Recently a Wonder-of-the-Day from Wonderopolis really got me thinking (but I guess that is what it is supposed to do): Why do they call it a "Tall Tale"? Focusing on reading genres, like Tall Tales, was something I really enjoyed when I was in the classroom. We would do genre studies where we would explore many examples of a certain genre type and then talk about the similarities and characteristics we found. I also liked to introduce a variety of vocabulary words that could be associated with the genre. Wonderopolis has done a great job of pulling all those thing together! I could have used their help several years ago when I was trying to do all that. :)
I did a search on ReadWriteThink to find resources on Tall Tales:
- A lesson plan: Thundering Tall Tales: Using Read-Aloud as a Springboard to Writing
- A tall tales booklist
- A writing rubric for students to provide evidence that the stories they have written contain elements important in a tall tale
- A sequencing activity: Did Paul Bunyan gouge out the Grand Canyon before or after he dug the Great Lakes? Students create a life-sized timeline showing the sequence of events in this tall tale.
- A podcast: Gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and the characters in these four tall tales have plenty of unusual gifts to keep you reading all winter. Listen in to hear about them and to meet Ingrid Law, the author of Savvy and Scumble.
I also searched for Tall Tales resources on ArtsEdge:
- Tall Tales Today: Where have all the heroes gone?
- Exploring American Tall Tales: What can our tall tales tell us about the American spirit?
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