Clever Crow

Connecting to prior knowledge

Before you begin, you might like to read Magabala Books’ guide to teaching Indigenous content, which provides background information for teachers using First Nations texts in the classroom.

Additionally, it would be worthwhile reviewing the importance of Acknowledging Country and how this differs from being Welcomed to Country. A good explanation and sample wording is available from Reconciliation NSW (see also Reconciliation Australia and Indigenous.gov.au).

Finally, when referring to Aboriginal people who live in north-east Arnhem Land, you can simply use the word ‘Yolŋu’ (which means ‘people’). ‘Yolŋu’ and ‘Yolngu’ are both acceptable spellings. The /ŋ/ sound is the same as in ‘sing‘, ‘thing‘, etc. See the Living Knowledge Project to hear a pronunciation.

Developing students’ background knowledge, beginning with the story setting

Introduce students to the area and people of north-east Arnhem Land by:

• highlighting it on a map of Australia
• exploring nearby language group(s) on the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia or Gambay First Languages Map (and comparing these to the language group of the land where your lesson is taking place)
• showing pictures that depict aspects of the natural environment, people and lifestyle
• viewing BTN’s Arnhem insight video
• reading Our Birds by Siena Stubbs (if available)
• viewing the pictures in Welcome to My Country by Laklak Burarrwanga, Dr Sarah Wright, Dr Sandie Suchet-Pearson and Dr Kate Lloyd (if available)

Students may have some prior knowledge to bring to the discussion if they have read Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester.

Some points to be emphasised and developed include:

• North-east Arnhem Land is located in the Northern Territory
• The landscape features red earth, screw palms, stringybark and spear grass
• It is home to Yolŋu, who have lived in the area for at least 50,000 years
• Yolŋu belong to a number of clans that follow a moiety system (division into two groups) – the two moieties, Dhuwa and Yirritja, can intermarry
• Yolŋu live a unique lifestyle with a strong focus on culture

Also draw attention to:

• The importance of ceremonies for Aboriginal peoples
• The importance of the sea turtle and sea turtle eggs for many coastal communities
• Yolŋu’s relationship to land and water

Useful online references are listed under More Resources.

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

The Djambarrpuyŋu language

Clever Crow is presented in two languages: English and Djambarrpuyŋu. 

Ask students about the language(s) they speak and those of parents, grandparents, friends or people in the community they know. Create a list.

Have students work in pairs to research and find three important facts about First Languages. Share and discuss the findings in larger groups. The following resources will help students get started:

• AIATSIS – Languages Alive
• Deadly Story – Languages
• BTN – Indigenous Languages

Now read aloud the introduction to Clever Crow: ‘The Language of this Story’.

Create a board display that comprises pictures and words for some key elements of Clever Crow. Write the word labels in both English and Djambarrpuyŋu. For example:

Note that Clever Crow includes a glossary of words and phrases in both English and Djambarrpuyŋu. At the end of the book there is information about the pronunciation of the sounds in Djambarrpuyŋu language. Recordings are also available from the Living Knowledge Project.

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Considering crows

Discuss:

Are crows really clever?

Display a range of picture books that depict crows and read their blurbs. Suggestions include:

• Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth, illus. Olivia Lomenech Gill
• I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive by Leslie Barnard Booth, illus. Alexandra Finkeldey
• Mo and Crow by Jo Kasch, illus. Jonathan Bentley
• Six Crows by Leo Lionni
• Crow and the Waterhole by Ambelin Kwaymullina
• Cunning Crow* by Gregg Dreise

* Reading Australia title

Read Aesop’s ‘The Crow and the Pitcher’, which is about a thirsty and innovative crow. This story provides a good lead in to considering whether crows are clever.

Have students work in groups of three to discuss and agree on an answer to this question. You might provide some time for them to research crows and gather evidence that will help them to better consider the question.

Have each group present their answer along with the reasons or facts they used to make their decision.

If possible, read extracts from Bird Brains by Candace Savage. Alternatively, show students this 2014 TEDx Talk.

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Preparing to read: using the front cover to consider story possibilities

Show students the front cover of Clever Crow written by Nina Lawrence and illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft. Identify the scene and the different items within it (i.e. crow, kangaroos, land, egg).

Students can share what they observe about the visual features on the cover in relation to colour, shape, distance and angle of shot, and animals or items in the foreground and background.

Use these observations together with the title to determine the story’s setting, likely main character, potential other characters (including those not depicted on the cover), key items and possible story events. Discuss in pairs, and then as a class, the possible role of the egg in the story.

