The Dream of the Little Owl

This activity is a listening comprehension exercise suitable for preschool and elementary school levels. The story to be used in the activity can be downloaded from the link below and printed out. In the preschool stage, the teacher reads the activity, while at the elementary school level, each student can have their own copy. The activity consists of two parts.

Objective of the Activity:

 To raise awareness among children about "Nature" and "Environment"

 To help children understand the importance of biodiversity in ecology

 To instill in children a sense of defending the right to life of living beings and protecting their existence

 To help children understand how environmental pollution poses a significant threat to plant and animal life

 To illustrate the impact of environmental pollution on human life

 To encourage children to develop thoughts on solving environmental issues and problems

 To develop children's sense of empathy

Materials

Activity

It is recommended to download the following printout file for use in this activity. If desired, the teacher can make copies for each student.

A file for the mask to be used in the activity has been included, but the teacher can design and have their own masks made in class if desired. The mask activity is important for children to identify themselves with animals.

Activity Part One

Printouts are distributed to each student. Students are encouraged to color these masks according to their preferences. Colored masks are cut along the marked areas. Rubber bands are passed through the empty spaces on the sides of the masks to complete them, and children wear the masks.

Each child wearing the masks is told they are the protagonist, "Minik Baykuş" (Little Owl) from the story, and they should listen to the story imagining themselves as the owl. This leads into the second part of the activity.

Activity Part Two

The story "Minik Baykuşun Rüyası" (Little Owl's Dream) is read to the students. During the story, pauses are made at leafy sections to ask questions like "What do you think happened next?" and "What would you do if you were in that situation?" Students' answers to these questions are discussed after the story. They are asked how they felt as an owl and encouraged to brainstorm ideas on how to keep forests clean and protect them from fires.

They are asked, "If you were an animal, what kind of forest would you like to live in?" Their ideas are collected, and then as a class, they create a forest poster using cardboard and craft paper. A slogan is chosen and written on the poster. The poster is hung on the class wall, completing the activity.

The Dream of Little Owl

 On a sunny beautiful day, Little Owl slowly opened his eyes. He was in his nest, a small hollow in the largest tree nearby. He stood up and shook himself. Then he spread his wings and stretched nicely. He flapped his wings a few times and thought to himself, "I'm ready for today. Now it's time for breakfast!" He went straight to the door of his nest and looked around. "I think they finally left. I haven't left my nest all weekend because of them," he said ( Who do you think the owl is referring to?)

 He looked around. His morning smile had turned into a sad expression. The forest, his home, was filled with bags, coals, used plastic bottles, cups, and plates. There were eaten and discarded foods everywhere, and the remaining spoiled foods smelled so bad that hundreds, thousands of flies were buzzing around. "Why do people who come for picnics treat our home like this?" he muttered.

 "Because people are selfish!" he heard a voice. When he turned his head to where the voice came from, he saw the wise owl of the forest, Great Owl. Great Owl continued: "They don't realize that the forest is our home. They come here, make noise disrespectfully, have fun, and finally leave their trash behind. Then they call us owls 'ominous'. I think they are the ominous ones!" ()

 Little Owl was very upset by these words too. "Not all humans are like that, Great Owl. Some clean up their own trash before leaving," he said. "Yes, but very few do that," said Great Owl. "After all, the forest is the home of many animals. We don't go to their homes and litter everywhere. Come on, let's clean up as much as we can," he added.

 With their small beaks, the two owls started picking up the trash and began cleaning up by flying towards the trash bin. Meanwhile, Little Owl was very saddened by the state of their beautiful forest. "I wish..." he said, "I wish people didn't do this to us. Living in a clean place is everyone's biggest dream, just like mine."

 Just then they heard a rustling sound. They quickly flew up to a high branch and looked to where the sound came from. It was the forest guard who was coming. He was holding a phone in his hand. ()

 "Hahahaha," said the guard. "You guys are so cute. So you're cleaning up the forest, huh? I recorded you with my phone. I'm going to upload this video everywhere. Maybe it'll make some noise. What do you say?"

 Little Owl and Great Owl didn't quite understand what was being said, but when the guard started cleaning up the trash after doing something on his phone, they returned to their nests.

 Two days later, Little Owl woke up in his nest again. He woke up, but there were a lot of sounds coming from all around. "But today isn't the weekend? Could picnickers have come again?" he thought to himself. He quickly went to the mouth of his nest and looked around. And what did he see? ()

 Hundreds of people were cleaning up the area with big garbage bags in their hands. It turned out that the video uploaded by the guard had been watched by thousands of people all of a sudden. It received a lot of likes, and people gathered together to come and clean up the forest. Little Owl was very, very happy. Tears of joy filled his eyes. Just then, one of the people cleaning up, holding a bag, shouted. Pointing at Little Owl with his finger, he said, "Aaaaa look look... This is the little owl from the video. Buddy, we've come to clean up your home!" Everyone cheered and smiled at Little Owl. Then they all got back to cleaning together.

 The owl said, "Thank you very much. I'm so glad you're here!" But of course, people didn't understand him. They just heard "Hooo hooo... Hooo hooo..." They smiled happily. Then, with joy, the owl flapped its wings towards Great Owl's house to tell him what had happened. Maybe he would change his mind about people. I think there is still hope!

Written by: Sercay ÜNVER

Attention!

The activity can be done with different animals at different times.

Different posters or visuals can be prepared about human behaviors that make life difficult for different animals, and new stories can be created with children.

As a new activity for this event, a forest cleaning activity can be organized by taking garbage bags on a class trip.

At the end of the activity, banners and posters can be prepared, and walking activities with students can be organized inside or outside the school.

Regardless of what happens, it should be emphasized that approaching and trying to touch wild animals, even to help, is wrong.

Assessment Questions

 Which other animals live in forests?

 Besides wildfires, what else can harm forests?

 What can be done to restore a burned forest to its original state?

 Do you think approaching animals during a forest fire is appropriate behavior?

 Should we feed wild animals?

 How does seeing a burning forest make you feel?

 How did you feel when you went on a picnic in a dirty place?

 Do you think Yüce Baykuş is right in his opinions about humans?