PAUL BUNYAN with the Help of the Library Media Specialist, Assemble a Collection of Tall Tales

CURRICULUM EXTENSION ACTIVITIES: PAUL BUNYAN With the help of the library media specialist, assemble a collection of tall tales. Retold by: Steven Kellogg Divide the class into partners and have each pair read one of the tall tales. Publisher: William Morrow Have the students make a chart comparing the tall tales. Divide the chart THEME: into the following columns: Title of Book Read, Name of Tall Tale Character, Where Character Lived, Amazing Feats, and Picture of Character (students Learning to respect and conserve our natural resources is the first important draw a picture). After the class has filled in the chart, have each set of part- step toward enjoying their beauty and wealth for years to come. ners share their tall tale with the class. PROGRAM SUMMARY: Have the students give themselves tall tale names. (Names mentioned in the This book recounts the life of the extraordinary lumberjack whose unusual story include Sourdough Slim, Creampuff Fatty, Hardjaw Murphy, and Big size and strength brought him many fantastic adventures. LeVar joins Smokey Tim Burr. Others gathered from American folklore include; Dirty Shirt John, the Bear for a trip to Maine, the legendary birthplace of Paul Bunyan, where Pig’s Foot Bob, Three Finger Jack, White Pine Mike, Broom-face Brooks, The he goes to forest firefighter training. A visit to a reforestation area shows how Pancake Kid, Cougar Dick, Macaroni Joe, Dynamite Nell, Moose City Molly, little seeds become big trees and demonstrates the importance of conserva- Lumberjack Maude, Elk-tooth Annie, and similar names.) Provide supplies for tion. LeVar also joins the University of Maine’s Woodsmen competition—using them to make name tags and allow them to use their tall tale names in their traditional lumberjack skills—to see who really is the best logger around! activities all day. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION: Using a copy of the feature book for reference, have students make an il- Discuss the characteristics of a tall tale (i.e., the characters are larger than lustrated timeline of Paul Bunyan’s life. On a large map of the United States, life; story events and objects are exaggerated beyond belief; they are usually make word labels of the places he visited (or created), according to the book. related to a particular geographic region or occupation; they become more Do some yarn-spinning in the classroom. Tie knots at intervals in a fairly exaggerated with each retelling; they are often based on a real person or long piece of yarn and wrap it around a craft stick. Place the wrapped stick event). Ask students to name some tall tale characters. Paul Bunyan, Johnny in a box with a hole cut in the top. Pull the end of the yarn through the hole. Appleseed, and John Henry were mentioned in the program. They might also Decide on a topic for a story. Use Paul Bunyan, another tall tale character, a name Pecos Bill, Davy Crockett, Casey Jones, Mike Fink, Jim Bridger, and child in the classroom, or a made-up character for the story, such as “The Day story characters who are known primarily in their own region of the country Paul Went Fishing” or “The Time Paul Went Camping,” etc. One child starts (e.g., Annie Christmas, Joe Magarac, Old Stormalong, Febold Feboldson, the story by pulling the yarn from the box. When that child reaches a knot in and others). Help the students distinguish between real historical figures and the yarn, she/he passes the box to the next child, who continues the story invented characters. until another knot is reached. The purpose is to make the story as exagger- Pose the question to the class that LeVar asked the children in the program, ated as possible. Before they start telling the story, explain to students how “If you were as big as Paul Bunyan, what would you do that you can’t do yarnspinners used to describe their tales. For example, they used adjectives now?” such as bad, outrageous, outlandish, severe, hard, double, and triple, and nouns such as bellybender, sidebuster, windy, gallyflopper, whopper, blanket After viewing the program, discuss with students why loggers cut trees. stretcher, and tonguewagger. By putting different combinations of adjectives In an animated segment of the program, a girl used a card catalog to find and nouns together, they announced what type of story they were telling, i.e., the folk tale section of the library. Few public and school libraries have card “a double bad bellybender,” “a triple severe tonguewagger,” or “an outlandish catalogs any more. Discuss with students how people now find where a book blanket stretcher.” Have students make up the type of story they are going to is located in a library. (If students have had little experience with actually tell before they begin. locating books themselves, have the school library media specialist give an Enlist some parent volunteers to help with the mixing and cooking and whip age-appropriate demonstration of how to use the on-line catalog.) up a batch of flapjacks in the classroom. Enjoy them with some real maple syrup (and remind the students that this is yet another product from trees!). READING RAINBOW TEACHER’S GUIDE 2004 WNYPBA. All rights reserved. Program #21 — Paul Bunyan Obtain copies of these other tall tales retold and illustrated by Steven Kel- SUPPLEMENTARY BOOKLIST: logg: Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed, Mike Fink, and Sally Ann Thunder Ann JACK AND THE WHOOPEE WIND Whirlwind Crockett. Read the stories to the class and discuss the characteris- by Mary Calhoun, illus. by Dick Gackenbach (Morrow) tics that make them tall tales. Make the books available for students to look at on their own, as Kellogg often includes humorous details in the pictures that THE TEA SQUALL require close examination. Discuss how his illustrations make a funny story by Ariane Dewey (Greenwillow) even funnier! THE NARROW ESCAPES OF DAVY CROCKETT See the section of this teacher’s guide on the program, Once There Was a By Ariane Dewey (Greenwillow) Tree, for a variety of activities related to forests, conservation and apprecia- THEY CALL ME APPLESEED JOHN tion of trees, and products from trees. by Andrew Glass (Doubleday) RELATED THEMES: SWAMP ANGEL forest habitat by Anne Isaacs, illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky (Dutton) ecology JOHN HENRY forest fires by Julius Lester, illus. by Jerry Pinkney (Dial) RELATED READING RAINBOW PROGRAMS: BEATS ME, CLAUDE Program #104 — Once There Was A Tree by Joan Lowery Nixon, illus. by Tracey Campbell Pearson (Viking) Program #94 — The Salamander Room IVA DUNNIT AND THE BIG WIND Program #99 — And Still The Turtle Watched by Carol Purdy, illus. by Steven Kellogg (Dial) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: THE MORNING THE SUN REFUSED TO RISE Steven Kellogg credits his fourth grade teacher with introducing him to tall by Glen Rounds (Holiday House) tales and making them come alive for him. Most of the versions he found in OL’ PAUL, THE MIGHTY LOGGER books, however, were illustrated with black-and-white art, which “didn’t really by Glen Rounds (Holiday House) capture the animation and vigor of these heroes.” When he began writing and illustrating his own books as an adult, he took the advice of his editor who THE BUNYANS suggested that he do his own full-color illustrated versions. Steven’s humor- by Audrey Wood, illus. by David Shannon (Scholastic) ous, highly detailed illustrations have become the trademark of his many books, which include How Much Is a Million? by David Schwartz and Best Friends, both Reading Rainbow feature books, and The Island of Skog, a review book. He and his wife make their home in Connecticut. BOOKS REVIEWED BY CHILDREN: THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER illus. by Peter Spier (Doubleday) THE LEGEND OF THE BLUEBONNET retold by Tomie dePaola (Putnam’s) WHALE IN THE SKY by Anne Siberell (Dutton) READING RAINBOW TEACHER’S GUIDE 2004 WNYPBA. All rights reserved. Program #21 — Paul Bunyan.

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