Scott Foresman Reading Street

USE LITERARY ELEMENTS

Characterization

As you read the story, you may have noticed that the author capitalizes each animal’s name—for example, Coyote or Bear. Sometimes authors do this to depict one character as an example of all animals of that kind.

On a separate piece of paper,
write the name of each
character in the story.
Then go through the story and
write as many details as you
can find about each character.
Use your notes about the
characters to write one or
two sentences that tell what
that animal is like.

Possible responses: To entertain; to show how different cultures explain different phenomena in nature.

CONNECT TEXT TO TEXT

Reading Across Texts

Discuss the problem in both legends and how they were solved. Use a Venn diagram to look at how the problems in each legend were alike and different.

Writing Across Texts Write the words Problem and Solution on the board. To the left and slightly below the words, write the title of each story. Draw large boxes under the headings Problem and Solution. Leave the boxes blank. Have students copy the chart onto a separate piece of paper and complete it.

firebrand, just a few bright flames.

called and coughed up all that was left of the

Then Frog saw a tree. “Catch it and hide!” he

Now when Frog jumped, he landed in the pond, and
to save the flames from the water, he gulped down the
tiny firebrand. He held his breath and swam over to
the other side of the pond.

Frog caught the firebrand, but as he jumped one of
the Fire Beings grabbed his tail and pulled it off. And
that’s why Frog has no tail, even today.

“Catch it and jump!” called Squirrel and threw the
firebrand, which was now quite tiny.

Then he saw small, squatty Frog, waiting and ready.
Just in case. . . .

Squirrel came to the pond. The Fire Beings were
right at his back. What could he do?

Squirrel caught it and ran. But the firebrand had
been burning fast, and it was now so short that its
great heat made Squirrel’s bushy tail curl up over his
back. And that’s why Squirrel has a curled-up tail,
even today.

Then Chipmunk saw Squirrel. “Catch it and run!”
he called and threw the firebrand.

Chipmunk caught it and ran. But the Fire Beings
came closer and closer, until one of them reached out
an arm and clawed his back and left three long black
stripes. And that’s why Chipmunk has stripes on his
back, even today.

The Fire Beings ran around the pond, and they
looked for the fire. But it was hidden in the tree,
and they didn’t know how to get it out again, so they
returned to their home, high on the mountaintop.

And the tree caught the fire and hid it.

Writing Across Texts Make a chart that shows
the problem and solution in each of these stories.

What problems did you read about in Pushing
Up the Sky and in “Catch It and Run”? How
are the problems alike? How are they different?

Reading Across Texts

Why do you think the author told this story?

Author’s Purpose

But Coyote, who is wise, knew how to get fire out of
the tree. He knew how to rub two dry sticks together
to make a spark that could be fed with pine needles
and pine cones and grow into a fire. It was Coyote who
taught the people how to do this so that they need not be
cold, ever again, in wintertime. And it was Coyote who
went around and gave some fire to all the other trees,
so that fire lies hidden in every tree, even today.