The Fire Stealers

After examining Hopi kachinas and pottery, fifth-grade students in Ms. Webb's class listened to the book. As a class, we webbed the four animals depicted in the story, the reason each was sent to retrieve fire, and how the experience changed the physical characteristics of that animal, the pourquoi part of the story. We brainstormed desert animals then students chose a particular animal and created their own webs that included why the animal was chosen and the way the fire changed the animal's appearance. From these webs, students wrote their narrative poems. They created borders for their work based on the Hopi designs they found in The Fire Stealers and on Hopi pottery. This is a sample of the students' fine work.

 

Prairie Dog by Cheyanne The village elders called the quietly quick prairie dog to steal the fantastic fire to bring the Hopi some warmth. Silently sneaky, like the whirling wind he sneaked over the sand dunes as agile as lightning streaks coming from the sky. As fast as can be he reached the flaming fire and sped away. suddenly the fire flew and flickered on prairie dog's tiny tail. That is why prairie dog has a midnight black, but terrific tail.

Roadrunner by Mario The village people called t he tiny roadrunner to s teal the flaming stick so t hey could keep warm. He squeaked loudly like thunder a nd ran over weeds fast as rocks rolling off mountains. When he arrived he sneakily snatched the fire stick with his pointy beak. Suddenly the roadrunner was running and sparks flew onto his terrific tail. That's why roadrunners have smoky black tails.

Bobcat by Chelsie The villagers called the big brave bobcat to steal the fierce fire torch to warm the people in the village. He stomped on the ground like an angry waterfall and ran to the ferocious fire as fast as a boulder rolling down a hill. As quiet as can be he snatched the fierce fire torch with his trusty tail. But then he noticed that his tail was too close to the fire and his tail caught fire. And that is why the bobcat's t iny tip of his tail is night black.

The Rascal Raccoon by Dylan The village elders called the tricky thief raccoon to steal the flaming firebrand to bring the people warm food. He ran so lightly that you couldn't hear him from a centimeter away across the massive mesas. Swiping the scorching stick so swiftly that they didn't notice. He ran swoosh, so flamingly fast that the fire blew around his eyes. That is why the racing raccoon has a bright black mask around his enchanting eyes.

 

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