Native American Legends

As second and third grade students have just finished learning about Native Americans living in Michigan in Social Studies, we wanted to put what we had learned into action. Because we learned that Native Americans valued animals, we decided to write a few of our own legends about animals, just as Native Americans have written many legends about animals. Students enjoyed sharing their legends with their classmates! In each of our legends we tried to teach our readers a valuable lesson.  Here are a few examples of the creative legends second and third graders produced in their partner pairs, enjoy!

Gorilla and Bird

Once there was a gorilla and bird and gorilla said bird wasn't strong. So bird challenged him to a wrestling match and then the gorilla agreed. So they went to the wrestling ring and the gorilla lost because the bird flew up and the gorilla couldn't find him so the match stopped.
*Moral: Just because you're small doesn't mean that you cannot do big things.

Bird and Alligator

Once upon a time there was a bird and an alligator. One day bird was flying past alligator's swamp. Alligator said, "Come here bird and clean my teeth." Bird said, "Okay, but don't eat me." Bird flew in alligator's mouth. Alligator closed his mouth, but bird was too quick and flew out of alligator's mouth. Then bird said, "Why did you try to eat me?" The next day bird saw alligator in danger and bird helped him.
*Moral: Be nice to people even if they aren't nice to you.

Cat and Spider

Once upon a time there was a cat who was scared of everything. Then he saw a jack-o-lantern and there was a spider inside of it. Then the cat got scared because it was talking to him. Then a crow smashed the pumpkin because the crow was scared of the pumpkin too. When the pumpkin broke, the cat saw the spider. Then the cat and spider laughed. The spider became friends with the cat. Then they lived happily ever after.
*Moral: You shouldn't judge other people by what they look like.