Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans: Reading: Tall Tale Unit Plan

Tall Tales
B. Grade:
3rd/Inclusion
C. Objective:
Students will learn the definition of tall tales along with being able to give characteristic of them, examples of them, and write their own tall tale. Students will be able to tell what the difference is between a tall tale and a regular fiction story. Students will also be able to name some popular authors that have written tall tales.

D. Rationale:
By studying tall tales students will be able to learn about some American Folk tales that have been told for a long time. Knowing American culture is key to understanding the history of the United States. Students will look at the tall tales and express if they think they are real or some parts of them are real. By doing research on one tall tale they will be able to separate fact from fiction. They will look critically at the literature and be able to pick out why a tall tale is one. By doing this they will learn to critique literature and tell what kind it is. They will use their writing skills by writing and illustrating their own original tall tale. By doing this in the classroom students will be able to express themselves through their tall tales.

E. Behavioral Objectives:

1. Language:
1.01 Upon request, students will be able to give a definition of a Tall Tale.
1.02 Upon request, students will state the four characteristics of a Tall Tale.
1.03 Upon request, students will be able to give at least three examples of a Tall Tale which will include character names, conflicts in the story, and resolutions in the story.

1.04 Upon request, students will be able to tell why a Tall Tale is a Tall Tale and show evidence.

2. Science and Technology

2.01 Upon request, students will be able to find the website, http://www.hasd.org/ges/talltale/talltale.htm-.

2.02 Upon request, students will make their own Tall Tale from the above said website using the appropriate technology.

2.03. Upon request, students will go online and watch some examples of Tall Tales on appropriate provided websites.

2.04 Upon request, students will search for information about Tall Tales and use this information to write their own Tall Tale

3. Art

3.01 Given paper bags, markers, and other appropriate materials students will make a paper bag village.

3.02 Having seen a small village made with paper bags the students will be able to draw themselves if they were larger than normal size similar to the Tall Tale of “Paul Bunyan.”

3.03 Given paper, markers, and other appropriate materials and having heard or seen many Tall Tales students will draw their favorite Tall Tale using accurate facts and characteristics of the character and tale.

3.04 Given the appropriate materials students will make a diorama or a model of the Tall Tale in which they have composed.

4. Handwriting

4.01 Given the “Ideas on Appleseed” interactive bulletin board students will be able to make educated predictions on what will happen in the story.

4.02 Given the “Ideas on Appleseed” interactive bulletin board students will be able to answer the questions on the story of Johnny Appleseed in complete sentences and appropriate grammar.

4.03 Given proper characteristics of a Tall Tale students will be able to write their own Tall Tale consisting of the four characteristics.

4.04 Given a sheet of paper, students will be able to tell why a Tall Tale is a Tall Tale and what some characteristics of one are in complete sentences.

5. Social Studies

5.01 Upon request, students will come up with five questions to ask a guest speaker on Tall Tales

5.02 Upon request, students will be able to say how Tall Tales are different from everyday life and how they are exaggerations

6. Math

6.01 Upon request, students will make a scale that is appropriate for a paper bag village compared to Tall Tale hero, Paul Bunyan.

7. Listening

7.01 When reading a book students will be able to sit still and listen to the story with no interruptions

7.02 Given any Tall Tale read students will be able to give examples according to the story why the story is a Tall Tale.

7.03 When other students are reading their Tall Tale all students are listening attentively.

E. Teacher’s Bibliography

1. Books

American Tall Tales
Mary Osborne
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Reissue edition
New York, NY
1991

Teaching Tall Tales
Tracy West
Scholastic
Boston, MA
1999

2. Websites
http://www.hasd.org/ges/talltale/talltale.htm- This site gives characteristics of Tall Tales, some examples along with the stories, how tall tales got started, and a way to make your own Tall Tale.

http://www.americanfolklore.net/tt.html- This site gives a lot of tall tales. Some are famous ones and some are unknown.

http://www.millville.org/Workshops_f/Dich_FOLKLORE/FOLKTEXT/folkhome.htm- This site is an actual unit plan about Tall Tales. Not only does it have the lesson but it also has good information about tall tales.

www.stevenkellogg.com- gives amazing pictures and cartoons. It also gives upcoming book announcements and a biography about Steven Kellogg, who is a beloved reteller of tall tales and illustrator.