Finish by asking:

Why is this book called Clever Crow?

Rich assessment task

Have students work in groups of three to create a poster featuring information about some or all of the following topics:

• the title, front cover, setting and language of Clever Crow
• the author and illustrator
• about Yolŋu
• the role of ceremony in Aboriginal cultures
• the significance of turtles and turtle eggs
• the intelligence of crows
• predictions about the story

Students should present their posters using a combination of written prose, pictures/photographs, key phrases or quotes, tables, maps and charts. Before beginning, discuss the audience and purpose of this task.

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Responding to the text

What do you think?

Encourage students to think about and share their responses to the story of Clever Crow by using open-ended prompting questions such as:

• What did you notice in the text?
• How did the text make you feel?
• What does this text remind you of in your own life?

Jot down the responses to this last question, as students may like to return to them after several readings of the book.

Encourage students to think about and share their responses to specific events or occurrences in the story. These might include:

• The kookaburra laughing when he saw the crow with the turtle egg
• The old man (who had been fishing) giving the turtle egg to the people at the ceremony

Encourage students to consider both the crow and the mother’s points of view in relation to the beginning of the text, when the crow steals the egg from the basket. To assist students to understand and identify point of view, you might have them take on the role of each character (the mother and the crow) one at a time and retell the event from their perspectives.

Keep in mind cultural considerations when interpreting a text. Remind the class that students all interpret a text in different ways. Yolŋu consider beginnings and endings important. There is a different way to think about time and to be present in the moment.

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Initiating event and consequence (cause and effect)

Assist the students to identify events in the text that initiated or caused other events. For example:

• The crow couldn’t find any food in the trees or grass
• The crow squawked ‘hey, hey, hey!’ when the kookaburra laughed
• The wallaby hopped over to the sandbank to rest in the shade

Have students work in pairs to discuss each of these initiating events and:

1. determine their consequences (that is, what happened next)
2. come up with alternative consequences (that is, what could conceivably have happened but didn’t)
3. explain how each of the alternatives would lead to changes to the outcome of the story

For example:

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Changing the outcome

Have the students create and orally tell a different version of the story whereby a new consequence to one of the initiating events is incorporated, thus altering the plot and eventual outcome. For example, the initiating event of the crow squawking might lead to the egg being taken by the kookaburra. The students are to tell the story as it might unfold should this consequence be incorporated.

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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

Beyond the story: examining values and beliefs

Introduce students to the ideas of:

• sustainability
• respect for the environment
• the connectedness of people and nature

Conduct a brainstorm for each topic so that students can share their current understandings. Record the ideas. Then develop their understanding further by playing three short video clips:

• BTN – Special: Environmental Sustainability
• Skwirk Online Education – Different Environments
• Global Oneness Project – The Land Owns Us

Provide groups of four with a copy of Clever Crow and invite them to consider how the characters, setting, plot and visuals in general communicate beliefs in relation to sustainability, respect for the environment and the connectedness of people and nature. A scaffold has been provided.

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Rich assessment task

Story map

Have the students identify the setting of Clever Crow, then examine the illustrations to determine and note the specific features and any changes that occur as the story unfolds. Prompt students to:

• consider the setting in terms of six stages of the story: (1) the crow looking for food; (2) the crow, kookaburra and kangaroo acquiring the egg; (3) the man in the canoe with the egg; (5) the ceremony; (6) the crow stealing the egg from the woman
• create simple sketches to show the setting: its main layers (water, land, sky), other elements (trees, hills, grass, sun) and changes across the duration of the story
• make notes about colour, line, and shape

Provide the students with a long sheet of paper or cardboard divided into six sections. Have them depict the setting of Clever Crow using a combination of mediums (painting, drawing, collage, printing). For instance:

• use one medium (e.g. paint) to depict the layers (river, land, sky)
• use another medium (e.g. collage) to depict the sun
• use a third medium (e.g. crayon) to depict other elements (trees, grass, hills)

NOTE: The first two pages of the book are in black and white. Students might also depict the beginning of their setting in black and white.

Have the students write key words and phrases and draw pictures to summarise the six main events of the story, then attach them in the correct order to their setting.

You might also review the ideas of sustainability, respect for the environment and the connectedness of people and nature, and have students create symbols for each one. They can attach these symbols in relevant positions across the length of their setting.

Provide an opportunity for students to explore symbols in First Nations art. Discuss cultural appropriation and how symbols are significant to specific peoples and communities. The creation of symbols for this task should be significant to the student, not replicated from First Nations artwork.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Book illustrations and visual codes

Choose one double-page spread from Clever Crow (for example, pp. 5–6) and examine it closely for visual codes that affect meaning, particularly in relation to the viewer’s emotional response.

