Songbird

Connecting to prior knowledge

Building field knowledge

What do your students know about refugees and migration?

Consider your cohort and the diversity of your class. Some students may have a refugee background or a connection to refugee story. Consider their personal and social capabilities before you begin, and be prepared to support their wellbeing (Foundation House provides resources to support your work with students of refugee backgrounds).

Save the Children Australia’s video, ‘What is a refugee?’, can help teach children about where refugees come from, what happened in their countries, and why they fled danger. You should also establish vocabulary associated with refugees and migration to Australia. UNHCR Australia’s Guide for Teachers is a useful resource for this, particularly pp. 5–10.

As a class, brainstorm a word list for talking about refugee and migrant experiences. A thinking scaffold may help to organise ideas about the social and cultural lives of young people who come to Australia. Students can then categorise information under some key themes.

From this brainstorm, develop a word wall using a tiered vocabulary framework that students can consult and add to throughout the unit. Identify any gaps in their knowledge and discuss ways that they can locate relevant information.

Video response

Watch Malak and Takwa’s story as a class (you can also access the video lesson plan by the UNHCR). These 11-year-old twins fled Syria with their father, mother, sister, and three brothers. The family initially moved to Jordan but now lives, works, and studies in Luxembourg, a small country in Western Europe.

After watching, tell students that the official language of Syria is Arabic, while the most widely spoken language in Luxembourg is French. We hear Malak and Takwa’s father speaking English; he demonstrates a wide vocabulary and good grammar. Meanwhile, we see the twins doing their homework in French (their English voiceovers have been edited in). Point out that this is a bilingual, and possibly even multilingual, family. Discuss the cognitive demands of learning to speak, read, and write in more than one language, and emphasise that all languages are of equal value. Victoria’s Department of Education has some useful suggestions and anecdotes about working with languages in the classroom.

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Exploring the text in context of our community, school, and ‘me’

Introduce Songbird by Ingrid Laguna. Show students the front cover and read out the blurb on the back. Focus on the first four lines written in yellow; what do these four lines evoke?

Lead a discussion around the following questions:

• Have you, or has someone in your family, moved to Australia from another country?
• Why might people need to leave their home/country to find another?
• How might you feel if you had to move to a new environment?
• Imagine that you have to move to a different house, school, sports team, etc. (you may have already had to do this):
  • What would be new/different about this environment?
  • What, if anything, would help you to feel more at home?
  • How would you make friends?
• What makes you feel safe and happy?

Investigate the author, Ingrid Laguna. Share relevant parts of her Centre for Stories interview. Why do you think Laguna chose to write a book like Songbird?

A chapter summary (PDF, 94KB) has been provided. When you are ready, read Chapters 1 and 2 to the class.

Text connections

Text connections are an effective comprehension strategy for making meaning, retaining information, and engaging with a text. Show students the ‘Making Connections in Reading’ video. Follow up with a whole class discussion about text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections.

Explain that we can make connections that show how books have similar characters, events, or settings; sit within the same genre; or explore the same topic. What other books have students read that consider the refugee or migrant experience? Make a list and discuss. Answers may include:

• My Two Blankets* by Irena Kobald, illus. Freya Blackwood
• Refugees* by David Miller
• The Little Refugee* by Anh and Suzanne Do, illus. Bruce Whatley
• Teacup* by Rebecca Young, illus. Matt Ottley
• Waves* by Donna Rawlins, illus. Heather Potter and Mark Jackson
• Room on our Rock* by Kate and Jol Temple, illus. Terri Baynton
• Be Careful, Xiao Xin!* by Alice Pung, illus. Sher Rill Ng
• The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel, illus. Danny Snell

* Reading Australia resource available

Look at a world map and locate Iraq (country) and Baghdad (capital city), where Jamila and her family come from. What other facts can students find out about Iraq? They could investigate:

• the flag
• the population
• official languages
• history
• bordering countries

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Rich assessment task

In Chapter 1 we learn that Jamila has come to Australia from Iraq with her mother and baby brother Amir. She misses her father and her friends, especially her best friend Mina. Jamila feels like she doesn’t fit in at her new school, and is worried about what she will say in her upcoming class talk. We also learn that she loves to sing and make up songs.

