a stylized question mark made from the words who, what, where, when, why and how
Connecting Reading and Writing: Traditional Stories

Goals:

  • Read and respond to pourquoi stories
  • Develop the characteristics of a pourquoi story

The world is an amazing home. Nature surrounds us with beauty and wonder. In ancient times, people tried to explain the wonders of nature with stories.

Pourquoi stories are told to help explain why things are the way they are. Pourquoi is a French word that means ‘why’ – so these are ‘stories that explain why’.

Often, pourquoi stories focus on explaining features of animals or parts of the natural world. Questions like: What is lightning and thunder? Where does the sun go every day? Why do tigers have stripes?

Today, we know the answers to these questions, but we can still appreciate the stories our ancestors told to help them understand the world around them.

Your task for today is to choose a pourquoi story to read:

After you read think about these questions:

  • What is the problem in the story you read?
  • What was the world like before the story problem was introduced?
  • How did the problem lead to a lasting change in the world or in a character?

Share your thinking with a family member.

Other Opportunities:

  • Some pourquoi stories explain traditions or ‘why we do things the way we do’, like this story from the Oneida Nation: How the Clans Were Chosen