Shimbir Level 15-16

Shimbir is a heart-warming narrative that sensitively explores the challenges of settling into a new school and culture. Anisa, a Somali girl, speaks little English and expresses herself through a colourful bird painting. When asked about it, she simply replies œshimbir, meaning bird in Somali. This touching moment sparks a supportive classroom effort to turn Anisa's art into a shared class book. Told in first person, the story beautifully illustrates acceptance, community, and identity. It provides an opportunity to discuss cultural diversity and the emotions involved in transitioning to new environments. The text features a shift in tense and includes descriptive vocabulary, possessive apostrophes, and complex sentence structures, encouraging detailed language exploration. The big book created by the class provides a story within a story and offers a model for shared classroom writing.

Educational Benefits:

• Promotes empathy and understanding of cultural diversity.
• Builds vocabulary through descriptive language and suffix exploration.
• Encourages comprehension of tense and perspective changes.
• Supports discussion about identity and belonging.

Classroom Ideas:

• Create a multilingual class book inspired by Anisa's story.
• Discuss the emotions involved in starting school in a new country.
• Explore suffixes and adjectives used in the text.
• Use the story to model personal narrative writing.

Safety & Information:

• Suitable for ages: 6-7
• Book size: 200mm x 210mm
• Reading Level: 15-16 (Orange)
• Safe for young readers; ideal for literacy and social learning programs.