About this worksheet
Long ago the forest nights were black as ink, and a plain brown beetle named Lumi flies all the way to the Moon to ask for light for her lost friends. The Moon, moved that she came for others and not for herself, touches her tail with a silver finger, and that is why fireflies glow.
A Did You Know? box underneath gives the real reason, bioluminescence, and the last question asks children to compare the two and say which one explains the glow and how they know. That pairing makes this a natural bridge between folktales and nonfiction. Question four asks for one character trait for Lumi, with a detail to prove it.
What students will practice
- Recognize what a pourquoi tale explains
- Describe a character trait with a detail from the story
- Compare a folktale with a factual explanation
Details
- Grade level
- Grade 4
- Subject
- Reading · Comprehension
- Standard
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
- Pages
- 1
- Format
- PDF · US Letter and A4 included
- License
- Free for classroom use · Attribution appreciated
- Last updated
- October 23, 2026