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/kellogg.htm- This site also gives a lot of information about Kellogg. It also has book reviews and lesson plans about different books such as Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan. .
http://homepage.mac.com/melicenter/Writing-Talltales.html- This gives information on how to write a tall tale.

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/talltales.htm#E- this sites gives activities to do with a lot of different tall tales.

F. Student’s Bibliography

1. Books

Pecos Bill
Steven Kellogg
Harper Trophy
1992

Paul Bunyan
Steven Kellogg
Harper Trophy
1985

Johnny Appleseed
Steven Kellogg
Harper Trophy
1988

Mike Fink
Steven Kellogg
Harper Trophy
1998

Tall Tales and Legends
Shelley Duvall and Howard Storm
Scholastic
1998

2. Movies:

Pecos Bill

Paul Bunyan

3.Websites\

http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/talltale/talltale.htm- This is a site that displays tall tales that third graders wrote in Arizona.

http://www.animatedtalltales.com/en/paulb/- This site has many animated versions of tall tales on the computer for kids to watch and read.

http://pbskids.org/lions/pecos/- Interactive site for kids about tall tales. The site has all of the favorites that kids would know.

http://www.paulbunyantrail.com/talltale.html- This site gives good information, pictures, and the story of Paul Bunyan.

http://www.drlamay.com/pecos_bill.htm- This site gives the story of Pecos Bill.

http://www.appleseed.org/johnny.html- This site gives biographical information about John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed.

G. Motivation/Initiation

• “Paul Bunyan” word wall

• “Ideas on Appleseed” interactive bulletin board

o Question and Answer relationship strategy used

• Movie Center

• “How Tall is Your Tall Tale” ruler for characteristics of a Tall Tale

• “Lasso the Correct Order” a Pecos Bill themed area to put the correct sequence in order of a provided Tall Tale

• “Make your own Tall Tale” computer Center

• Tall Tale Reading Nook

H. Daily Plans

Introduction:

The teacher will discuss all seven stations and what is going to happen at each. She will then explain what the students will be learning for the next week and give examples of activities that will happen.

Language, Handwriting, and Listening:

The teacher will introduce the “Tall Tale” definition, the four characteristics, and show class some different examples. The class will then watch a “Pecos Bill” movie and discuss why that is a Tall Tale using the four characteristics. The teacher will define exaggeration and use the word wall to do so. Students will give different problems and exaggerations in the story. The teacher will then show the cover of “Johnny Appleseed” by Steven Kellogg and ask the students to write what they think will happen in the story. After the movie is watched the students will listen to the story of “Johnny Appleseed” attentively. The class will then compare their predictions to what really happened in the story. The students will use the “Ideas on Appleseed” interactive board and answer the questions provided to be handed in. The predictions will also be handed in for teacher input. The teacher will then hand out the “What makes it a Tall Tale” worksheet and the class will collectively do it. The worksheet will explain why Johnny Appleseed is a Tall Tale which will reinforce the four characteristics. For evaluation, students will do the “Fill in the Blank” worksheet that will assess their knowledge on the four characteristics. (1.01, 1.02, 1.04, 4.01, 4.02, 7.01, 7.02)

Technology and Art:

The teacher will have the students gather around a computer in the classroom. She will then show them how to get to a certain website to make their own Tall Tale. They will be doing it tomorrow. She will then show them pictures of different characters of Tall Tales. Students will then draw a Johnny Appleseed or a Pecos Bill picture using accurate descriptions and details. (2.03, 3.03)

Day 2

Art and Math

The teacher will begin the lesson by having the students make a paper bag village. They will make houses, garages, stores, and other appropriate community buildings out of paper bags. They will decorate them however they wish. The class will lay the village on the floor. The class will then carefully walk through the village. The teacher will then brainstorm with the students on how they feel because they are so much bigger than the houses and buildings. The teacher and the students will make a scale using inches on how big the paper bag buildings are against the students’ height. The teacher must make the scale as accurate as possible and teach the students how scales are made. (3.01, 3.02, 6.01)

Language and handwriting:

