Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies

Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies was shared with a classroom of second graders. The students sat together on the floor to listen to the story.

After the story was read, there was a small discussion about the folktale genre. The students were told that this story was a type of folktale that was written to explain phenomena in nature; in this case to explain why butterflies fly the way they do.

The students were then asked to return to their seats and write their own story. They were told they could either write a story about the book or they could create their own folktale with a description explaining why a certain animal behaves the way that it does. They were given a few examples to help create ideas such as: write a story explaining why frogs hop instead of walk or write a story explaining why bees make a buzzing sound.

The students were given about fifteen minutes to complete their stories and include a picture if they choose to do so.

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