This is a Navajo tale about a character, coyote, tricking bobcat into stealing some corn. Coyote tales are traditional Navajo stories that have been told for thousands of years, passed along from family to family across the generations. As an integral part of the oral traditions of the people, Coyote stories have been used to instruct the young and as well as for guideposts to living a good life. Folded within the humor and misadventure, the listener/reader learns that the results of Coyote's selfishness, greed, tricks, and deceit are often painful and humiliating! Through repeated telling, children learn at a young age how to behave appropriately. Please respect the cultural observances for Coyote stories, books, DVDs, and audio recordings. Coyote tales are intended for the winter story-telling season only, October through February. This lesson could be used to support lessons on Fables, Tales and Native American Storytelling. 

The Ute Mountain Ute people are one of three Ute tribes living in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. The Ute Mountain Ute tribal headquarters are located at Towaoc, Colorado.Stories with morals, like “Coyote and Bobcat,” were often used by the Ute Mountain Ute people to teach their children about proper behavior and the consequences of their own actions. Coyote tales are only told during the winter time.

Reading: Literature Standard 6Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.Students will practice point of view by changing the characters and setting in the original story of The Three Little Pigs.

"The Greedy Porcupine" is a Northwestern Band of Shoshone tribe tale. According to Shoshone culture, this tale teaches a valuable lesson that everyone should be proud of who he or she is, not envious of others. Everyone should also be grateful for what they have and avoid complaining. Everyone is given special gifts and talents, which should be used appropriately. If talents are misused, they could be taken away.After reading the story students willb identify characters and the lesson or moral of the story. The students will create a  character map to aid in comprehension of the story and provide the basis for the discussion in character education, tying in with the moral of the story.

This is a lesson that gives students the opportunity to compare and contrast using a Venn Diagram.  Students are also given the opportunity to create a Keynote presentation to demostrate mastery of the concept.   Thumbnail Image: https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Castle-from-fairy-tales/86259.html