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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 14 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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 4.9(A); 4.9(C); 4.10(G) · tall tales, myths, legends, the structure of plays, and anecdotes

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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 14 of 14 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Firsthand or Secondhand?.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    In a play, the name before a line of speech is a…

    • caption
    • character tag
    • stage direction
    • stanza

  2. Question 2

    Which detail shows the story is a tall tale?

    • She woke up early.
    • She fed her horse.
    • She lassoed a tornado and rode it across the plains.
    • She lived on a ranch.

  3. Question 3

    What is an anecdote?

    • a long novel
    • a short, true story about something that happened
    • a list of facts
    • a rhyming poem

  4. Question 4

    What do stage directions tell?

    • how the actors move or speak
    • the title of a poem
    • the meaning of a word
    • the moral of a fable

  5. Question 5

    Legends are usually about…

    • made-up recipes
    • how-to steps
    • heroes whose deeds may be exaggerated
    • today's news

  6. Question 6

    Folktales, myths and tall tales are all part of…

    • oral tradition
    • news reporting
    • science writing
    • instruction manuals

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