Bowerbird Blues: Year 1 Science and Geography 

All curriculum links in this unit use the latest national and state curriculums. Use this guide to compare codes across AC versions.  

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Author: Aura Parker 

Publisher: Scholastic

Unit writer: Ingrid Gilholme

Synopsis: I am a collector. Always looking, finding ... and keeping! Bowerbird loves blue. Magnificent cobalt. Brilliant, vibrant blue! But something is missing. What could it be? This picture book from Aura Parker stars a beautiful bowerbird on the search for blue! It’s a moving story of longing and connection, that unfolds as the bowerbird’s search sends him soaring across the sea, sky and city. He swoops and snatches vibrant treasures for his collection, and soon his bower – a mix of natural and unnatural objects – attracts something greater and more fulfilling than he could ever have imagined. (Publisher synopsis)

Rationale: In this unit students will make connections between the text and their personal experience and make relevant comments to demonstrate their understanding of a text. Students will identify key words and the meaning they carry and understand that images add to the meaning of texts. As scientists and geographers students will explore their local school environment and make observations about the things that live there. They will use their observations to create a written text, artwork, or role play, telling the story of a living thing in their school environment. They will combine visuals with written text where appropriate and use vocabulary in their writing adapted from the text. 

Cross-curriculum links: Science; Geography

English concepts: Narrative; Code and Convention; Connotation, Imagery and symbol

Overarching questions: 

1. How do authors use words and images to convey meaning?
2. How can a text help us to understand the world around us and connect with our environment? 
3. How does our environment impact living things? 

Rich assessment task: After spending time outside in the local environment/schoolyard, noticing, observing, photographing, and drawing a chosen living thing (e.g. a bird), students are invited to tell their chosen animal’s story, using a format of their choice. Innovating on the words and illustrations in the text as a model, students will consider how well their local school environment supports the needs of their chosen living thing and show this through an artwork, role play or story. Students can incorporate their point of view regarding adaptations that could be made to the environment to better support their living thing.  

Learning intention: Using our knowledge of texts helps us to predict and confirm meaning

Exploration

Display the double-page front cover of the text, ensuring it is clearly visible for the class. Invite students to closely observe the illustrations and finer details before sharing their predictions of what the text is about.

Key questions:
• What can you see on the front cover?
• What type of bird do you think this is?
• Who do you think collected these items? Why?
• What are the similarities and differences between the items on the cover?  

Evidence of Learning

Students:
• retell the sequence of events in a narrative
• identify narrative features
 

Learning intention: Developing our background knowledge can help us to better understand the information in a text

Exploration

Read the text to the class, taking the time to display and explore the illustrations. During the reading, ask students to listen for new vocabulary that may be important to finding out more about the text. Record new vocabulary on a large sheet of paper. 

Key questions:
• What are some of the important words in the text?
• Are there any words that you are not familiar with?
• Do the illustrations tell us more information than just the words? 
• What additional information can you infer from the illustrations?
• What does skerrick mean? What word could the author have used instead of skerrick?

Response

As a class, jointly construct an infographic sharing information about bowerbirds using webpages like Great bowerbird facts for kids, Satin bowerbird facts for kids, Britannica's page on bowerbirds, and NSW Environment and Heritage's information page.

Guiding questions:
• What is a bower?
• Why is the bowerbird so interested in the colour blue?
• How can we present information that is interesting for the audience to read?
• What have we learnt about bowerbirds from our research that can help us to better understand the text? 

Evidence of learning

Students:
• identify and develop their understanding of new vocabulary 
• describe facts about the bowerbird
• organise information to inform the reader

Learning intention: Authors can use alliteration to affect the reader 

Exploration

Introduce alliteration, explaining that alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words or within words. The words can be right next to each other or spaced out, and at least two words are needed for alliteration. 
Ask students to share some examples of alliteration with a partner, then share as a class. Read Bowerbird Blues, asking the class to record examples of alliteration on a whiteboard as you read. Examples from text:
Swooping, snatching, scouring, scavenging.  
Peeping, peering. Perhaps I will find it? 
Sliding, slipping through the air.  
Into wanting and wandering. Fluttering, fidgeting in all this grey. 

Key questions:
• Why did the author use alliteration throughout the text?
• Where have you seen or heard alliteration used before?
• How does alliteration affect you as a reader?
• What do you notice about the words? Are they all a certain type of word e.g. verb, noun? 

Response

Using images from the text, students record their own examples of alliteration to describe the image. Students may like to write their ideas or record themselves speaking. 

Guiding questions:
• What words can you use to describe the image?
• Can you find words that start with the same sound?
• Do certain letters lend themselves to create an alliterative phrase?   

Evidence of learning

Students:

• identify examples of alliteration
• describe the impact of alliteration on the reader
• write a sentence using alliteration 

Learning intention: Words can be used to add precision and provide new ways to express concepts

Complete list of learning intentions covered in this unit: