Over the next few weeks in writing, we will be starting some Pourquoi stories. Why do beavers have flat tails? Why does it storm? Children are naturally curious about the wonders of nature. To feed this interest — as well as inspire great imaginative writing — we will use pourquoi tales! Pourquoi [por-kwa] means "why" in French. Pourquoi tales are old legends told to explain why certain events happened. These tales often start in the past, e.g. A long, long time ago . . . and end when the explanation is complete.
We will be using the communities we are studying in Social Studies as inspiration for these tales. We will pick an animal from either the East Coast, the Arctic or the Prairies. We will use Aboriginal tales from each community to help give us a guide and inspire us.
We will also tie in science - as part of our learning in grade 2 is about how different animals adapt to difference environments. These adaptations will be our starting point for the Pourquoi stories.
Here is a simple version of a Pourquoi story (not Canadian) that we may read and dissect to learn more about how to read our own. Stay tuned for updates on this neat project!
A long, long time ago, Leopard was the plain, solid brown-yellow color of the desert. He was so plain he was almost invisible against the brown-yellow desert. When he headed out to hunt, Giraffe and Zebra and the other animals didn't know which way to jump. To escape Leopard's appetite, Giraffe and Zebra headed into the great shadowy forest. When Leopard tried to follow them, he stood out like a bright-yellow sunflower against a dark fence. He could not hunt at all. Giraffe and Zebra saw yellow Leopard right away, and ran off deeper into the forest. Leopard had to do something. He asked his human friend to help him. So the Man carefully dipped his five fingertips in black ink and painted spots all over Leopard's fur. Now Leopard could blend into the shadows, and once again he became a great and powerful hunter!
Coming up:
- Early dismissal tomorrow
