Song 3: Cuckoo

Title page for song/KS2 subject areas:

There are six suggested subject areas for this song:

ECL [Link] Understanding English, communication and languages;

Seasons Poetry

M [Link] Mathematical understanding;

Measuring time: calendar work

S/T [Link] Scientific and Technological understanding;

Birds and migration

H/G/S [Link] Historical, geographical and social understanding;

How climate around the world affects migration

P/D/H/W [Link] Understanding physical development, health and well being;

Care of birdlife

A [Link] Understanding the arts;

Bird art

Understanding English, communication and languages

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-the-cuckoo/

William Wordsworth, among others, wrote a poem about cuckoos. Read, compare and contrast the poems.

Have a group discussion and decide on a class favourite. Why might poets choose to write about cuckoos?

To talk effectively as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:

Make contributions relevant to the poetry and take turns in discussion

Vary contributions, including exploratory and tentative comments where ideas are being collected

together, and reasoned, evaluative comments as discussion moves to conclusions or actions

Qualify or justify what they think after listening to others’ questions or accounts

Deal politely with opposing points of view and enable discussion to move on

Having studied birds and migration, choose a bird and write a poem to celebrate your choice.

Mathematical understanding

The person who wrote the lyrics used in this song, Jane Taylor, has chosen to write about the cuckoo

during the months of April, May, June, July and August. Primary Resources have heaps of ideas relating to

work on calendars. Depending on the age of the pupils, the children might need to learn the names and

order of the months of the year or more extensive word problems relating to the calendar might be the

order of the day.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsE2.htm

If some practise with telling the time using an analogue clock can be squeezed in, too, so much the better.

Scientific and Technological understanding

A visit to a bird sanctuary will be a fabulous introduction to inspiring the children with birds and bird

migration. Look on the RSPB website for details of a bird sanctuary near to where you are.

Pupils should be taught that the life processes common to animals include nutrition, movement, growth

and reproduction. They should make links between life processes in birds and the environments in which

they are found. They should know about the need for food for activity and growth, and about the

importance of an adequate and varied diet for health. Bird skeletons and muscles to support and protect

their bodies and to help them to move can be studied in relation to bird migration.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/learn/migration/whichbirds/index.aspx

Make a bird feeder and find out about RSPB for kids.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/makeanddo/activities/birdcake.aspx

Historical, Geographical and Social understanding

For the past 20 years, the climate in Europe has been getting warmer. Species of birds which thrive in cool

temperatures therefore need to move further north. However, they have difficulty adapting to the warmer

climate quickly enough, as shown by new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Find out about bird migration and how it has changed. Is it possible to predict the next 20 years?

Use the internet, information from libraries, RSPB and birdlife centres to produce a project on migration.

Present data on spreadsheets. Graphs could be produced using excel.

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking

Understanding physical development, health and well being

Not only are birds a vital part of our ecosystem, but they are a great source of well being to many people.

Closely linked with wildlife conservation and environmental awareness, bird watching or birding has

grown increasingly popular.

As a means of connecting with nature and the changing seasons, children will find bird watching to be a

relaxing hobby which can be combined with activities such as walking and photography.

There are plenty of bird-watching societies, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

(RSPB), where children can meet up with fellow enthusiasts. Most bird watchers are happy to share their

knowledge and may help you to learn how to recognise birds by their distinctive songs and calls.

Understanding the Arts

http://www.art.co.uk/gallery/id--b13057/cuckoo-prints.htm?

RFID=814175&domain=co_uk&keyword=Prints+Cuckoo&KWID=928492861&CTID=1577839314

Make a collage of some of these beautiful prints. Try drawing and painting exquisite pictures of birds – especially cuckoos!