CKLA Domain 1 Lesson 5

​An important characteristic of all tall tales is exaggeration of details. An exaggeration is an overstatement of the truth. Exaggeration in a tall tale makes the main character seem larger than life; they are always bigger, stronger, smarter, and faster than real people.

​Turn and Talk: Work with a partner to create two versions of a situation: one that contains exaggeration and one that is more realistic and does not contain exaggeration.

​Raise Your Hand: As I read the story of “Paul Bunyan,” raise your hand whenever you hear an example of exaggeration.

Multiple Choice

Do you think he really ate five barrels of porridge a day or that his parents milked four dozen cows to fill his baby bottle?

• exaggeration

• not an exaggeration

Multiple Choice

Who is the legendary character of this tall tale?

• Pecos Bill
• Johnny Appleseed
• Paul Bunyan

Open Ended

What are some exaggerations or things Paul Bunyan does that make him a larger-than-life character?

Drag and Drop

What are things in this story that probably could not happen in real life?​ ​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

An ox cannot be blue

a river cannot be pulled straight

A baby cannot rollover and create a giant wave.

A baby can eat.

A lumberjack can cut trees.

Multiple Choice

Who is a lumberjack?

• A person who builds houses.

• A person who fishes.

• A person who cuts trees.

Multiple Choice

Is this tall tale fiction or nonfiction?

• nonfiction
• fiction

​If you could change one of the exaggerations in the story of Paul Bunyan, what would you change and why?

​Is “Paul Bunyan” a tall tale? Identify one characteristic of a tall tale that is present in “Paul Bunyan” and write it on an index card.