Personal wellbeing

Talk about how Jamila’s love for singing may play an important role in helping her settle into her new home. Then organise a discussion circle in which each student shares their favourite activity and explains why it is something they value or enjoy. Answers may include playing an instrument, participating in sport, making art, taking part in cultural traditions, etc. Make sure that you establish the importance of respecting different opinions and perspectives at the outset.

Once everyone has shared, talk about how these passions can be part of our wellbeing practice in relation to flow. Flow is a state of mind in which a person becomes fully immersed in an activity. You might like to listen to Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s explanation for your own understanding.

Formative assessment: public speaking

This task will encourage students to develop their confidence and public speaking skills. Begin by asking them to write a paragraph that presents their own passion/flow activity, AND that of another student they listened to earlier.

Support students to use the paragraph to develop a short speech that includes the following:

• Vocabulary choices that are appropriate for the audience OR more advanced vocabulary that teaches the audience new pronunciations and meanings
• Features of speech writing that will engage the audience (e.g. hook, rhetorical questions, props, background imagery, background music)
• Consideration of language features (e.g. talking in complete sentences) and the overall structure of the speech
• Use of voice and pitch to express emotions and enhance communication (e.g. clear, well-paced speaking voice; variation in pitch for emphasis)

Provide time for students to deliver their speeches to the rest of the class.

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Responding to the text

Now that you have provided a strong orientation to the text, continue reading aloud to the class as time permits. Songbird has 21 short chapters (plus an epilogue, ‘Three Weeks Later’), so it can be read over two to three weeks.

Text-to-text

To support students’ understanding, use the text-to-text strategy with The Little Refugee by Anh and Suzanne Do, illustrated by Bruce Whatley.

Compare and contrast events from The Little Refugee with those in Songbird (start with the first few chapters and expand as you continue reading). Explain that Songbird is a much longer and more detailed text, but also narrates a particular migration experience.

As a class, create a Venn diagram to capture the shared elements and ideas between the two books.

Text-to-self

NOTE: There may be students in your class who have close connections with the experiences outlined below. It is essential that you understand your class context so you can approach these topics sensitively and modify where appropriate.

Change and resettlement

Ask students:

Have you ever felt unwelcome or unwanted when you have been somewhere new?

If appropriate, students could share a relevant experience and how it made them feel. This should be voluntary; do not call on students to participate if they are not comfortable to do so.

Return to Songbird. Point out that Jamila’s family left their home in Baghdad, Iraq, after the outbreak of war. What do students feel for Jamila in this situation? Prompt them to consider how it might feel to leave a country at war to come to a new place to live. Feelings of fear and uncertainty, but also safety, would make suitable discussion points.

Jamila was a top English student in Baghdad, but feels less confident speaking English in Australia (pp. 8–9). Ask students what they might do, and how they might feel, if they moved to a new country and were not fluent in the language spoken there. Point out that learning a new language is not easy, and that it can be difficult to know what fluent speakers are saying AND to make yourself understood.

Jamila has a notebook that she writes in after school (pp. 26–27, 128–129). What sort of things does she write about? What purpose might this serve?

Finish by asking:

How might you make a new student at school feel welcome?

Talk about being kind to new students and how we can support them. Refer to the Save the Children Australia video (Literature > Connecting to Prior Knowledge > Building Field Knowledge), which suggested that something as simple as a smile can help new arrivals feel welcome.

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Identity, inclusion, and relationships

Discuss:

• What is Jamila good at doing?
• What are you good at doing?

Have each student identify three or four skills or qualities that they possess, and record them on sticky notes. Possible answers include being kind, making jokes, being caring, playing sports, making art, playing music, etc.

Relate this to the previous conversation about flow (Literature > Rich Assessment Task > Personal Wellbeing). Talk about how these activities support our wellbeing, especially when we are stressed.

Now ask:

What makes you different and unique?

This could be a physical attribute, but encourage students to think beyond this. What about their mannerisms, hobbies, special talents or interests? Explain that people are the same in some ways, but are also quite different and unique. You may be able to make links to Health and Physical Education.

Finish by discussing:

• What can you do if someone says something unkind to you OR another student at school?
• Who is a person that can help you when you need support?

