English Language Arts and Reading.5.9.A

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The student is expected to

demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, legends, myths, and tall tales;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Read a tall tale aloud to the class, but don’t tell students the type of literature you are reading. After listening to the text, students should list the characteristics present in the text (e.g., exaggeration, humor, larger-than-life characters). Ask students to discuss specific examples of characteristics from the story with a partner. Based on the characteristics of the text, student pairs should determine the type of children’s literature in the read-aloud.
 

Further Explanation

This assessment requires students to be familiar with characteristics that are specific to the tall tales such as exaggeration, humor, larger-than-life characters, and unbelievable situations. Students should be able to identify the text as a tall tale after identifying the story’s key characteristics. It is important for students to develop knowledge of the characteristics of all genres. As such, this activity can be completed with multiple genres.

material written and produced to inform or entertain children and young adults
Students will show and explain the particular features that define a literary text and make it unique. Students are expected to know why well-known children’s literary books such as folktales and fables are different from each other or how myths, legends, and tall tales, even if they share some commonalities, have their own distinctive traits. For example, students should know that a legend is presumed to have some basis in historical fact and tends to mention real people or events (e.g., the legend of Robin Hood). On the other hand, a myth is a type of storytelling that was never based on fact and usually includes supernatural elements (e.g., Greek gods).
a short tale in prose or verse that teaches a moral, especially a tale using animals and inanimate objects as characters (e.g., the tale of the wolf in sheep’s clothing teaches that appearances can be deceiving.)
a story, tale, or legend of unknown origin that becomes well known through oral tradition and repeated story telling (e.g., the Pied Piper)
a traditional story that has been passed down and told as a matter of history but cannot be verified and has important significance to the culture from which it originated
a traditional story that provides an explanation for a cultural belief or a mystery of nature
a story about impossible or exaggerated happenings related in a realistic, matter-of-fact, and often humorous way (e.g., the tale of Paul Bunyan)

Research

1.  Dallacqua, A.L. (2012). Exploring literary devices in graphic novels. Language Arts, 89(6), 365–378. Retrieved from www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/LA/0896-jul2012/LA0896Exploring.pdf

Summary: In this article, the researcher suggests that students can use literary devices as a means to make meaning of text. The article demonstrates how graphic novels can be used to implement multimodal and visual instructional strategies that increase the reading comprehension of students.

2. Palencia, E. F. (2011, September). Draw the connection between character & setting: to make the most of your story's sense of place, answer 11 key questions. The Writer, 124(9), 33. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A267811060/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=94f34611

Summary: The author provides tips for writers about the connection between setting and character. The author's examples and writing prompts can be transferred to a classroom setting to help students better understand how writers think about setting and character, and to encourage students to think about the impact of setting in their own writing.

3 .Mabry, M., & Bhavnagri, N. P. (2012). Perspective taking of immigrant children: utilizing children's literature and related activities. Multicultural Education, 19(3),48–54. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1001536.pdf

Summary: This study of promising practices looks at perspective taking and highlights the need for interpersonal understanding, especially in the U. S. with its diverse population. The article focuses on promoting perspective taking among African-American fourth graders by using children's literature on immigrant families and includes follow up activities. The classroom reads and analyzes several different stories, including Levitin's A Piece of Home and Perez's My Diary from Here to There, seeking to understand the characters and the cultural changes they are experiencing. The historical and cultural setting has an impact on each of the protagonists in these stories.

4. Nampaktai, P., Kaewsombut, S.A., Wongwayrote, U., & Sameepet, B. (2013) Using story grammar to enhance reading comprehension. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 9(1), 31–38. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/

Summary: In this study, the story grammar technique, which promotes reading ability and thinking skills, is examined to determine whether the reading achievement and analytical skills of middle school students improves when using it. The study included 20 middle school students who were instructed in the use of the story grammar technique over a set period of time. At the end of the study, it revealed that the story grammar technique did significantly improve the students' comprehension and analytical thinking skills.