Birdcatcher

Birdcatcher is a realistic fiction story about a girl, Jessie, who was worried about her mother being sick. While at the park with her Nana, Jessie saw a bird that appeared to be hurt. Nana told Jessie about the birdcatcher tree that has seedpods that become sticky and catch and trap small birds. Jessie tried to nurture the bird back to health. The story is narrated with dialogue, speech bubbles, and a letter.

Birdcatcher is a simple narrative story. Critical thinking questions are provided to guide the reader. Illustrations match the text. A visual information guide is provided for teachers to draw students’ attention to the font styles of the letter, speech bubbles, layout, and design. There is an infographic at the end of the book outlining the parts of a narrative including the who, where, when, problem, and solution. An activity on drawing their own visual map of a narrative is provided for teachers to extend students’ learning.

Readers develop vocabulary such as singular/plural (leaf/leaves), homonyms (one/won), synonyms (sick/unwell), antonyms (wet/dry), and similes. Opportunities arise to discuss apostrophes to show possession (Jessie’s hand) and apostrophes within contractions (we’ll). Focus on long and short vowel i and discuss suffix ly (gently), base words (dribbled), and silent letters (thought).

This title is from the Sails Literacy series. Hook readers and ignite their curiosity - over 850 levelled texts with bright, colourful, sophisticated designs.