Students should work in pairs to examine the focus illustration and identify the main features (i.e. characters, aspects of setting, key objects or items, the event being portrayed). For pp. 5–6, these include:

They will then analyse the artwork in terms of the illustrator’s use of visual codes. You may need to assist with this. For example:

An examination of the artwork might take place over time, so that one or two visual codes are dealt with at a time. In each case, the students should develop familiarity with and understanding of each code; learn to identify its use in illustrations; and develop the ability to determine how it affects the viewer’s response to events/characters and their understanding of the story being constructed.

Some useful resources are the Visual Literacy website and First Steps Viewing Resource Book.

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The real thing

Show the students photographs of north-east Arnhem Land that depict scenes similar to those in the book’s illustrations: the natural bush setting, sky and land, trees and native animals, ceremonial dance, water/river, cooking on an outdoor fire, etc.

Have the students compare the photographs with the book’s illustrations and consider the similarities and how aspects of the photographs are represented in the illustrations.

Draw the student’s attention to patterns in the landscape and how these are depicted in the illustrations.

Examining grammar and vocabulary

What did they say?

Clever Crow is written in the third person. The narrator objectively describes what the characters do and what happens to them. Additionally, the text contains some use of direct speech. This serves to emotionally involve the reader with the characters to provoke feelings such as empathy, affection, fascination or even dislike. The direct speech used in the story is:

• ‘The crow looked at the big turtle egg and cried, “Yummy, food for me!”‘
• ‘”Hey, hey, hey!” squawked the crow in surprise, and the egg fell out of his beak …’
• ‘”It’s a big turtle egg!” he cried. “I’ll give this to somebody.”‘
• ‘”I found this big egg,” said the old man, and he gave it to the mother.’

Choose some of the following activities to teach students about direct speech and the punctuation that is used to record direct speech in writing.

Activity 1

Provide the students with pictures of speech bubbles attached to different characters. Have them locate the examples of direct speech from the book and write it in the speech bubble of the relevant character. The emphasis is on identifying and extracting the exact words of a character and distinguishing them from the words of the narrator.

Extend this activity by having students orally create a response to one of the characters whose speech has been written in a bubble.

Activity 2

Read the text to the students by substituting the direct speech for indirect speech. For example:

• The crow looked at the big turtle egg and he cried out that it was yummy and for him.
• The crow squawked in surprise and the egg fell out of his beak.
• He lifted it into his canoe and cried out that it was a big turtle egg and that he would give it to someone.
• The old man told the women that he had found the big egg.

Discuss the difference in the way the two forms (direct and indirect) are used and the difference to the reader’s emotional response to the characters.

Activity 4

Have students work in pairs to locate examples of direct speech in Clever Crow and determine the features and rules of the punctuation. Students should make notes and then combine with another pair to compare what they have determined. Allow time to discuss and make adjustments. Afterwards, bring the class together and assist them to create a poster that depicts a set of rules for punctuating direct speech in writing.

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What’s in a sentence?

Revise/check students’ understanding of a complete sentence (i.e. has a subject and a verb and is a complete thought). Choose some sentences from Clever Crow and have students strip them down to the subject and verb (see examples below). Prompt with:

Who or what did something (subject)? What did they do (verb)?

Discuss the other parts of each sentence and support students to identify the additional information they provide in relation to the noun or the verb.

Clever Crow comprises just 15 sentences. The author uses a range of sentence lengths and types (simple, compound, complex) throughout.

Assist students to determine the sentence length variations in Clever Crow by having them create a column graph that depicts the length of each sentence. They should then categorise the sentences according to whether they are simple, compound or complex, and use the categorised sentences to explain features of each sentence type.

Read examples of shorter and longer sentences and have students consider the different purposes of sentence length variation in a narrative. For example:

• to make the story interesting for the reader (the consistent use of same length sentences sounds monotonous/uninteresting)
• to impact the mood of the story (several short sentences in a row can create a fast paced mood and a sense of urgency, whereas longer sentences can serve to create a calm and relaxed mood)
• to impact the message (shorter sentences can grab the reader’s attention and longer sentences are necessary to provide precise detail)

Have the students consider the sentences lengths and their relation to the mood and pace of the story.

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Rich assessment task

Divide the class into small groups and allocate a double-page spread from the book to each group. Invite the groups to create a short presentation that describes/explains the features of the visuals and language on their spread. They should also provide an explanation in terms of how the visual and linguistic features serve story comprehension.

