How is this

flower similar to

a paintbrus

h?

Read the book, The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by

Tomie Depaola

Or

Watch the version byReading Rainbow video.

After You Read 

• You have just finished reading The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush.  Tomie dePaola did not make up this story on his own.  It is a legend that has been retold by his people for many years.  Now you will get a chance to write your own legend!  You will pretend you are a member of a Native American Tribe.  You have just discovered a new wildflower.  How did this flower come into existence? How will you name your flower? Task:   You will choose a wildflower with a name you think is interesting and write a legend about how that flower got its name.   You will research forms of  picture writing, called petroglyphs.  In the book, Little Gopher used these pictures to retell the stories of his people.   You will then create a picture writing of your legend of the wildflower.

• Process: 1) Visit these sites on wildflowers.  Look at the names of the wildflowers and choose below you would like to write a legend about.     Wildflowers in Bloom     

• 2) Look at these sites with legends retold by Native Americans.  These will help you get ideas for your legend.     The Origin of the Prairie Rose       Or check out these books:     The Legend of the Bluebonnet, by Tomie dePaola     Where the Buffaloes Begin, by Olaf Baker     And It Is Still That Way: Legends Retold by Arizona Indian Children, by Byrd Baylor

http://stancock.iweb.bsu.edu/CyberLessons/paintbrush/Indian%20paintbrush.html

Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by: Tomie dePaola

• Ask the children if, when they are older, they will go out into the hills to think about growing up, as Little Gopher does.

• Ask the children if they know what a buckskin is.• Discuss the fact that paintbrushes are still made from animal hair.• Ask why Native Americans drew on skins.• Discuss the importance of drawing pictures.• Ask the children if they have ever tried to draw something that didn't

come out the way they wanted it to.• Ask how Little Gopher got the colors he needed.• Ask how the flowers came to be.• Point out Little Gopher's new name.• After reading go back and show the pictures Little Gopher had

drawn.• Discuss how the Naive Americans used pictures to tell a story.

wildflowers

• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/wildflowers.html

• Open the site Wildflowers and discuss with children the wide variety of names for wildflowers. Tell them that they are going to select one of the wildflowers and think about how it might have gotten its name. They are to write their own legend and illustrate.