TEACHER’S GUI DE
TEACHER’S GUI DE
Suggested Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• www.marshall.edu/ati/dfv/teacher/timeline.htmlx
This web site provides a very extensive and illustrated time line of transportation history.
• www.npca.org/marine_and_coastal/marine_wildlife/alligator.asp
This site provides some basic kid-friendly information about American
alligators.
• www.steel.org/learning/howmade/howmade.htm
This site provides extensive information about steel and a particularly good
link regarding how steel is made.
Suggested Print Resources
• Becker, John E. American Alligator. Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI;
2003.
• Lourie, Peter. Mississippi River:A Journey Down the Father of the Waters.
Boyd Mills Press, Honesdale, PA; 2004.
• Wadsworth, Ginger. Words West:Voices of Young Pioneers. Houghton
Mifflin Company, Boston, MA; 2003.
• Wilkes,Angela & Eric Thomas. Farm Through Time. DK Publishing, New
York, NY; 2001.
Regional Tall Tales
Grades K–4
T
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Julia McMeans, M.Ed.
Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES
• ANNIE OAKLEY
• CREATING A TALL TALE
• DAVY CROCKETT
• JOHN HENRY
• JOHNNY APPLESEED
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
• MOSE HUMPHREYS
• OLD STORMALONG
• PAUL BUNYAN
• PECOS BILL
• REGIONAL TALL TALES
800-843-3620
Teacher’s Guide and Program Copyright 2006 by Schlessinger Media,
a division of Library Video Company
P.O. Box 580, Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
K6995
Executive Producer:Andrew Schlessinger
V6180
Programs produced and directed by Top Dog Media
All rights reserved.
all tales are stories in which the ch a ra c t e rs and their actions
and adve n t u res are ex t re m e ly ex ag gerated, and the audience
is awa re of the exag ge ration and there fo re in on the joke. Most
A m e rican tall tales grew out of specific parts of the country and
are connected to particular lines of wo rk : l u m b e r j a cks in the
M i dwe s t , c ow b oys in Texas, and fro n t i e rsmen and women in the
South and along the Mississippi Rive r.The tall tale is not static; it
is a living thing.The tall tale is very much a part of American folkl o re tradition, c o n s t a n t ly evolving as it is retold with the teller’s
own particular spin. American tall tales have been around fo r
several hundred years.They began in the oral tradition, as a form
of entertainment, and have continued to evolve ever since.
Program Summary
Follow-up Discussion
In this program, students will meet Nebraska farmer Febold Feboldson,
Mississippi River keelboat pilots Mike Fink and Annie Christmas, and Pittsburgh
steel worker Joe Magarac. Each tall tale character represents a particular occupation associated with a specific region of the United States, and through the
telling of these tales students will come to know the jobs and locales important to the building of a nation. Febold was an ingenious farmer who cleverly
figured out ways to survive and thrive despite the droughts that occur out on
the Great Plains, and helped to make them hospitable for the waves of pioneers
who encountered an unfamiliar land. Before the age of the railroad, Mike Fink
and Annie Christmas piloted keelboats laden with goods up and down the
mighty Mississippi, while fighting off furious river pirates and battling the
twists,turns and rough water of the river itself. Joe Magarac, born of an iron ore
mountain and made of steel, helped his fellow steel workers forge enough
track to complete the Pittsburgh-to-Philadelphia railroad at a time when railroads were taking over as the main mode of transportation.All of these characters stand as symbols for the kind of ingenuity and toughness that defined
19th-century America.
• The farmer Febold Feboldson has a special relationship with the natural
world. Have students discuss the nature of this relationship.What does it
mean to live in harmony with your environment?
• Mike Fink and Annie Christmas are rivals but still manage to work together.
Have students discuss the importance of cooperation, even with people
with whom we sometimes do not get along.
• Joe Magarac is a slightly different kind of tall tale character. Have students
discuss what makes Joe stand apart from other tall tale heroes.
Background to Regional Tall Tales
Febold Feboldson is a wholly invented character. As more and more people
traveled out to the frontier in an attempt to settle it, they encountered difficult
and unfamiliar living and farming conditions. Drought, dust storms and insects
were just some of the obstacles that people faced. In order to survive, people
had to figure out new ways of doing things, and the character of Febold
Feboldson personifies the resourceful Great Plains farmer. Unlike Febold, Mike
Fink was a real keelboat captain who worked the Mississippi River around
1815. Keelboats were used to transport goods.They were operated by using
long poles that the crew pushed along the river bed, so one had to be quite
strong to operate one of them. Working on a keelboat could also be quite
treacherous. River pirates, alligators, confrontations with Native Americans, and
competition from other keelboat pilots made this type of work dangerous.
Mike Fink was known to be a braggart who liked to fight and drink. He has
been toned down quite a bit here and paired with Annie Christmas, a completely fictitious keelboat captain. Both Mike Fink and Annie Christmas symbolize the bravado and bravery that in many ways defined the keelboat pilots.
Joe Magarac is also wholly invented, and is in some ways a departure from the
traditional tall tale character in that he is not really a human being. Despite this,
the story of Magarac reveals the importance of the steel industry, the dangers
of working in a steel plant and the virtue of selflessness.
Pre-viewing Discussion
• Explain to students that one important element of the tall tale is the region
in which it takes place. Using a large wall map, familiarize students with the
regions important to these tall tales.
• Explain to students the importance of certain occupations in the building
of America. Have them brainstorm a list of current occupations that they
think are just as important to the country.
• Remind students about the elements of fiction, such as characters, setting
and plot (containing a problem and a solution), and explain the importance
of exaggeration in tall tales.
Follow-up Activities
• Pretend that you are having a tall tale party and are inviting all of the tall
tale characters that you know. Plan this party by creating an invitation, a
menu, and other activities or special events that you would like to have at
this special occasion.
• Write a new tall tale in which you take a character and put him or her in
another setting. For instance:What kind of a keelboat captain would Joe
Magarac make? Would Annie be a good farmer? Illustrate your new story
and share it with your classmates.
• Febold Feboldson was a farmer from Nebraska. In small groups, have
students research the state of Nebraska and create a Nebraska State Facts
book. Students can find out things, like the state flag, song, flower, etc.
Useful resource: www.nebraska.gov/index.phtml
• One of the biggest dangers keelboat crew and pilots faced was the threat of
alligators. Have students research the American alligator to find out about
its habitat, appearance, etc. Students should also discover the
difference between alligators and crocodiles.
• Using an outline state map of the United States, have students trace the
route of the Mississippi River and label all of the states through which it
passes.
• In these tall tales, three modes of transportation are featured: covered
wagons, keelboats and trains. Have students research the development of
transportation in the United States and create a time line that illustrates
advancements in transportation.
• In the story of Joe Magarac, steel is used to make railroad tracks; however,
many other things are also made from steel. Have students research what
other products are made from steel. Students can create an informational
poster using pictures that have been cut out of magazines to illustrate the
wide variety of things for which steel is used.