Borreguita And The Coyote
From Reading Rainbow · 1994
28 minK1st2nd3rdReading & Writing (ELA)Social Studies
Summary
Verna Aardema retells a Mexican folktale in which a clever little lamb repeatedly outwits a hungry coyote using her wits rather than her size. LeVar Burton explores Mexican storytelling traditions and folk art.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
A tiny lamb uses brains rather than brawn to repeatedly defeat a coyote.
- Name one trick Borreguita (the lamb) uses to fool the coyote.
- What lesson does this folktale teach?
- Why do you think storytellers often make the small, weak character the clever winner?
- Can you think of another story where a smaller character outwits a bigger one?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: folktale, trickster, outwit, consequence, moral.
Try it: Write the lesson of this story in one sentence (the moral). Then draw Borreguita and the coyote in the scene where Borreguita is the cleverest.