Pourquoi Tales
Writing Pourquoi Tales
Instructions:
Print the pages.
Read some Pourquoi Tales to your students.
Here are a few suggestions:
How the Animals Got Their Colors by John Clementson
How the Chipmunk Got His Stripes by Joseph Bruchac
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Why the Possum's Tail Is Bare, and Other North American Indian
Nature Tales, edited by James E. Connolly
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema
Discuss. What common traits did the stories share? Read and discuss
the information on the next page.
Ask your students to choose a title and a writing page and
instruct them to write their own Pourquoi Tales.
Terms of Use:
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© Walking by the Way
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Pourquoi Tales
What is a Pourquoi tale? Pourquoi [por-kwa] means "why" in French.
Why is the sky blue? Why do we have rainbows? Why does the
giraffe have a long neck? Why does a camel have a hump?
Pourquoi tales are old legends in which the storyteller invented
answers to questions. The stories explain why certain things in
nature are the way they are.
Choose a title idea and choose a piece of writing paper.
Write a story that answers a question about nature.
Pourquoi Tale Title Ideas
How the Deer Got Its Antlers
Why the Sun Lives in the Sky
Why Leaves Change Colors
How the Hedgehog Got Its Quills
Why the Wolf Howls
How the Raccoon Got Its Stripes
How the Lynx Got Its Spots
Why the Moon Grows and Shrinks
How the Squirrel Lost Its Wings
Why the Bear Sleeps Through Winter
How the Turtle Got Its Shell
How the Snake Lost Its Legs
Why Mushrooms Grow in the Forest
Why Ladybugs Have Spots
