Shimbir 6-pack Author: Alan Bagnall ISBN: 9780790329031 Copyright Date: 2007 Lesson Plan Blackline Master Grade Level: 2 Reading Level: I Strategy/Skill: Author's purpose, Determining importance, Main ideas Genre: Realistic Fiction Theme/Topic: Family, School and Community Classification: Fiction Fluency: Fluent

Overview

This delightful narrative describes a Somali girl’s experience of her fi rst day at school in a new country.  When her teacher asks her about the wonderful bird she has painted, all Anisa says is “shimbir,” the Somali word for bird.  The class supports Anisa by creating a report about Anisa’s bird and making it into a class big book.

Suggested Purposes

This text supports the comprehension strategies of identifying the main ideas and understanding the author’s purpose.  This story will encourage discussion about facing new situations and provides an excellent model of using descriptive language.

Text Features (Focus on only one or two per session.)

• the first-person narrator
• the way the class supports Anisa
• the inclusion of a text within a text
• the shift in time from page 5 to page 6 with the children having written and illustrated the big book
• the change from past tense in the main text to present tense in the big book
• the relatively complex sentences
• the unusual perspective in the illustration on page 12
• the adverb “proudly” on page 4
• the adjectives – beautiful, big, blue, bright, first, green, happy, little, red, wonderful, yellow
• the suffi x “ful” – beautiful, wonderful
• the possessive apostrophes on pages 2, 3, and 5
• the “ies” plural ending – berries
• the -ea digraph – eats, leaves, speak, teacher
  • Possible challenges
  •  the sentences that include more than one idea
  •  recognizing and understanding why Anisa feels more confident by the end of the story

For more information please seen our Lesson Plan