Tall Tales

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Tall Tales
Project Information Page
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Activities
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What is a Tall Tale?
How did Tall Tales get started?
Johnny Appleseed
Paul Bunyan
Sluefoot Sue
John Henry
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Sluefoot Sue
Sluefoot Sue said that she could ride anything
that moved! And she could. There wasnt a wild
horse that she couldnt break. She even rode
wild fish! In those days, the catfish in Texas
were as big as whales. Sue would hop onto one as
it swam by her. Yipee! she would yell as the
catfish flashed through the waves. Sluefoot Sue
was quite a woman. She had dark curly hair and
sparkling black eyes. Lots of men wanted to
marry her. But Sue didnt want to settle down.
She had a mind of her own.
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One day Sluefoot Sue was showing off. She was
riding a huge fish. A big crowd was watching.
Hang on, Sue! they shouted. Ride that
critter! all the noise brought Pecos Bill to
the river. He was the most famous cowboy in the
West. Bill was tall and strong and handsome. It
was love at first sight. Bill and Sue decided to
get married. Bill made one big mistake, however.
Dont ever try to ride Widow Maker, he warned
Sue. That horse is dangerous! Bill didnt
want Sue to get hurt. Of course, Sue made up her
mind then and there that she would ride Bills
horse.

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Right after the wedding, Sue jumped up on Widow
Maker. She was still wearing her wedding dress.
The horse gave a mighty buck and up Sue flew.
She didnt stop until she hooked her dress on the
tip of the moon. It took Bill four nights and
three days to lasso her down. Pecos Bill had
learned a lesson. Do whatever you want from now
on, Sue, he said. Sluefoot Sue smiled and
answered, I think Ill keep my feet on the
ground for a while!
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Treasure Hunt
Paul Bunyan Treasure Hunt An Internet-Based
Treasure Hunt Introduction Questions The Big
Question Internet Resources Introduction Paul
Bunyan is the most popular of the many American
folk heroes seen in tall tales. Use the Internet
resources to answer the 7 questions that follow.
When you have finished, answer the Big Question
that asks you to combine a lot of what you
learned through the treasure hunt into a "big
picture."
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Questions
1. List 3 ways that Baby Paul Bunyan was
different from other babies.
2. What happened when Baby Paul Bunyan outgrew
his baby carriage?
3. What did Paul get for his first birthday?
4.When Paul knew that Round River was a bad
thing, what did he do?
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Questions
5. What job did Paul have that made him larger
than life?
6. Look on a map of the United States for
Pugent Sound, the Grand Canyon, and the Black
Hills.
7. Why did people exaggerate facts to tell
stories?
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Frontier Journal
Draw a picture of a frontier campsite and
people sitting around the fire telling stories.
Write in your journal what you think it would
be like to live on the frontier. Would it be
exciting or scary? Do you think you would have
liked being a kid on the frontier or not? Why?
Would you be able to survive without Nintendo?!
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Credits
www.pbskids.org/cgi-registry/lions/tales.pl/games
  www.ibiblio.org/john_henry/story1.html   www.Pau
lBunyanTrail.com   www.coolgrahics.com   www.hasd.
org/ges/talltale/talltale.htm   www.perry-lake.k12
.oh.us/pes/clubs/Drama20Club/Character_descriptio
ns.htm   www.millville.org/workshops_f/Dich-FOLKLO
RE/FolkText/lesson2.htm   Mircosoft Office
2000 Powerpoint Word Microsoft Clips on Line