language Arts!) Listen for the bird calls and see if you can identify the birds by sound as well as sight. Keep a field notebook and record what types of seeds work best and what times of day birds come. The possibilities are endless! 

Most importantly, get outside and appreciate those birds!

Additional Resources:
Fun birding games and activities from the National Audubon Society
Record your results on Cornell's free birding calendar
Sign up to get a Project FeederWatch Research Kit and join Cornell's team for $15 (or download their free guide)