You can relate this to your school’s wellbeing strategy and/or pastoral care program. Also identify supportive people in students’ lives more broadly, and remind them that they can talk to a trusted adult if they ever need help.

Jealousy

When Jamila gets a solo part in the end-of-term concert, Alice and Winnie are mean to her and claim that it was awarded out of pity (pp. 59–60). Ask students why they think Alice and Winnie behaved this way.

Together, watch Sesame Street’s video about jealousy. Lead a discussion that recognises and celebrates people’s differences, talents, and achievements. When children learn that these are all aspects that make people unique, they are less likely to feel jealous or to compare themselves to others, and more likely to feel proud of who they are.

You will be able to gauge how well students are connecting with Jamila’s story from their responses to the various text-to-self discussions.

Text-to-world

Have students make connections to some real-life events that Jamila is experiencing. We know that Songbird is set in 2015 from the date in her notebook (p. 26). BTN provides some useful background on what was happening in Iraq during this time. You can also watch their video on refugees in Australia to encourage further understanding and connections to Jamila’s situation.

If possible, invite someone from your local community to discuss their experience of being new in Australia, your state, or your city/suburb.

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Exploring plot, character, setting, and theme

Distribute the retrieval chart (PDF, 78KB) so that students can make notes about Songbird’s plot, characters, settings, and themes. This activity is designed to be undertaken while the book is being read. It could be completed individually, in pairs/groups, or as a class. Check in with students regularly to discuss their findings.

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Rich assessment task

Students can select ONE of the following tasks to complete individually.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Figurative language: sounds, imagery, simile, metaphor

Explain that authors use a range of language features to engage the reader. These include:

Begin by reading the first paragraph of Chapter 2 (p. 7). Have students note all the sounds Jamila hears: the heater whirring, Winnie talking, and the shoe-shuffling dance move.

Next, read the second paragraph on p. 8. In groups of five, have students create a freeze frame that depicts Jamila’s classmates. They should recreate each character’s position and body language as it is described in the book.

Now read the third paragraph on p. 9 and have students identify the simile (it describes Finn’s boredom). They can then read the second paragraph on p. 11 and identify the metaphor (this conveys Jamila’s loneliness).

Afterwards, divide the class into groups of three or four and have them search for other examples of sound, imagery, simile, and/or metaphor in Songbird. You might like to assign or provide a selection of pages to help students get started; pp. 12, 17, and 18 are good places to begin.

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Building empathy and concern for characters

In Chapter 4, Jamila sees a flyer promoting the Grade 5/6 choir (p. 29). She promptly joins and begins to feel better about coming to school.

In the third week of choir, Ms Carrington announces solo auditions for the end-of-term concert (pp. 32–33). What emotion is Jamila feeling based on her sensation of ‘fizziness’? Have students think-pair-share to discuss their ideas and understanding of what Laguna is trying to convey.

Now read Jamila’s encounter with Beza a few pages earlier (pp. 30–31). What emotion is she feeling during this exchange? How does Laguna convey this? Have students think-pair-share to discuss their ideas and understanding.

In Chapter 6, Jamila finds out that she and Eva have gotten solo parts in the concert (p. 55). What is she feeling at that moment? How does Laguna convey this? Have students think-pair-share to discuss their ideas and understanding.

Connect this discussion to the previous figurative language activities. Explain that we can use figurative language in our own writing to evoke readers’ emotions.

Plan a series of lessons to explore the use of figurative language in writing. The following websites may be useful:

• Australian Curriculum Lessons – Snapshot Writing Lesson: Being Descriptive by Appealing to the Senses
• Rocky River City Schools – Using Figurative Language
• It’s Lit Teaching – Hands-On Figurative Language Activities for your High School Class

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Optional extension activities

In 2010, Shaun Tan’s picture book The Lost Thing* was adapted into an animated film. As well as exploring different aspects of the human experience, it evokes many different emotions.

ACMI has a rich learning resource for Years 3–8 that focuses on different aspects of storytelling from both the book and the film. It would be an interesting way to extend students’ exploration of emotions in storytelling.

