Readers of Native American Folktales....

• Recognize that people pass down information, cultural values and traditions are passed down through generations through stories
• Know that every culture has folktales that reflect culture, tradition, beliefs, and history and that different Native Nations have stories and traditions that are unique to their culture.
• Understand that folktales often reflect people's true beliefs or perspectives that may differ from our own.
• Think about why people tell stories
• Wonder what can we learn about a culture from its stories
• Recognize some features that distinguish the genres and use those features to aid comprehension
• Identify the social, historical, and cultural features of the text
• Ask themselves, "What lesson about life can I learn from this story?" (Use inference and deduction to understand the text beyond the literal level and be able to cite evidence for inference)
• Draw upon personal experiences and knowledge to understand the text
• Look at the cover, end notes, or author's note for information about which Nation this story belongs to. Then think about what you know about this Nation.
• Look at the pictures to see what you can learn about the Nation's art, dress, environment, etc
• Make predictions, draw conclusions and make inferences about characters and events
• Recognize how the author uses literary devices to create meaning (personification, figurative language, idioms, story telling language, repetition of phrases
• Identify cause and effect in the development of plot
• Think about what the main character does and how you can learn about his personality. Then use the analysis to understand the lesson of the story
• Make connections to other stories you have read to see if the characters (i.e. Raven or Coyote) or the problem is familiar
• Use knowledge of story elements to understand the story: Beginning middle end, Character, problem and solution
• Use knowledge of story structure to identify the type of folktale and what it is teaching:
• Folktales teach social lessons, values, and provide explanations for things in nature
• Pourquoi tales explain why something in nature appears the way it does, frequently include lessons in how to behave.
• Creation tales are religious stories that explain the origins of life
• Trickster tales have a character that causes trouble in some way that teaches lessons about values and behaviors.