Today we read a Native American legend called Rainbow Crow. We discussed what a legend was and how Native American people used legends for many purposes – to preserve their history, to share a lesson, or to explain something in their environment. In the story Rainbow Crow, we learn about how the crow got its most well-known attributes: a hoarse voice, black feathers, and a subtle rainbow iridescence in its feathers.
While reading we discussed the meaning of unknown words, made predictions and found text-to-world connections. After reading, we retold the story and discussed some reflection questions. We did some research as a class to see a close-up image of a crow’s feathers. Students discovered that the feathers look black from afar but really do have a rainbow shimmer in the right light! Finally, students colored a Native American image of a bird, drawn by a school-age child from the Acoma Pueblo tribe. Students colored the image of a two-sided bird to represent the two versions of the crow from the story: rainbow and black.
