“Urban Roosts: Where
Birds Nest in the City”
Author: Barbara Bash
Genre: Expository Text
Line 1:
windswept skyscraper storefront streetlights
• Compound words
• What two words make up these
compounds?
• Do the words help determine the
meaning of the compound?
skyscraper
windswept
storefront
streetlights
Line 2:
cupcake
mailbox
nighthawk
rooftops
• Compound words
• What two words make up these
compounds?
• Do the words help determine the
meaning of the compound?
cupcake
mailbox
nighthawk
rooftops
Line 3:
crevice
cavities
nooks
• These words are related
• How are they related?
crannies
cracks
crevice
cavities
nooks
crannies
cracks
Line 4:
chirping
hissing
screeching
• Vivid verbs for noises that
animals or birds make.
• Use the words in a sentence.
• Can you suggest other vivid
verbs?
gurgle
chirping
hissing
screeching
gurgle
Line 5:
flowerpot
house
throughout
surrounds
found
• These words are found in the story,
and they review the /ow/ sound
spelled ou_ and ow.
flowerpot
house
surrounds
found
Sentence 1:
Pigeons build nests on a ledge, or on a windowsill, or in
a flowerpot out on a fire escape, or in the curve of a
storefront letter.
• Can you identify the compound words?
• (windowsill, flowerpot)
Sentence 2:
Today, the pigeon flourishes all over the United
States in the nooks and crannies of our cities.
• Can you identify
the related
words?
•(nooks/crannies)
• Can you identify
the vivid words?
• (flourishes)
Sentence 3:
As baby barn owls grow, they huddle together, hissing and
slurping, as they wait for their parents to return with food.
• Can you identify the
vivid words?
• (huddle, hissing)
Sentence 4:
Plants can be found in a flowerpot inside a
house.
• Can you identify
the word with the
/ow/ sound spelled
ou_ and ow?
Oral Language
L 1: windswept skyscraper storefront streetlights
L 2: cupcake mailbox nighthawk rooftops
L 3: crevice
cavities nooks crannies cracks
L 4: chirping
L 5: flowerpot
hissing
house
screeching
throughout
gurgle
surrounds
found
• Choose a line of words, point to a word on the
line, and choose a classmate to read the word.
• Focus on Line 3, choose a word and start a story.
Someone else is to add on to the story by
supplying a sentence that uses another word from
the line.