Students can complete their presentations using PowerPoint, Canva, or similar.

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Point of view and perspective

As previously highlighted, Clever Crow is written in the third person. Students will now write from the first person point of view of one of the characters (e.g. the kookaburra). Success requires implementation in small steps, with each providing an important scaffold.

Divide the class into groups of three. Give each group a copy of Clever Crow to read aloud together, familiarising themselves with the story and third person point of view from which it is told.

Ask the students who is telling the story and the features that indicate this. For example:

• it is told from the perspective of an ‘outsider looking in’ (no one that is actually involved in the story)
• it uses pronouns such as ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ and ‘they’ (third person) rather than ‘I’ and ‘me’ (first person) or ‘you’ and ‘yours’ (second person)
• it presents a broad perspective (the narrator is all-knowing)

Model how to rewrite the first section of the text from the crow’s first person perspective. Ensure that students can see the original text and easily observe what you are writing. Verbalise the thinking involved and highlight the changes you made to the language.

Repeat this process, but this time write from the mother’s perspective. Have the students assist with the changes to the language used. Samples have been provided below.

Have the students finish rewriting the story from the crow’s perspective. You might provide a sheet with the original story written in one column and space for students to write in another. Once they have done this, they can choose another character and write entirely from their perspective.

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Reader’s theatre

Put the students in groups of eight and have them rehearse and then perform Clever Crow using reader’s theatre. The roles might be:

• three students tell the story (divide it up so each student has a different section to read)
• one student reads the kookaburra’s direct speech
• one student reads the old man’s direct speech
• one student reads the crow’s direct speech
• two students provide sound effects using musical instruments or voice percussion

Discuss and demonstrate important aspects of reading fluency. Also discuss the characters, the events and the mood of the story, and have the students consider how they might use their voice to portray these.

Provide time to practise and develop good phrasing, prosody and other aspects of fluent reading, as well as experiment with the use of voice to convey meaning in the story.

Work with the students to experiment with other elements of presentation, such as:

• seating/positioning
• actions, gesture and facial expression
• sound effects
• the introduction
• junction (pausing for impact)
• stress (saying words or lines louder or softer)

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A newspaper report: crow steals important egg

Have the students use the events and characters of Clever Crow to create a newspaper report.

Ask students to imagine that the main event of the story (the crow stealing the ceremonial egg) actually occurred and needs to be written up as an article in the local newspaper. Explain the incident as: ‘a crow steals an important egg and almost ruins a special celebration’.

Nominate students to take on the role of some of the characters who were involved in or witnessed the incident (the mother, kangaroo, kookaburra, old man). Devise questions that might be asked for the purpose of gathering more information about the incident. Then roleplay the interviews, hot seat-style – some students will become reporters and ask questions of the other students who are playing the characters.

Examine a newspaper article to determine key features. For example:

• Headline (short and snappy, sounds interesting, attracts the readers interest; what the story is about)
• Byline (who wrote the article)
• Introduction (provides key information: who, what, when, where)
• Body (provides more detail about the event, especially in relation to how and why; might include a quote from someone involved)
• Conclusion (summarises what happened)
• Photograph and caption
• Written in third person/past tense
• Use of powerful verbs and emotive language
• Events told in chronological order

You might like to display these features or provide students with a template so they can keep the organisational framework and language features of a newspaper report in mind. They will then plan, write and edit their draft. The final copy might be written in columns with a picture and caption included.

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Rich assessment task

Creating a book trailer

Have the students work in pairs or small groups and use video-making software (e.g. iMovie, Canva) to create a book trailer for Clever Crow.

A book trailer is a multi-modal interpretation of the themes of a book. It uses a mix of images, symbols, text, voice over, music and sound and – like movie trailers – serves to promote the book.

View examples of book trailers from Penguin Books Australia or Scholastic and discuss their purpose and key features.

Discuss the themes and story of Clever Crow, and how students might promote the book via a 30-second video to a broad audience. Students should:

• Consider what pictures, symbols, words/phrases and music they might use to represent the story and themes of Clever Crow in their book trailer.
• Create a storyboard to sketch out the ideas for their trailer.
• Locate visuals that might be used to tell the story of the book.
• Add text on one or more pictures.
• Add music.

Be mindful of copyright; have students use public domain images and music, or create their own. They can also websites like Openverse, Pexels or similar.

Useful resources for creating book trailers are:

• ACMI – Make a book trailer
• Tristan Bancks – How to Make a Book Trailer

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