Albert
Albert by Donna Jo Napoli
Every day Albert sticks his hand out the window of his apartment to check the weather. Every day he decides it's too cold, too hot, too wet, too breezy, and goes back to sitting at his table, drinking tomato juice, doing card tricks, or listening to baseball games on the radio. Until one day when he works his hand out through the grillwork over his window--plop! A cardinal drops a twig in his palm. Before he knows it, Albert is stranded, holding a brand new nest in his hand. The days go by, eggs are laid, the papa cardinal starts feeding berries to Albert, and, inevitably, chicks hatch. Meanwhile, Albert is slowly developing a different take on life. His previously protected world opens up as he witnesses the highs and lows of nature's course.
In this odd little story, award-winning young adult novelist Donna Jo Napoli (Zel, Spinners, etc.) takes her first stab at writing a picture book. It's quirky, it's whimsical... It's a little perplexing. The moral, apparently, is that we need to seize life by the lapels, take the good with the bad, not hide our heads underground. But this message may apply more strongly to adults, especially as the protagonist himself is a young man. Still, children will love the idea of a bird building its nest in someone's hand. With colored pencils, Jim LaMarche creates luminous full-page illustrations with charming details and intriguing angles. (Ages 5 to 8) (amazon.com review)
Why are we featuring this book?
Albert is a book featured in Five in a Row, a literature-based unit study curriculum. Many families use FIAR for all but the Grammar / Reading and Math, and others use it in conjunction with other resources. Below you will find information about the author and illustrator, story summaries, and links to lesson plans and websites that are great go-alongs for Albert. Please note that these resources are meant to complement, not replace, the Five in a Row units. The Five in a Row volumes are inexpensive and well worth the investment. Digital downloads of the FIAR volumes and supplementary resources like Fold & Learn™ (paper manipulatives similar to lapbooks) are available to enhance your units.
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Author page
Other books by Donna Jo Napoli
Illustrator Page
Other books by Jim LaMarche
Go-Alongs:
Online Units and Resources for Albert
A Guide to Noise Control in Minnesota
Acoustical Properties, Measurement, Analysis, Regulation (M)
Candy Bird Nests
You can make these cute little candy nests for a spring or Easter treat. These treats are great to serve at parties. (Y, M, O, T)
Sound Match game
Soun Flash Game (Y)
Wild Sanctuary: Voice of the natural world
Sound Safaris: Travel the world by sound safari and listen as the most exotic creatures sing! (Y)
Household Sound Effects
From Partners in Rhyme - Royalty free music and sound effects (Y)
City Sound Effects
From Partners in Rhyme - Royalty free music and sound effects (Y)
Weather Sound Effects
From Partners in Rhyme - Royalty Free Music & Sound Effects (Y)
Audition (Hearing)
Neuroscience for kids (Y)
All About Birds
From Enchanted Learning: Zoom Birds. Everything you wanted to know about birds including jokes! (Y)
Birding / Wild Birds Clipart
From About.com (Y, M, O, T)
Cardinal Coloring Page
From Kidzone - Free fun facts for kids. Free printable activity worksheets. (Y)
Decibel Levels
From CoolMath4Kids.com (Y, M, O, T)
Fried Bean Cake
From Recipecottage.com (Y, M, O, T)
Dinner, It's for the Birds!
From the National Bird-Feeding Society, activities on making bird feeders. (Y,M)
Waves of Radios
Cool lesson activity for learning about radios and their history on Crayola.com (you need to register to see this link) (Y)
Candy Bird Nests
From Enchanted learning. You can make these cute little candy nests for a spring or Easter treat. These treats are great to serve at parties. (Y)
Birding / Wild Birds
Backyard birding; Identification From About.com (Y, M, O, T)
State facts
State birds, Animals and Flowers (Y)
Author Profile - Donna Jo Napoli
Napoli's versatility can be explained in part by her background in linguistics and poetry. She is currently a professor of linguistics and chair of the linguistics program at Swarthmore College, where she also teaches courses in writing fiction for children. In addition to writing for children, she is a published poet and coeditor of four poetry volumes as well as the author of many books. (M)
Golden Bean Cakes Recipe
From Asian Online Recipes.com (Y, M, O, T)
Go-alongs about
All About Birds - From Enchanted Learning: Zoom Birds. Everything you wanted to know about birds including jokes! (Y)
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park - The crown jewel of Rio Grande Valley parks, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park well deserves its status as headquarters of the World Birding Center. Birders across the nation know “Bentsen” as a treasure trove of “Valley specialties” – those birds found nowhere else in the United States but deepest South Texas – and “Mexican vagrants” – rare visitors from across the Rio Grande. The 760-acre Bentsen-RGV State Park, together with over 1,700 acres of adjoining federal refuge land, promises year-round nature adventures in the richest birding area north of the Mexican border. (Y, M, O, T)
Bird Unit Study - From EasyFunSchool.com (Y, M, O, T)
Birdathon - From the Audubon Society, this project not only teaches birding techniques, it raises money for environmental conservation, education, and advocacy. (Y, M, O, T)
Birding / Wild Birds - Backyard birding; Identification From About.com (Y, M, O, T)
Birding / Wild Birds Clipart - From About.com (Y, M, O, T)
Birds of prey - lesson integrating the Internet into a study of predators. Grades 6-8 (Y,M)
BirdSource - From Cornell University, this site is centered on "birding with a purpose". (Y, M, O, T)
Cardinal Coloring Page - From Kidzone - Free fun facts for kids. Free printable activity worksheets. (Y)
Cornell Lab of Ornithology - If you like birds, you will love this site. Cornell has been a leader in the study of birds ever since Arthur A. Allen was appointed one of the nation's first professors of ornithology at the University in 1917. The Lab of Ornithology is a nonacademic unit of Cornell and has an excellent collection of resources used for outreach to the community. (Y, M, O, T)
Dinner, It's for the Birds! - From the National Bird-Feeding Society, activities on making bird feeders. (Y,M)
Duck Glossary - (Y)
Endangered and Threatened Species of Alaska Curriculum - Center for Alaska Coastal Studies. Materials focus on selected Alaskan species that are threatened, endangered, or at risk. Learn about wildlife population dynamics, the factors that may place species at risk, and efforts by people to help wildlife species recover.
