| Lesson Title: | What makes a story a tall tale? (Second lesson in Unit Truth or Fiction in History) | ||
| Curriculum Area: | English Language Arts | ||
| Technology Strand: | Uses technology but does not address a technology strand | ||
| Grade Level: | 5 | ||
| Essential Question: | What are the characteristics of a Tall Tale? |
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Activity Summary |
Students will work in pairs to learn the characteristics of a Tall Tale. ***Note: This is the second lesson in a unit study of Tall Tales. The unit outline is provided in resources. Lesson #6 of this unit is found posted at this website and is entitled "Turning Biographical Information into Tall Tales". |
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Curriculum |
English Language Arts 2.03 What strategies do I use when reading a variety of texts (such as Tall Tales) to understand what I read? |
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Technology |
Uses technology but does not address a technology strand
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| Activating Strategies |
| Teacher says to class: "Have you ever been on a Human Treasure Hunt? That's what we are going to do now. You will need a pencil, a clipboard, and a Human Treasure Hunt Sheet. The first thing you will do is to read the Human Treasure Hunt Sheet and put your name into any box that has one of your characteristics. Now, we are going to walk around the classroom and find other students who might have some of the characteristics listed on this same sheet. When you find someone who has one of these characteristics, write their name in the characteristic's box. You will have 4 minutes. Any questions? (have someone repeat the directions) Begin." |
| Technology Vocabulary: |
| Detailed Technology Instructions: |
| Cognitive Teaching Strategies |
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Introduce the Lesson (time: 5 minutes) Tell the students that the purpose of today's lesson is to learn the characteristics of Tall Tales. Like the characteristics you recorded about yourself and the characteristics that you found that were character traits of your classmates, Tall Tales have certain characteristics different from the other genres. Write the essential question on the board. Teacher Directed Activity: Students will move to the Computer Lab where students will be assigned partners for this activity. Explain to the students that working in pairs they will read three Tall Tales. Provide three Tall Tales (on a disk or in the student activities folder on the computer) for students to read.(See attachment Tall Tale Websites) Students will be given floppy disks that have the website addresses and a Tall Tale Characteristics Sheet (see attachment) on them. When using two computers, one partner will open the disk and choose the file "Tall Tale Characteristics" and the other partner will choose the "Tall Tale Websites" to be opened at the other computer. They will read each Tall Tale first. Then they will type True or false. If the characteristic is true, they are to give an example from the tall tales on the tall tale characteristics sheet. If there are no examples, they type False and explain why the characteristic is false. Students will print their information. Students who finish early will read more Tall Tales on the internet from the website at the bottom of the Tall Tale Characteristics sheet while others are finishing. Using the averkey the teacher will show a copy of the tall tale characteristics file. After each characteristic the teacher will ask the students to read examples they found in the tall tales. The teacher will type student responses. The students should make the discovery of the following characterisitcs to be true of Tall Tales. Characteristics are as follows: 1. The main character accomplishes great feats using strength, skill, and wits. 2. The main character is helped by a powerful object or animal. 3. The author uses exaggeration and humor; the hero brags but also makes fun of him/herself. 5. The story explains how some familiar things began. 6. The hero has a colorful way of speaking. 7. Famous people and places show up in the story. 8. The hero does not like what others call process. More often that not, the hero dies or disappears. * I found these examples at: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=288#LESSON1 |
| Summary Strategies |
| Students will be asked to turn all of their papers over so that they cannot see the characteristics. The computer will be turned off. Teacher will randomly select characteristics included on the Tall Tale Characteristics Sheet while students respond with a thumb up or a thumb down if these are Tall Tale characteristics. |
| Resources For directions on how to download files choose: Mac (Kid Pix or Microsoft Works), Windows (Kid Pix or Microsoft Works or Office), or Mac/PC (AppleWorks). |
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Tall Tale Unit Outline Human_Treasure_Hunt.pdf Tall_Tale_Characteristic.doc Tall_Tale_Websites.doc Answer_Key.doc Web addresses: http://www.americanfolklore.net/tt.html#Tall http://www.hasd.org/ges/talltale/talltale.htm#pualbunyan http://www.42explore.com/talltale.htm http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/talltales.htm#B12 Characteristics of Tall Tales Website http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=288 |
| Re-teaching and Enrichment Activities |
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Students will use an article from the newspaper and turn it into a tall tale using the characteristics that were discussed in this lesson.
Students will be asked to read a tall tale from their favorite state and report to the class the name of the character and an example of one characteristic of tall tales. Click here Sample Projects to see three sample powerpoint projects Students will continue working on their Tall Tale using the Powerpoint Program. They will use the digital camera, scanner, Internet, and their own drawing to enhance their presentation. These will be printed into a class book of Tall Tales. Students will have their own copy printed for them to share and keep. |
Carol Joyce |
| Nathanael Greene Elementary, Data last modified: 4/22/2004 |