1. Teacher Guide This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble. Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.com. You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on the Microsoft Educator Network. BingInTheClassroom@Microsoft.combing.com/classroomMicrosoft Educator Network Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location, take a Skype lesson on today’s topic, or invite a guest speaker to expand on today’s subject. And if you are using Windows 8, the panoramas in the MSN Travel App are great teaching tools. We have thousands of other education apps available on Windows here. Skype in the Classroom another class take a Skype lesson invite a guest speaker MSN Travel App here Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names. This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading—Literature CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

2. © Christoph Bosch/Alamy Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

3. Don’t try hooting in the woods at dusk in hopes of hearing a response from a barn owl. This pale bird emits an eerie sort of shrieking sound that might inspire thoughts of the supernatural. Combine that with the bird’s nearly silent flight (ideal for swooping down into a meadow to snatch up a vole) and its pale, ghostly appearance, and it’s no wonder that some cultures have traditionally considered the barn owl a sinister omen and a harbinger of death. But the barn owl’s no mythical beast. With a habitat distribution bigger than most other owls, this skilled hunter does a great job of keeping the population of small rodents under control. And yes, it will build a nest for laying eggs and raising young in the rafters of a barn, or similar human construction. In fact, some farmers have taken advantage of this by purposely cutting a hole near the roof of their barns, expressly to attract roosting barn owls. It beats calling an exterminator. Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

4. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What is a symbol? Can you think of an example of a symbol from a book that you know? 2 Web Search/Thi nking Why do you think animals are commonly used as symbols? Can you think of an example of another animal that is often used as a symbol? 3 Web Search/Thi nking The owl often represented different things according to different Native American traditions. What is an example of one Native American tradition where the owl acted as a symbol? What was it a symbol of? 4 Web Search/Thi nking What did the owl represent in Greek mythology? 5 Web Search/Thi nking What do owls represent in Japanese culture today? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

5. 5 Minutes Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

6. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What is a symbol? Can you think of an example of a symbol from a book that you know? 2 Web Search/Thi nking Why do you think animals are commonly used as symbols? Can you think of an example of another animal that is often used as a symbol? 3 Web Search/Thi nking The owl often represented different things according to different Native American traditions. What is an example of one Native American tradition where the owl acted as a symbol? What was it a symbol of? 4 Web Search/Thi nking What did the owl represent in Greek mythology? 5 Web Search/Thi nking What do owls represent in Japanese culture today? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

7. 1 Web Search/Thi nking What is a symbol? Can you think of an example of a symbol from a book that you know? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

8. 2 Web Search/Thi nking Why do you think animals are commonly used as symbols? Can you think of an example of another animal that is often used as a symbol? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

9. 3 Web Search/Thi nking The owl often represented different things according to different Native American traditions. What is an example of one Native American tradition where the owl acted as a symbol? What was it a symbol of? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

10. 4 Web Search/Thi nking What did the owl represent in Greek mythology? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?

11. 5 Web Search/Thi nking What do owls represent in Japanese culture today? Owls are often used as symbols in different cultures. What are three different things an owl is thought to represent around the world?