Tall Tales

Last week we finished up a very fun Tall Tales unit. I was amazed at how much the boys loved these stories. The stories are wild, rough-and-tumble, and just plain fun. Perfect for boys! We enjoyed talking about which parts are/could be true and which parts are clearly fictitious.

We read:

Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Mike Fink, and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett all by Steven Kellogg. The boys LOVED his illustrations!

The Narrow Escapes of Davy Crockett by Ariane Dewey

Casey Jones by Larry Dane Brimner

The Bunyans by Audrey Wood

John Henry by Julius Lester

Davy Crockett Gets Hitched by Bobbi Miller

After we read about each tall tale character, the boys drew a picture in their tall tale flapbooks. They narrated what they remembered and liked about each story and I wrote their words next to their pictures. Now they have really nice flapbooks of which they are very proud.

Here's what Ray had to say about Pecos Bill (pictured above): "Once upon a time there was a cowboy named Pecos Bill. He had a horse that was named lots of names. Then in the ocean he saw Slue Foot Sue riding on a fish. They traveled to Texas. At the end, Slue Foot Sue bounced up and down, up and down. Pecos Bill went and got into a coyote family. Thank you. Thank you."

My favorite narration from Adam is about John Henry: "John Henry was a MIGHTY man! He raced a guy with an engine. He used his hammers to break through a mountain."

We also listened to the American Tall Tales cd by Jim Weiss and watched American Legends by Disney. These really brought the tales to life for the boys.

I am planning to use one or more of the tall tale stories to teach Geography to my 4 and 5 year old co-op class next month. They refer to the move West in early America and also to many American landmarks. It would be fun to map out the places mentioned in the stories.

I highly recommend these fun stories!