After lunch, Ethan called all the human chicks into their chair circle to start the afternoon session. Again Uuffi sat on the back of a chair between Carolie and Traci. He felt well rested after his nap in the tree outside the Keep.
"This morning," Ethan said, "Traci, Jason and I introduced Uuffi to the color names red and blue." The teacher pulled the balls from his pocket and placed them on Uuffi's chair seat. "Uuffi, please tell the children which ball is the blue one?"
The a-a hopped down to the chair seat, accidently knocking the blue ball off the chair. He flopped to the floor and cautiously retrieved the ball from where it had rolled under Carolie's chair. The little girl's eyes gleamed with excitement as she learned over to watch him. The ball in his beak, Uuffi waddled out to the circle's center, bobbed up and down with raised crest. Suddenly he stopped and turned his head to place the ball against his back. "Back ball--blue ball--blue--like Uuffi back--Uuffi back--pretty back--pretty ball!"
He watched as the chicks all clapped and giggled and said, "Good bird, Uuffi!" Ethan also laughed, "Yes, that's right, Uuffi, that's the blue ball. What color is the ball that's still on the chair, Uuffi?"
The a-a waddled back to the chair and craned his neck up as far as it would stretch. Carolie held the ball out so he could see it better.
He dropped the blue ball and reached for the red one. Grasping it in his beak, he lowered his head so the ball rested against his chest feathers. "Chest ball--red ball--red--like Uuffi chest," he announced, then raised his crest and did his little bobbing hop-dance around the circle of chairs. The human chicks laughed and clapped some more.
Aware that he had everyone's attention, he lowered his head so the ball in his beak touched the floor, and then started running around keeping the ball pressed against the floor. Running in a small circle at first, he gradually widened his circle as he heard the chicks squeal with delight. But with his head down like this, he couldn't see very well where he was going. He banged into Ethan's big foot and dropped the ball. The chicks roared with laughter as Ethan picked the a-a up and returned him to the chair seat.
The teacher laughed, "Uuffi, that's right! Some of your feathers are blue, and there's the blue ball over there. Now look at the clothes the children are wearing. Do you see any blue clothing? Blue, like the blue ball and your back feathers."
The colorful bird flopped down to the floor again and retrieved the blue ball. He took it around the circle of chicks until he stopped at Leeannlyn's skirt. Holding the ball against her skirt, he said, "Blue like Uuffi back--blue ball--blue, blue, blue!"
As the chicks laughed and clapped, Jason said, "My shirt's blue, too, Uuffi!"
Uuffi turned, then hop-waddled over to Jason and flew up into the delighted chick's lap. "Uuffi blue back--blue ball--Jason blue--blue, blue, blue."
Jason gently patted Uuffi on the back. Dropping the ball, the a-a butted his head into the boy's tummy and issued tiny little contented chirps and peeps as the boy chick continued to pat him.
Uuffi heard Podo say, "Well, I'd say the lesson was successful. Uuffi knows his reds and blues."
"Yes, indeed," Ethan smiled. "I have an idea. How about if we teach Uuffi what yellow and green are? There are some pretty yellow lilies blooming in the garden now. And of course, all the plants have green leaves. So let's go into the garden, shall we?"
As they got up, Kaffryn pointed out, "Ethan, my blouse's yellow."
"Yes, Kaffryn," Ethan smiled as he led the human chicks outside. Uuffi had decied to ride on Traci's arm. "For Uuffi to really understand what we humans mean by color, he needs to know that the lilies are yellow and then that your blouse is yellow, also. We need two or more items to show him, so he can make the connection."
Leeannlyn said, "Ethan, we do have that yellow paper in our room. Shall I go back and get it?" |