Keller
Fifth Grade Gifted & Talented Showcase
Mrs. Rebecca Alexander, GT/Enrichment Teacher
The World is Changing.
Meet the Future.
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Click to Open Each Story Podcast.
Please also take the time to read Mrs. Alexander's background on the Pourquois genre
below.
Thank you for viewing our student work showcase.
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Introduction to
“We Still Know Such Things” My fifth grade Helen Keller GT/Enrichment students and I read and marveled at the beautiful Navaho story written by Gerald Hausman, “The Turquoise Horse.” Intrigued by this story’s content and depth concerning the Navaho culture led us to further study Bryd Baylor’s, And It Is Still That Way, a collection of Southwest Native American pourquoi tales told by Native American children. Pourquoi is a French word for “Why.” These stories explain why an animal or plant acts or appears the way it does or explains how natural phenomena such as, fire, wind, lightening, etc came to be. On this site you will find the work of the Keller 5th grade GT/Enrichment students.They have studied the format of pourquoi stories, learned the elements of this genre, and have written their unique creation stories. Students have selected a watermark picture to place behind their writing and selected a track of music from Alice Gomez’s, “Flute Dreams” to add interest to their work. Mr. Adkison has taken them a step further in this project by having the students podcast, and present their work in movie format. Note the credits at the end of each pourquoi as the students have learned to cite all sources used to complete their final product. Click on the link to experience each student’s story. However, before you kick off your shoes and ready yourself to enjoy these treasures, be aware. According to Byrd Baylor and Native American legend, sharing creation stories has some cautions . . . “Don’t tell these stories in the summer. The old people say snakes don’t like to hear them and sometimes it makes them angry and will come and bite the storyteller. So stories are saved for the winter when the snakes are sleeping. If you read these stories aloud in winter you will know that somewhere your Indian sisters and brothers are hearing them too. Wherever they live, in some Navajo hogan, or some Apache wickup, a story teller is speaking . . . people sit close together listening still.” Our appreciation is extended to the following experts, authors, and artists:
Mr. Adkison, Keller’s Library Technology Educator |
Why Rain Falls in the Pine Forests Why It Doesn't Rain Very Often The Legend of the Four Seasons
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