Feathers First
by Janice Marriott
SJ 2.3.08
Overview
The birds are holding an election. All the candidates are gathered together to
give their speeches. This play is a rich text that provides plenty of
opportunities for exploration for students at all levels.
Note: An audio version of this story is available on School Journal Part 1 and
Part 2 CD 2007–2008 (item number 33360).
Suggested reading purpose and teaching purpose
Based on the information I have about my students’ learning needs, what
would be appropriate reading and teaching purposes for this lesson?
• To read and enjoy a humorous play based on the characteristics of
New Zealand’s birds.
• To support the students in developing the comprehension strategies of
summarising and inferring.
Suggested learning goal
We are learning to identify key information in a play in order to make
inferences about the characters.
Success criteria
To support our comprehension of the text, we will:
• make connections to what we know about some New Zealand birds
• identify key words or phrases that show the characteristics of the birds
• summarise the characteristics of the birds in our own words.
Readability
Noun frequency level: 9.5–10.5 years for guided reading
What features of this text support a range of reading and teaching purposes?
• The dialogue that reveals the birds’ characteristics
• The humorous illustrations that reflect some of the birds’ traits
• The topic-specific vocabulary about elections
• The play on words – such as “fly past the fence post/first past the post”,
“propulsionally/proportionally”, “United, we flap. Divided, we flop.”
• The spoof of electoral candidates’ speeches
• The use of onomatopoeia for the birds’ sounds.