Grandma Bird / After Reading / Writing Opportunities /
How to Care for a Bird
Writing an information leaflet
Lesson length: 1 session
Lesson from Grandma Bird series
Required reading: Whole book

Text potential
- Writing opportunities: Leaflet: information leaflet
Subjects
- English
- Writing
Purpose
This writing lesson uses questioning to identify information about caring for a bird, which is implicit in the story. After locating and discussing the relevant information, the knowledge acquired can be transformed to a different form of writing. Part of the process should be the consideration of who might need to know about caring for birds and who the guide is being written for (purpose and audience).
Preparation
Have available:
- Copies of Grandma Bird at least one between two.
- Download and print copies of the table ‘How To Care For a Bird’.
- Make an enlarged version for modelling.
Process
The focus for this lesson is on the section where Noi finds the bird. There is a short series of questions, the answers to which can be recorded on the How To Care For a Bird table. An adult can record the children’s ideas for reference to support the writing.
Begin with the page, ‘Noi listened as the sea thrashed…’
- When the bird lands in the cave, what does Noi do? (Answers should refer to him being quiet and still).
- How does Noi go to the bird? (Answers should refer to him moving carefully which is inferred and staying low).
- How does Noi pick the bird up? (Look carefully at the picture to notice he is using both hands to hold it carefully).
- What do the birds eat? (Seaweed soup – tell the children that seaweed is full of vitamins and minerals).
- What is it like inside the room? (warm and dry).
Can the children now use a combination of text and images to create their guide to caring for a bird? You could use the How to Care for a Bird resource as a writing frame or create a leaflet.
You may also like to read Fiona Roberton The Perfect Pet, which shows how a pet dog could be cared for. The book could be used as a model for writing the Caring for a Bird leaflet
Final reflection
Ask:
- Do you think looking after a seabird would be different to looking after a garden bird? In what way might it be different?
You could carry out further research or challenge the children to find out more at home.
Key vocabulary
information, guide
Resources
The Perfect Pet
Once upon a time, there lived a boy called Henry. What Henry wanted more than anything in the whole wide world . . . MORE than chips . . . MORE than a cowboy costume . . . MORE than an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon . . . was a DOG. …