Resource: Domesticated Pigeons

Print Frame and Focus

The following Frame, Focus and Follow-up suggestions are best suited for elementary or middle school students using this video in an English language arts or science lesson. Be sure to modify the questions to meet your students' instructional needs.

What is Frame, Focus and Follow-up?

Frame (ELA) Do you have a hobby you are really interested in? Have you ever tried to convince or persuade someone to try your hobby because you were so interested in it? What was that experience like?

Focus (ELA) Danny Boy raises pigeons. He is very passionate about it. He has loved doing it for 31 years. How does he express his enthusiasm?

Frame (SCI) What do you know about pigeons? What do you know about breeding pigeons or any type of bird (i.e., chickens)?

Focus (SCI) What does it take to breed and take care of a flock of pigeons? How long does it take for a pigeon egg to hatch?

Print Follow Up

• (ELA) Does Danny Boy convince you that raising domesticated pigeons could be a fun and interesting hobby? How does he try to persuade you? Often others, such as advertisers, try to persuade us to think in a certain way. How can we recognize when someone is trying to persuade us? What precautions should we take when someone is trying to persuade us? Practice trying to persuade someone to do something (i.e., try a new hobby, eat a particular type of food, buy a certain product). Use some of the same tactics Danny Boy used. Reflect on what tactics you tried to use. Were they convincing?

• (SCI) Do the pigeons need Danny Boy in order to survive? What role does he play in their lives? Discuss the benefits and perhaps disadvantages of domesticating pigeons. How might Danny Boy’s work with pigeons affect his community?

Print Connections

Animal behavior, animal science, communities, social studies, environmental studies