Home-School ConnectionHome-School Connection

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Dear Family Member:This week we are reading a Native American

legend called Mystic Horse. It tells about a boy and his grandmother who live in a Pawnee community. The grandmother and boy are poor and have to walk whenever the Pawnee move. First, the boy fi nds a sickly horse. Then he decides to take care of it. If I pay attention to the order in which things happen next, I’ll understand the story better.

This Week’s Skills

Comprehension: sequence

Vocabulary: homophones

Spelling/Phonics: suffi xes

Name

Word WorkoutWORDS TO KNOW

amazement loosened midst

mysterious responsibility sores

I Did Give me a sentence for each word, telling me something you do or have done.

SPELLING WORDS

sickly

hardly

quickly

slowly

carefully

wonderful

beautiful

graceful

spoonful

darkness

shapeless

ageless

illness

goodness

spotless

painless

weakness

darkest

clearest

thoughtful

Happy Endings I’ll make a list of the spelling words leaving out the suffi x. I’ll give you the list. You can add the suffi x. Then we’ll look over your list to see how many words you spelled correctly.

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From Here to ThereEach of the situations below has a beginning and an end. Let’s make up a middle and tell each story in sequence to get from the beginning to the end of each situation.

Googleen is a walking computer who is friends with Onlina, another walking computer. Googleen leaves his console and ends up quite far away at the site of Onlina’s home site. How did he get there?

A skateboard with wings travels many miles to the ocean where he meets his friend the surfboard. How did he get there?

Linda is making a cake. She ended up with a 20 layer cake.

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Conexión con el hogarConexión con el hogar

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Queridos familiares:Esta semana estamos leyendo una leyenda

americana nativa que se llama Mystic Horse. Se trata de un niño que vive con su abuela en una comunidad pauni. La abuela y el niño son pobres y deben caminar siempre que los pauni deciden cambiar de lugar. Primero el niño encuentra un caballo enfermo, luego decide cuidarlo. Si presto atención al orden en que tienen lugar los sucesos, voy a entender mejor el cuento.

Destrezas de la semanaComprensión: orden de los sucesos

Vocabulario: homófonos

Ortografía/Fonética: sufi jos

Nombre

Ejercicio de palabrasPALABRAS DE VOCABULARIO

amazement loosened midst

mysterious responsibility soresLo hice Forma una oración con cada palabra para decirme algo que haces o que has hecho.

PALABRAS DE ORTOGRAFÍA

sickly

hardly

quickly

slowly

carefully

wonderful

beautiful

graceful

spoonful

darkness

shapeless

ageless

illness

goodness

spotless

painless

weakness

darkest

clearest

thoughtfulFinales felices Voy a hacer una lista de las palabras de ortografía sin los sufi jos. Te voy a dar la lista. Tú vas a aña dir los sufi jos. Luego volveremos a la lista para ver cuántas palabras escribiste correctamente.

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De aquí a alláCada situación de abajo tiene un principio y un fi n. Vamos a crear distintos pasos y decirlos en orden para ir desde el principio hasta el fi n de cada situación.

Googleen is a walking computer who is friends with Onlina, another walking computer. Googleen leaves his console and ends up quite far away at the site of Olina’s home site. How did he get there?

A skateboard with wings travels many miles to the ocean where he meets his friend the surfboard. How did he get there?

Linda is making a cake. She ended up with a 20 layer cake.

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Comprehension Check

SummarizeUse a Sequence Chart to help you

record the events in one of the legends.

Then use the chart to summarize the

legend.

Think and Compare 1. Reread page 5. What happened after the woman

put the wolf down in the midst of other wolves?

(Identify Sequence of Events)

2. In “The Great Spirit and Thunderbird,”

Thunderbird is very stubborn and will not stop

hunting whales. Have you ever had to deal with

someone who was being stubborn? What did you

do? (Apply)

3. In “The Legend of Thunderbird,” the Great Chief

had the responsibility of keeping his people safe.

What can people do today to keep others safe?

(Evaluate)

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Quileute Legendsby Yoko Mia Hirano

illustrated by Arvis Stewart

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

The Creation of the Quileute . . . . . . 4

The Legend of Thunderbird . . . . . . 6

The Great Spirit and Thunderbird . . . 14

Comprehension Check . . . . . . . . . . 20

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The present-day Quileute (also spelled

Quillayute) people now live on the

Northwest Coast of the United States.

