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Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Young scholars compare and contrast the details from the life of the real David Crockett and the legendary folk hero he later became. They identify the characteristics of a tall tale and follow a rubric to create a tall tale of their own.
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"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
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Tall Tales
Young scholars examine the characteristics of tall tales and how exaggerations are used. They create a character that is larger than life, they brainstorm attributes for their character, before writing a Tall Tale. They plan out their...
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Tall Tale Rollers
Students explore American tall tales. In this tall tale lesson, students discover the six characteristics that are included in tall tales. Students survey their class to find each student's favorite tall tale character and organize the...
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Men of Steel
Students explore early 20th century steel making. In this U.S. history steel making lesson, students view and describe a postcard and a picture depicting exaggerated aspects of the steel industry. Students listen to a poem about Joe...
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American Folktales and Tall Tales
Middle schoolers explore the elements of American folktales. They discuss how they are passed on from generation to generation, how they use exaggeration, and how they convey a message or make a point. Students identify common elements...
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Tall Tales
Students read tall tales and then write their own tall tales. In this tall tales lesson plan, students read tall tales, write their own, produce plays, and watch videos of their tall tales.
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Exaggeration
Students read the tall tale of Pecos Bill and identify an exaggeration in the story which they state as being part of a tall tale. In this exaggeration lesson plan, students identify the exaggeration by drawing a picture.
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Tall Tale Introduction
Students explore folk tales by completing a graphic organizer with classmates. For this tall tale lesson, students read the famous story Paul Bunyan and identify the many characteristics of a fictional tall tale story. Students complete...
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Born on a Mountaintop? Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History
Students name tall tale characters and locations, which are based on actual people and places, and describe how they are used in an exaggerated way. They name characters and events from tall tales, then list literary characteristics of...
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Writing a Tall Tale
Students study the various aspects of tall tales. They read various tall tales and discuss the characteristics and literature aspects of tall tales. Students write their own unique tall tales.
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Heroes
Learners read the story of Paul Bunyan and identify the characteristics and actions that make him a hero. In this heroes lesson plan, students explain their answer and draw pictures.
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Writing Folktales
Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills instructional activity, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as...
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What's the Real Story?
Second graders investigate tall tales. In this literature instructional activity, 2nd graders complete a story element worksheet based upon the tall tale of Paul Bunyan. Students create a PowerPoint presentation about a tall tale.
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Seven Chinese Brothers
Fourth graders identify the characteristics of a tall tale. They read "The Seven Chinese Brothers" and analyze it for these characteristics. Students complete a comprehension worksheet and discuss why "The Seven Chinese Brothers" can be...
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Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
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What did you build?
Youngsters will work in teams to build a house out of blocks after reading The Three Little Pigs. They will work together to make a block house. After finishing they take a picture of their house and discuss if it is too tall, too small...
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Genre
In this genre study PowerPoint presentation, students read the definitions and characteristics of each literary genre. There are 17 genres that the PowerPoint presentation addresses, such as science fiction, tall tales and poetry.
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Continuity and Change
Students identify those freedoms most important to them and identify characteristics of a "good" rule. They then develop "good" rules for the world and identify how decisions or rules made today might affect the future.
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Body Balance
Examine measurable characteristics of objects to build an understanding of the different ways you can discuss an object's size when comparing it to other objects. After whole group instruction, the class compares and organizes several...
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The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Sixth graders demonstrate the ability to process and evaluate content from a variety of sources and apply comprehension skills to the material read. They organize information for practical use and design and develop an informational...
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African-American Folktales
Learners are introduced to the characteristics of folktales and their purpose. As a class, they listen to a folktale, answer questions about the characters and share which part they enjoyed the best. In groups, they compare and...
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Extreme Heat
Students, in groups, investigage and demonstrate the science behind the development and characteristics of extreme heat.
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Native American Cultures
Learners investigate the Native American Heritage and explore their customs cultures. They discover characteristics of the Native Americans through the study of their art, artifacts, stories and symbols.