The Bird in the Classroom
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 4 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A small bird flies into a quiet math test, and Dorian is the only student who knows what to do.
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The classroom is quiet. Everyone is busy with the math test. Dorian looks at question seven and bites his pencil.
Then a small brown bird flies in through the open window. It goes around the room two times. It hits the lamp with a bang. Then it sits on top of the board.
Rafferty, a boy in the back, shouts. A girl puts her hands over her head. The teacher stands up and says, "Everybody stay calm. The test is stopped."
Now the room is noisy. Some students laugh. Some students stand on their chairs. The bird looks down at them and does not move.
Dorian knows birds. He has a book about birds at home. He watches birds every weekend. He stands up slowly.
"Please sit down and be quiet," he says. "It is a young sparrow. It is afraid of loud noises. If we stay still, it will not fly into the walls again."
The students sit down. Nobody speaks. Dorian walks to the big window and opens it wide. Then he steps back.
For a long minute, nothing happens. Then the bird jumps off the board. It flies over the desks and goes out into the sun.
The class claps. The teacher looks at the clock and smiles. "Thank you, Dorian," she says. "Now, who wants ten more minutes for the test?"