They have always hunted and fished in

the sea for their food. They built canoes

for fishing. The smallest canoes held two

people and the largest ones could carry

three tons! The Quileute traveled as far as

Alaska and California to hunt for whales.

They created stories about whales and

also about a great mythical bird who

lived near the ocean. They called this bird

“Thunderbird.”

Introduction

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Each time the water had risen, many

people had died. The survivors got in

their canoes. They went to different parts

of Earth. Since there were no landmarks,

the people could not see where they

were going. This is why the Quileute are

surrounded by people who are unrelated

to them. This is why they have no known

relatives.

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The Great Spirit made the water go

back down. Thunderbird brought the

water level back up. A third time, the

Great Spirit made the water go down.

And Thunderbird made it rise again. It

rose until it covered the mountaintop.

The Great Spirit told Thunderbird to stop

many times. But Thunderbird wouldn’t

listen. Thunderbird flew with pride over

the flooded lands. The Great Spirit grew

very angry with Thunderbird. He finally

struck Thunderbird down into the water.

Thunderbird drowned. For four days, the

water receded. From then on, there were

no more great floods on Earth.

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Many Native American tribes tell

stories about thunderbirds or birds with

great strength. According to the Quileute

stories, Thunderbird lived in a cave in the

Olympic Mountains in Washington State.

Thunderbird had wings that were as long

as two war canoes. When he flapped

his wings, he made thunder and winds.

Lightning shot out of his eyes. By blinking,

he could make rainstorms.

The following tales are about the

Quileute. “The Creation of the Quileute”

tells how a pack of wolves became

the Quileute people. “The Legend of

Thunderbird” is the most famous Quileute

story. It describes how Thunderbird saved

the Quileute from dying of hunger. In “The

Great Spirit and Thunderbird,” you will

read what finally happened to Thunderbird.

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There was once a pack of wolves that

lived on the plains. These wolves had no

names or homes so they were unhappy.

They had the spirits of humans. But they

were trapped in the bodies of wolves.

One day a curious young wolf strayed

off by himself. He walked a far distance

and got lost. His feet became covered

with sores. Before long, he fell asleep on

a flat rock warmed by the sun. The rock

had a strange white arrow–mark on it.

The Creation of the Quileute

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The Great Spirit came back to see

Thunderbird. He said, “Thunderbird, you

have power. But I have more power. Stop

hunting whales, and I will not bother you

anymore. If you keep hunting whales, I will

keep fighting you.”

Thunderbird answered, “I like hunting

whales. And I am going to keep hunting.”

The Great Spirit said, “Then fight me as

best you can, but you will not win. Look

at the water!” Thunderbird moved quickly

to the mouth of his cave. He saw that the

water level was going back down.

Thunderbird roared and snapped his

beak a few times. The loud echoes of

his beak frightened all the animals on the

mountain. “Nooooo!” cried Thunderbird as

he shook with anger. He made the waters

rise up again.

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Thunderbird walked back and forth in

his cave. He had an idea. He made the

waters rise up from the very deepest

parts of the ocean. The waters rose and

rose until the ocean almost reached the

mountains. Now the water was close

enough that he could step out of his cave

and look for whales. Thunderbird smiled to

himself. He thought, “Let’s see what the

Great Spirit can do now.”

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When the wolf awoke, it was dark out.

The rock was no longer a rock. It was

now a mysterious woman, holding the wolf

gently in her arms. She carried the wolf

quietly through the night. She reached the

pack of wolves.

The woman put the young wolf down

on the ground in the midst of the other

wolves. The young wolf was surprised to

see that he no longer had four legs. He

had the two legs of a young boy! The

woman had changed him into human

form. One by one, the woman picked up

the other wolves and turned each one

into a person.

Soon the pack of wolves became a

small tribe of people. “You are no longer

the lost wolves of the plains,” the woman

said. “You are now a people. You shall be

called the Quileute.” The people gathered

around to thank her. She said, “I must

go now. I cannot stay.” Then she turned

and disappeared. A flat rock with a white

arrow-mark appeared where she had been

standing. The people took special care of

this rock from that day forward.

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Long ago, the Quileute people lived

by the Quillayute River on the Olympic

Peninsula in Washington State. Every day,

the fishermen went out in their canoes.

As the gulls flew overhead, the fishermen

sang. They knew they would come home

with fresh fish by the day’s end. The

women took care of the children, who

grew strong and healthy. For many years,

they were a happy, peaceful people.

The Legend of Thunderbird

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The Great Spirit made a strong wind

push Thunderbird down, close to the

water. Thunderbird was shocked! He rose

back up into the air. He flapped his wings

hard. He looked around with angry eyes.

