Have you ever wondered about a chipmunk's stripes? Read a short passage featuring the Iroquois legend about the chipmunk and his stripes, and answer five comprehension questions about the plot, the theme, and the unfamiliar vocabulary.

Concepts

reading comprehension, short stories, the iroquois, native american legends

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Include in a language arts packet for weekly homework
• Bring to your unit on origin stories or pourquoi tales
• Challenge learners to write a different explanation for the chipmunk's stripes, using the same story format as the reading passage
• Add to a unit about Native American legends or when studying the Iroquois tribe in particular
• Have learners write a persuasive essay about the benefits of being in the dark all the time versus seeing the sunlight 

Classroom Considerations

• The story is a little scary at the end (the stripes are from Bear's claw marks), and might be upsetting to more sensitive readers
• Each question includes a line for learners to note their confidence in the answer which might be distracting to some readers

Pros

• A good addition to your focus on pourquoi stories
• Questions address a variety of comprehension skills
• Comes with an answer key for easy assessment

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.5.1 RL.5.2 RL.5.3 RL.5.4