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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 14

Tall Tales, Myths & Plays

Tall tales, myths, legends, how plays are built, and anecdotes.

What your child practices

Your child tells tall tales, myths and legends apart, reads the parts of a play (character tags, acts, scenes, stage directions) and explains why writers use anecdotes.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 4.15; 4.19 · tall tales, myths, legends and the parts of a play

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A myth explains something in nature. A legend is about a hero whose deeds may be stretched. A tall tale is full of huge exaggeration.
  2. Plays have character tags, acts, scenes and stage directions.
  3. An anecdote is a short true story a writer tells to make a point.

Example: Which is most likely a myth: how the god of the sea made the first horse, or a boy’s first day at school? Myths explain how things in the world began. The first story tells how horses came to be. Answer: how the god of the sea made the first horse

Tall Tales, Myths & Plays in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 11 of 14 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Grammar Gears and before Poems and Plays.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A new scene usually begins when…

    • a word rhymes
    • the reader turns a page
    • the time or place changes
    • a character sneezes

  2. Question 2

    A tall tale is a story that…

    • only tells true facts
    • has no characters
    • explains how to build something
    • stretches the truth with funny exaggerations

  3. Question 3

    In a script, what is dialogue?

    • the act number
    • the description of the setting
    • the title
    • the words the characters say

  4. Question 4

    Which is a character tag?

    • Act 1, Scene 2
    • The End
    • MAYA:
    • (Maya waves.)

  5. Question 5

    A play is divided into…

    • acts and scenes
    • headings and captions
    • stanzas and lines
    • chapters and pages

  6. Question 6

    A play's Act 2 begins in a new town, a year later. What changed?

    • the author
    • the title
    • the setting and time
    • the genre

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