Story Comprehension Questions: Teeter-Totter Eagle Reviews Her Past

After reading the Terry Gardner Four Directions tale called “Teeter-Totter Eagle reviews her past,” involve your students in responding to the following comprehension questions either in oral or written form or both.

Click “Teeter-Totter Eagle reviews her past” to read a copy of the target story.

Seventeen Story Comprehension Questions

1. What kind of bad memories does Eagle have of her past?

Students Respond: She recalls being bullied by one of her older brothers who is named Ernest.

2. Eagle told stories about her past to six of her friends. Recall the names of as many of them as you can.

Students Respond:

* Horse named Harry

* Deer named Debbie

* Panther named Pat

* Blue Jay named Brenda

* Mountain Lion named Mike

* Hawk named Harvey

3. What kind of food were they eating as they talked and told stories?

Students Respond: S’mores with roasted marshmallows and graham crackers

4. What is the name of the forest where they all live?

Students Respond: Master Forest

5. In what country was Eagle born and raised?

Students Respond: Africa

6. What was the main food that Eagle and her family ate?

Students Respond: Fish

7. What was the name of the nicer older brother of Eagle?

Students Respond: Earl

8. What was Eagle’s first bad memory about Ernest? How was she saved?

Students Respond: When Eagle was pecking her way out of her egg, Ernest bared his talons and swooped toward her to hurt or kill her. Earl managed to power dive and fight Ernest until he flew away. Then he helped Eagle get all the way out of her egg and protected her until her parents came home.

9. How did Eagle’s parents say that she should feel and deal with her older brother Ernest? How did she react to what they said?

Students Respond: They tried to tell her that she should love him because he was her brother. She found this very challenging to do.

10. How did the eagles hunt for fish?

Students Respond: They would soar high above the river. When they saw a fish, they would pull their wings tight against their sides. Then they would plummet really fast to the river. They would brake just before they hit the water and grab the fish with their talons.

11. What was Eagle’s second bad memory about Ernest?

Students Respond: Ernest would try to steal the fish before Earl and Ellen Eagle could get to them.

12. What did Ellen Eagle learn from having two such different brothers?

Students Respond: Ellen Eagle learned about giving and taking by having one brother who was usually taking and one brother who was usually giving.

13. What happened when Ernest tried to steal a fish from some humans from a nearby village? What happened?

Students Respond: When Ernest tried to steal a fish from some humans who were in a canoe. One man grabbed his net and threw it over Ernest. Earl got Ellen Eagle to fly over the canoe. Then he went to get their parents. The four of them dive-bombed the humans in the canoe. In their fright, they jumped out of the canoe and dropped the net. Ernest was able to fly free.

14. What big problem happened after the father Eagle died?

Students Respond: Earl had a family of his own. Ellen Eagle had a family of her own. Ernest was single and lived close to his mother; however, he didn’t spend much time with her or help her much.

15. How did Earl, Ellen Eagle, and the villagers teach Ernest a lesson?

Students Respond: They cooperated in some special way to not let Ernest be able to hunt. He got quite hungry and begged to be allowed to hunt again. Once he agreed to fish for his mother and take care of her, they lifted the spell and he could once again hunt successfully for fish.

16. What was one of the big lessons Ellen Eagle learned from her friends?

Students Respond:

From Deer, Ellen Eagle learned to let go of harsh thoughts, judgments and feelings about Ernest. She also learned to be gentle and loving.

From Horse, she learned to view her life as travel and adventure, and freedom of thought. She learned that she did not have to view Ernest as a bad brother. Instead, she learned important lessons from having to deal with him.

From Blue Jay, she learned to be joyful. She also realized that joy is always a choice. Mostly, she chooses to feel joyful.

From Mountain Lion, she learned to destroy anything holding her back from her ability to live fully in the now. She learned to not hold on to those bad feelings.

From Panther, she learned to balance-walk like him. She learned to listen to the adults in her life but also take responsibility for her thoughts and her life.

17. At the beginning of this tale, Hawk wanted to know how Eagle came to be the Guardian of the Forest. What was the answer?

Students Respond: Hawk learned that because Eagle has learned so much wisdom in her life, it has made her a very effective Guardian of the Forest.

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OTHER STORIES BY TERRY GARDNER

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1. Coyote meets his master

A. Read-aloud story