The teaching packet is designed to help you introduce the concepts of "biodiversity" and "endangered" to your students in a hands-on interactive way. (Y, M, O, T)
Estero Llano Grande State Park - At the geographic center of the World Birding Center network, Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco attracts a spectacular array of South Texas wildlife with its varied landscape of shallow lake, woodlands and thorn forest. Even beginning birders and nature lovers will enjoy exploring this 176-acre refuge, which is convenient to all the Rio Grande Valley has to offer. (Y, M, O, T)
NestWatch - "NestWatch is a nest-monitoring project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and funded by the National Science Foundation... We invite people of all ages who are interested in the natural world to help monitor the success of nesting birds and better understand the threats they face. Your valuable nest observations will be permanently stored as legacy data along with hundreds of thousands of other nesting records. When combined, these data will provide a wealth of information about breeding birds and the factors that influence their success across different landscapes." (Y, M, O, T)
Operation Ruby-Throat - The Hummingbird Project from the Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History; comprehensive hummingbird site with lots of info for educators (Y, M, O, T)
Peregrine Falcons - Free lapbook, notebook & unit resources for homeschoolers from Dynamic 2 Moms. (Y, M, O, T)
Peterson Online - Excellent resource with basics of birdwatching, identification, and calendars. (Y, M, O, T)
Project Feeder Watch - Homeschool students across North America can learn about science and have fun while they count birds and record information that scientists need to understand the movements and abundance of feeder birds. Project FeederWatch, a citizen-science project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, is a perfect fit for the homeschool curriculum. The Homeschooler's Guide to Project FeederWatch is now available online. (Y, M, O, T)
Raising chicks - Everything you need to know to raise those chicks that you so careful tended as eggs! (Y M O)
Resaca de la Palma State Park - Brownsville’s Resaca de la Palma State Park boasts the largest tract of native habitat in the World Birding Center network. Etched by ancient curves of the Rio Grande, its 1700 semi- tropical acres provide a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of an international urban center only a few miles away. Through the cooperation of local, state and federal land management agencies, a wilderness preserved from days gone by is open to nature adventurers for the first time. (Y, M, O, T)
Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory - (SABO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the birds of southeastern Arizona, their habitats and the diversity of species that share those habitats through research, monitoring and public education. (Y, M, O, T)
Spring Units - Strawberries and the North American Robin - Free lapbook resources from Dynamic 2 Moms. Turdus Migratorius - commonly known as the North American Robin and Strawberries. (Y, M, O, T)
State facts - State birds, Animals and Flowers (Y)
To Feed or Not To Feed - From About.com - Should you feed wild birds (Y, M, O, T)
Tucson Audubon Society - Tucson Audubon sponsors environmental education programs for all ages that promote understanding of environmental concepts, appreciation of the natural world, and commitment to sustainable resource use. We foster grassroots efforts to improve the environmental quality of our neighborhoods and communities through education, advocacy, and activism. (Y, M, O, T)
What Bird? - This is a great website for summer fun. I have two birdfeeders just outside my living room window and I love to watch the birds use them. This site lets you identify birds of North America with a few clicks of your mouse. You can even build you own bird feeder. (Y)
Wildlife Myths: How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors? - From The Humane Society of the United States. Includes articles on "A Closer Look at Wildlife", "Issues Facing Wildlife", "Feeding Birds in Winter", "Found an Injured or Orphaned Animal?", "Help Migratory Birds in Your Own Backyard", "Owls in Our Midst ", and Solving Problems with Your Wild Neighbors", and "The Mysteries of Migration". (Y, M, O, T)
Wisconsin bird watching - (Y)
Zoom Birds - Educational site geared towards kids with printouts, birdwatching, and bird activities. Contains evolution. (Y, M)
Go-alongs about Predators
Aquatic food webs - Students will explore aquatic food webs and create a web using Inspiration. 3rd Grade (y)
Birds of prey - lesson integrating the Internet into a study of predators. Grades 6-8 (Y,M)
Freshwater Food Webs - Organisms in a food web; role of organisms and a food pyramid. (Y)
Predator-prey simulation - Students will simulate predator prey interactions, the numbers of predator and prey in their “ecosystem” will be recorded and graphed. (Y,M)
Snow Leopard Trust - With programs on the ground in five snow leopard range countries and connections with researchers and conservation organizations all over the globe, the Snow Leopard Trust is a leader in the effort to secure the snow leopard's future. (Y,M)
Water on the web - The Food Web - (Y)
Wolves - Wolf Web Gallery; come visit our wolves... (Y, M, O, T)