* Reading Australia resource available

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You might also like to select and share a few stories from the Refugee Council of Australia or Immigration Museum websites. Make sure you read these ahead of time to ensure that they are appropriate for your students. You can then analyse these stories as a class and reflect on the diverse experiences of people who have come to Australia seeking better lives.

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Examining grammar and vocabulary

Exploring the grammar of affect

Read the opening paragraph of the book (p. 1) and ask students how Laguna helps the reader to feel with Jamila. Focus on the verbs; ask students how the verbs show what Jamila is feeling, as well as revealing other aspects of her personality.

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Exploring language variation

Jamila often speaks or thinks in her first language. On p. 12, when she is learning the English word ‘acrobat’, she writes the definition for herself in Arabic. This comes much easier to her than writing in English.

Turn to the Glossary at the back of the book (pp. 167–169). Show the class that Laguna has collated and defined all the Arabic words and phrases in Songbird. Note that these have been written in English to help English readers pronounce them; this is different to Arabic script, which can be seen on pp. 12 and 159.

As of 2024, English is the most widely spoken language in the world, followed by Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, French, then Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Strictly speaking, however, MSA is a standardised form of Arabic used in literature, academia, media, and law; it is not typically spoken as a first language. Instead, Arabic speakers often learn a dialect, like Egyptian Arabic or Sudanese Arabic. Jamila and her family would speak Mesopotamian Arabic, also known as Iraqi Arabic.

Share some other interesting facts about the Arabic language:

• There are as many as 380 million Arabic speakers (of all varieties) across the globe.
• Arabic is the official language of 22 countries (plus five countries outside the Arab League).
• The Arabic alphabet is written from right to left in cursive script. Unlike the English alphabet, which has 26 letters that can be written in upper or lower case, the Arabic alphabet has 28 letters and no letter case.
• There are many common English words of Arabic origin, including: candy (qandi), coffee (qahwah), giraffe (zarāfah), lemon (līmūn), magazine (makhāzin), orange (nāranj), sofa (suffah), and sugar (sukkar).
• There are more than 50 words describing love in Arabic, 11 of which have been explored in a picture book written by Randa Abdel-Fattah and illustrated by Maxine Beneba Clarke.
• The numerals zero through nine (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) were introduced to Europeans by Arabic speakers.

Place students in groups and ask them to select some words from the Glossary in Songbird. They can do some research to find out how to pronounce these words (Google Translate may be useful here). If there is an Arabic speaker in your school community, you could invite them into your class to teach some common greetings and sayings.

As an optional task, you could ask students to find out how to write/say a particular word in other languages. This could be linked to their own first language OR languages that are taught and/or spoken in your school or community. For example:

You could display students’ work in the classroom, around the school, or in your school newsletter.

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Rich assessment task

Now that students have finished reading Songbird, get them to pair up and discuss their thoughts and feelings about the book. They can draw on previous discussions from throughout the unit as well as their own reading.

Once they have had some time to talk with a partner, join the pairs to make groups of four. They can build their shared understanding of the book by discussing:

• the narrative structure
• the author’s message
• the audience
• the setting(s)
• the ending

Did students find the ending of Songbird satisfying? Encourage them to discuss the following within their groups (or as a class):

• Was there anything else you wish had happened, or any matters that you wanted to resolve or explore further?
• Do you think that books should have happy endings? Why or why not?

Finish by asking students to individually comment on Laguna’s style, including her use of characters, themes, and third person narration. Students should reflect on whether there are elements of this style that they could incorporate into their own writing. They can also compare and contrast these stylistic choices with other books they have read (this can include books about refugees and migrants as outlined under Literature > Connecting to Prior Knowledge > Text Connections).

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Singing and songwriting

Invite students to explore the lyrics to ‘A Voice I Know’ (pp. 67–68), the song that Jamila sings in the Grade 5/6 choir.

Have students form small groups and elect a scribe to make notes about the song’s structure, noting any rhyming words and phrases. They should then discuss the following:

• What do you think ‘A Voice I Know’ is about?
• What does it make you feel?
• What sort of music would go well with this song?
• What might be included in a music video for this song?

Invite the groups to share their thoughts with the whole class.