The teacher will then read the story of “Paul Bunyan” and discuss how it is a Tall Tale. The four characteristics will be put into play. The students have now learned three different Tall Tales. The teacher and students will discuss how they felt when they walked through the village and put themselves in Paul Bunyan’s shoes. This connects them to the story. The class will discuss the different exaggerations in the story. The teacher will then put in the movie of “Paul Bunyan.” After the movie is watched the class will compare to see if any of the exaggerations are different or if they are similar. The students will then get into groups to go over their homework. They were to come up with a Tall Tale character and three adventures that the character would have. The groups will discuss the characters and for each person write down one positive thing about the partner’s character and one piece of advice or recommendation for the character. (1.03, 1.04, 3.02)

Day 3

Handwriting and Social Studies
The students will get back into their same groups to discuss their homework. They will share three solutions the character found to the adventures. The adventures must follow the criteria of a Tall Tale and the students must demonstrate knowledge of those. Students will do the same as the day before of writing down one positive thing and one recommendation for their peers. The students will then be asked to brainstorm examples of how Tall Tales are exaggerations of real life. They will have to compare what a Tall Tale hero might do as opposed to a real person. They will have to take into account real social issues, actions, and ideas. (1.03, 4.03, 4.04, 5.02, 7.03)

Technology
The class will then go to the computer lab. The teacher will direct the students to the following website, http://www.hasd.org/ges/talltale/talltale.htm-. On this website the class will look at it and the teacher will explain what to do. The class will follow the directions on the website and make their own Tall Tale using the computer software. After the students have finished they will print it out and hand it to the teacher for a grade. The students will then be directed to a couple other websites to read Tall Tales that the class has not yet read. The websites have guided reading and pictures so that the students will be able to read them. They then will find three sites each about Tall Tales and write down three facts about Tall Tales that have not been learned yet. The class would then go back to the classroom to share those ideas and some of the Tall Tales made and read on the websites. (2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.04)

Day 4

Technology and language:
The students will first head to the computer lab to type out their Tall Tale in which they have made. The teacher will helping the students with grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and storyline issues. The Tall Tale must have each of the four characteristics in it and the students must be able to point them out in their story. (1.04, 4.03)

Social Studies
After the students have come back from the computer lab they will begin learning about the author Steven Kellogg. The teacher will show all the books they have read in which Kellogg wrote and/or illustrated. The teacher will tell the students the difference between retelling a story and writing their own story. The students will discuss their favorite Steven Kellogg Tall Tale. The teacher will then tell the students that the author himself is coming in for a visit. She will then instruct them to write down three questions they would like to ask the author. She will remind them how to write appropriate questions. (5.01, 5.02)

Day 5

Social Studies
The students will get to ask the author, Steven Kellogg, what they would like using the questions they have learned the day before. Kellogg will do a small presentation. (7.04)

Language
Students will then do their own small presentations for Kellogg. They will share their Tall Tales that they have written and show their diorama or model in which they have made. They will be able to read the stories and talk about their diorama. They can say why they wrote that particular story and how they came up with the idea. After each story is read the teacher will ask the students why that story is a Tall Tale. The students will give answers using the four characteristics. (Using How Tall Is Your Tall Tale bulletin board) Kellogg can also ask them questions. (3.04, 4.03, 7.01, 7.02, 7.03)

Day 1 procedure:
First, I will start off by defining a tall tale. I will reinforce the idea continuously and check for understanding. We will go over the parts of a tall tale and the characteristics of it. (Refer to ruler display) I will then reinforce this idea by going over it a couple of times. I will then put in the movie of Pecos Bill. Students will then tell me how Pecos Bill is a tall tale using the components of a tall tale ruler. I will then show the cover of Johnny Appleseed and have the students predict the outcome of Johnny Appleseed using the Johnny Appleseed display board. I will then read the book. After the book is read I will hand out the guided practice worksheet and we will fill it out together so that students know how to pick out certain parts of the story. We will again go over the components of a tall tale. I will then hand out the independent practice worksheet and have the students fill it out. I will collect that for grading. Next, I will explain the homework. Over the course of a week the students will be making their own tall tale. The homework for the first day will be to come up with a character, a character description, and three adventures that the character could have.

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Jessica Drinkwine
Email: drin0348@mail.plattsburgh.edu
Site hosted by: SUNY Plattsburgh
last updated: August 31, 2006