SS Unit Introduction: Characterizing our nation’s heritage! AMERICAN FOLKTALES SS Unit Introduction: Characterizing our nation’s heritage!

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Using the SB interactive mode and pen, brainstorm with students different types of fiction that they know—science fiction (make believe now but could happen in the future), fantasy (where the characters do impossible things), fairy tales, realistic fiction (a story that could be true, but isn’t). Introduce Folktales in the fifth bubble. “Today we’re going to learn about Folktales…”

FOLKTALES ARE… Fiction or Make-Believe Oral Tradition Exaggerated! Folktales are Fiction—this means they are make-believe, not everything in them is true. We have them in books now, but they’re not stories that someone wrote down on a piece of paper. Instead, they’re stories that someone’s grandpa told him because his grandpa told him…this is called oral tradition. But some folktales—like the one’s we’re going to study—ARE based on a real person or thing that happened in history. But they’ve been EXAGGERATED!

EXAGGERATING What does it mean to exaggerate? Who can tell us? This is something that happens when lots of people tell a story. One person might tell a story about a big, strong man he saw with an ax. But then the story GROWS and many years later the next man says the first man told him about a big, strong man with huge boots and a big, blue ox for a pet! And finally the story GROWS or is exaggerated so much that the man is the Biggest, Tallest, Strongest man who ever lived…even taller than the tops of the trees!

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do folktales tell us about our country’s heritage? So now that we know what they are, how can Folktales tell us about our country's heritage? Heritage is the combination of all the things that make us what we are! Like a patchwork quilt, folktales put together lots of qualities like strength, determination, kindness, and bravery that make us who we are in America

REVIEW What are some American symbols that we already know that tells us about our country? The bald eagle reminds us that people in America are brave, the Statue of Liberty reminds us that everyone can come to America. The torch she holds reminds us to learn many things so that we can be wise. On our country’s flag we see the colors red, white and blue to remind us that the Americans who started our country were brave, good, and even died so that we could be free.

AMERICAN FOLKTALES All this week, we will be learning about different folktales—or exaggerated stories—that make up American heritage. We’ll learn about virtues like bravery and caring about nature. We’ll also be learning about things that happened in our country like building railroads and exploring the West. Here are some of the tall tales we’ll be reading. See if you can predict what each one might be about and what might be exaggerated in each story. ANNIE OAKLEY, JOHNNY APPLESEED

AMERICAN FOLKTALES JOHN HENRY, DAVY CROCKETT

AMERICAN FOLKTALES Paul Bunyan Today we will be learning about Paul Bunyan

Using the interactive SB pen, list some things that students already know or can predict about Paul Bunyan. Then, under “w”, list some of the things that they would like to know about Paul Bunyan. Follow-up by reading the tale aloud.