Together, listen to some other songs about waiting for someone to come home. Explore and discuss the lyrics, structure, and meaning of each one. Examples include:

• ‘Come Home’ by OneRepublic
• ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri
• ‘Moving’ by Refugees Welcome

Discuss the relationship between the lyrics, sounds, images, and language patterns in the songs. Identify how language choice and imagery build emotional connection and engagement with the story or message of each song.

You might also like to explore some songwriting resources in preparation for an upcoming activity:

• Reading Rockets – Songwriting with Kids
• NSW Department of Education – Vocal Ease MORE: Modules 1 and 2
• 916 Ink – Creative Writing for Kids: An Intro to Songwriting!
• Country Music Hall of Fame – Songwriting 101: Teacher Resources
  • NOTE: These lesson plans were designed for an American songwriting program, but contain some interesting activity ideas.

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Choir and performance

If you haven’t already done so, talk about what a choir is. This is a group of people who sing together, learning and rehearsing songs under the leadership of a conductor or choir director. Choirs may perform concerts or sing during religious services. Some are professional while others are recreational. They also vary in size; there are twelve students in the Grade 5/6 choir in Songbird, whereas chamber choirs can have up to 40 singers. Rock Choir, a contemporary choir in the UK, has recorded songs with up to 7,500 people!

Ask students:

• Is there a choir at our school?
• Are there choirs in your community?

Research choirs that may be in your area (With One Voice, a network of community-led choirs, is a good place to start). If any of your students or their families sing in a choir, invite them to visit your class. You may also be able to sit in on your school choir’s rehearsal.

Read what Tania de Jong (founder of Creativity Australia) has to say about singing. Discuss what this quote means and relate this to your work and discussions around Songbird.

Now divide the class into four groups and allocate each group ONE of the following links:

• Include – The Include Choir
• SBS News – The Sydney music teacher helping refugees to heal their trauma through song
• The Sydney Street Choir
• Pop Choir

Students should read about their assigned choir and record any connections they can make to Songbird in terms of the people who attend or the reasons for/mission of the choir. Invite them to share their findings with the rest of the class.

Finally, students will work together to create a song that explores ONE theme from the book. This may be friendship, hope, change, family, or a combination of these. Students will remain in their groups to brainstorm some lyrics (a maximum of ONE verse and/or chorus) and ideas for a tune. You can then regroup to develop these ideas into an original and jointly-written class song.

Invite the class to perform their song at a school assembly, OR record the performance and share it with your school community.

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Cultural identity

Present students with the digital immigration stories from Victorian Collections (you may need to vet these ahead of time to ensure they are suitable for your class context). Working individually, they will select ONE of these videos and use it to write a report that responds to the following question:

How have migrants contributed to Australian society through food, performing arts, politics, sport, fashion, science, or technology?

Review the features of a report:

• A topical title that tells the reader what the report is about
• A brief introduction that gives a general statement on the topic
• Subheadings
• Factual language
• Technical language that may be explained in a glossary
• Third person narration (i.e. he, she, it, they)

Encourage students to draw on work and discussions from throughout this unit, as well as their own knowledge. You may need to allow them to do additional research in or outside of class. They might like to enhance their report with photographs or graphs. Remind them to proofread and edit their work carefully before turning it in. You can then collate the reports in a portfolio that everyone in class can browse.

This activity links with the general capability of Intercultural Understanding and the cross-curriculum priority of Sustainability as it relates to world views, futures, and social justice.

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Rich assessment task

Reflection and feedback

Students will conclude this unit of work by reflecting on their own learning and giving feedback to their peers. Start by asking them to identify and share something they have learned from their study of Songbird. This can be done in small groups or as a whole class.

Invite students to reflect not only on their reading of the book, but also their choices as authors. Possible guiding questions include:

• Did writing the song OR report help you to understand the themes in Songbird? If so, how?
• Which activities or discussions did you enjoy the most? Why?
• What have you learnt from the process of creating your own text?

Following this discussion, give students time to individually record their ideas so that they can present their final thoughts to the class. Clarify how you want these reflections to be presented; you may need to model this and/or create anchor charts so that expectations are clear.

Together, decide on the success criteria for the presentations. Print these and distribute them to students so that they can provide feedback to their peers as part of the final reflection.

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