What can stories teach us?

EntertainExplain something

Express valuesClose generation gaps

Unit Goals

Identify and analyze characteristics of myths, legends, folks tales, and tall tales

Identify cultural values in myths and legends

Identify and compare universal themes

Reading Goals

Use reading strategies, including predicting, monitoring, and visualizing

Identify cause-effect relationships and chronological order

Compare reviewer’s reaction to a book to one’s own reaction

Myths, Legends, and Tales

Often, myths, legends, and tales have an oral tradition.

In other words, these stories have been handed down orally from one generation to the next.

Characteristics of Traditional Stories

May be short or long

May be inspiring or humorous

Might end with a lesson

Might have “happy ever after” endings

Look at the picture on page 625. What’s going on? Think of a story time from your life. What made it memorable?

Cultural values – ideals and beliefs honored and upheld by a particular society.

Myth

A traditional story that was created to explain mysteries of the universe.

Often explains how something connected with humans or nature came to be

Reveals the consequences of both good and bad behavior

Features gods or other beings as well as certain flaws

Let’s read the excerpt from Quetzalcoatl, a Mexican myth retold by Amy Cruse.

Look for cultural values represented in this myth. Let’s talk about attitudes toward work and characteristics that are valued.

Legend

A story passed down through many generations that is believed to be based on real people and events.

Tells about a hero or heroine who has unusual powersFocuses on the hero’s or heroine’s struggle to defeat a powerful forceHighlights a positive quality or way of behaving

Let’s read the excerpt from John Henry, a legend retold by Mary Pope Osborne.

What attitudes are rewarded and admired? What inferences can we draw about this country’s workers?

Fable

A brief story that teaches a lesson, or moral, about human nature

Usually includes animal characters that stand for specific human qualities, such as kindness or dishonestyHas a moral that is directly stated at the end or indirectly communicated through what happens in the fable

Let’s read “The Fox and the Crow,” a fable by Aesop.

What human qualities does each animal stand for?Let’s discuss the moral and how it is illustrated in the fable.

Tall Tale

A humorously exaggerated story about impossible events

Stars a hero or heroine who is larger than life – that is, bigger, stronger, and even louder than a regular person

Uses exaggeration to emphasize the abilities and achievements of the hero or heroine.

Let’s read the excerpt from Bess Call, a tall tale retold by Robert D. San Souci.

In what way is Bess larger than life? Give me an example of humorous exaggeration.