Crow - English Practice With Short Films

Listening

Test your understanding

1. Who is Crow's biggest fan?

A. Owl B. Moth. C. Skunk. D. Turtle.

2. Why couldn't Moth go on the mission?

A. He would fly into the sun. B. He can't fly well. C. He had something else to do. D. He is afraid of space.

3. What did they want The One Who Creates Everything By Thinking to do?

A. Think about the sun. B. Give them fire. C. Create warm clothes. D. Unthink the cold.

4. After the fire went out, Crow did something that was _____ to light it again.

A. dangerous B. easy C. thoughtless D. time-consuming

5. Why did The One Who Creates Everything By Thinking give Crow new colors?

A. To help him find a girlfriend. B. To reward him for his bravery. C. To make him a better performer. D. To punish him for not thinking about his friends.

Find the Mistakes

There are five mistakes in the writing below. Can you find them all?

In this story, Crow is given an important mission. The film starts with a happy scene of animals in the forest. We see Crow practicing singing his signature tune "When You Can Fly" and learn that he is famous in the forest. But then one day, spring comes to the forest for the first time and the animals don't know how to handle it. Owl comes up with a plan to save the forest. They need someone to fly through space and find The One Who Creates Everything By Thinking and convince her to "unthink" the cold. But Turtle and Skunk can't fly, Owl has difficulty flying and Moth would be in danger of flying into the moon. At first, Crow is unwilling, but eventually the other animals convince him. So Crow flies past the moon and sun in a long journey through space. Back in the forest, the animals start to worry about Crow. Moth flies off to search for him, despite protests from the other animals. In the meantime, Crow finds a majestic glowing palace. In the middle of it, in a small container, he sees a small purple cat - The One Who Creates Everything By Thinking. He finds it difficult to wake her up, so he sings his signature tune again. This gets her attention. We see her create things just by thinking about it, such as a treadmill. Crow asks her for help and she eventually gives him a paper and sets it on fire, telling him not to let it burn out. On the way back, Crow finds Moth flying into the sun, but grabs him just in time and drags him to a nearby asteroid. On the asteroid, Crow accidentally knocks over the branch and it goes out. Crow comes up with a dangerous plan to light the branch in the sun. Moth and the sun warn him not to do it but he is too determined. Back in the forest, we see fire falling from the sky and lighting up a branch. The animals are excited by the warmth, but soon become worried because they can't see Turtle. Crow appears and looks sad. His voice and feathers have changed after being burned by the sun. Skunk tries to cheer him up, but it doesn't seem to work. But just then, everything changes. The One Who Creates Everything By Thinking, impressed by Crow's sacrifice, transforms the whole forest, bringing back the good weather. Crow is thrilled. The movie ends with Crow singing in his new voice, while the other animals dance around happily.

Vocabulary

Drag the correct word to each blank.

Real Talk

Here you will find some language that can often be heard in real life, but isn't usually found in textbooks.

Busted

Some common ways of using this expression include "I got busted" and "You're busted". The word means to get caught doing something that you shouldn't be doing. In this case, Skunk was trying to hide from Crow, but Crow realized that someone was there.

Dig

To "dig" something is to like it. Crow is saying that he thinks Skunk will enjoy his show at the pond.

Check out

When Crow says "You're gonna check it out, right", he is confirming that Skunk is going to go to the show. In general, to "check something out" is to go to a place or look at something. For example, "Check out that guy's new car."

Ain't

"Ain't" is mostly used in the USA and can often be heard in Hollywood movies and real speech. It means "isn't"/"aren't."

Speaking Activities

Are you interested in some group speaking activities? Contact us to find out more about how you can talk about this film with a class and a teacher!