He saw only a dark cloud.

The Great Spirit moved the cloud in

front of Thunderbird’s face. Thunderbird

couldn’t see anything. He flew as fast as

he could. But the cloud followed him.

He knew now that the Great Spirit was

fighting him. Thunderbird slowed down.

But the cloud slowed down, too. Suddenly,

Thunderbird saw a mountain a few feet

in front of his face. He knew that if he

had been flying any faster, he would have

smashed into it. He stopped and rested

on the mountain. Then he crawled back

up into his cave.

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For many years, Thunderbird ruled the

ocean and the mountains. All the animals

and people were afraid of him. He did

whatever he wanted. Thunderbird enjoyed

hunting whales. He hunted them for food.

But soon he began hunting them for fun

as well. The Great Spirit saw that soon

there would be no whales left unless he

did something. The Great Spirit asked

Thunderbird to stop hunting all the whales.

But Thunderbird only laughed. The Great

Spirit was angry, but he did not say

anything to Thunderbird.

Thunderbird forgot all about the Great

Spirit. The next day, he left his cave in

the mountain. He flew over the ocean,

looking for whales. It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining. Thunderbird was in a

good mood as he soared through the air.

The Great Spirit and Thunderbird

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But there came a time when many

days of heavy rain made the Quillayute

River overflow. The houses washed away.

Then the Quileute moved to the prairies.

Not long after, the weather grew cold.

The rain turned into hail and sleet. The

fishermen could not break through the

ice in the rivers to go fishing. Falling

hailstones were so big that people were

killed. The people grew afraid to go

outside. They were running out of food.

Men, women, and children were becoming

weak and sick.

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At this time, the Great Chief of the

Quileute called a meeting of all the people

in the tribe. He stood before them in a

patchwork shawl made up of buffalo skins

stitched together. The people begged the

chief to do something. The responsibility

of watching over his people weighed

heavily upon him. “We will ask the Great

Spirit who soars above Earth for help,”

said the chief. “The Great Spirit has

helped us in the past. And now we have

the most serious trouble ever. If we do

not get food, we will all die. And if that

is the will of the Great Spirit, then we

must die bravely.”

The chief prayed to the Great Spirit,

who had watched over his people for

hundreds of years. When his prayer was

over, the chief spoke. “Now we must wait

to see what the Great Spirit decides,” he

said. He had been the chief for many

years. But he had never seen his people

suffer like this. He thought that the Great

Spirit was punishing them for some wrong

that they might have done.

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Thunderbird came closer and closer. His

wings beat so hard they caused strong

winds and thunder. Then Thunderbird

stopped over an open spot on the ground.

Only the chief and a few men stayed to

watch. Thunderbird slowly loosened his

grip on the whale and dropped it on

the ground. Then Thunderbird rose into

the air and flew back to his cave on the

mountain.

When the people heard Thunderbird

leaving, they turned back. They saw the

whale and then they understood. The

great bird had not come to fight the

whale. Thunderbird had brought the whale

to save them!

The people quietly stood in a circle

around the whale. They gave thanks to

the Great Spirit. Finally, they had food.

Now they knew their pleas to the Great

Spirit had been answered. He had called

Thunderbird to bring the whale to them.

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The people waited. They tried to keep

up their strength with the little food they

had left. They knew that if they did not

get help soon, they would all die. Days

passed and nothing happened. The people

were getting weaker. Time was running out.

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A sudden flash of lightning lit up the

darkness. A thundering noise filled the sky.

The sound of huge wings beat in the air.

People ran out of their tepees to find out

what was happening. A mysterious dark

shape, blacker than the night, came out

of the ocean. The dark shape grew bigger

as it came closer to them. The people’s

mouths hung open in amazement at the

sight.

As the shape became clearer, the

people saw that it was a bird. It was

larger and scarier than any bird they had

ever seen. Its eyes looked as red and hot

as lava. Just looking at the bird’s eyes for

a short time made the people’s eyes hurt.

They had to look away. The bird’s beak

was sharper than any knife. This was the

legendary Thunderbird.

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Trapped in the claws of Thunderbird

was the mighty whale Kwalla. Thunderbird

had tried to catch him many times. But

each time the whale had escaped.

Now the people feared that Thunderbird

was going to fight the whale. Everyone

would be crushed if the two creatures

fought. Men, women, and children ran

away in all directions. They feared the end

had come.

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