The Evergreens

The Evergreens is a traditional Danish folktale.

The spoken-word story, as told by Odds Bodkin, can be found in SPI’s K-3 Learning Lab.

A little bird injures his wing and falls to the forest floor. Knowing winter is coming, he whistles to the oak, the birch, and the maple tree to please pick him up and shelter him. All of them refuse. Only an old pine tree shows compassion and lifts him into his branches.

The first and the hemlock help, and the evergreens save his life.

This project was developed for young deaf and hard-of-hearing children to promote language acquisition and foster ASL proficiency as well as social and emotional learning. A giant bonus: the stories are equally valuable for hearing kids to view as a fun and imaginative introduction to ASL. They may just get hooked!

A transcription of the story is provided for teachers and parents. Download the transcription.

All involved in the video production of The Evergreens are members of the Deaf Community.

Make sure to view full screen!