Tall Tales Story Mapping & Literature Circles

This is going to be short and sweet tonight, because I am trying to get my hubby ready for a three day field trip to Charleston {no fair}! :) However, I did want to quickly share what we have been working on this week from my newest unit during our reading mini lessons. 

TALL TALES! We are having a ball learning about some famous American Tall Tale Heroes.  Since testing is just around the corner, I needed to tie in some practice with narrative elements as well. So, we have been working on these skills through literature circles and story mapping.  

We begin our lesson each day with a little close reading practice. During the initial reading, the students read to become familiar with the passage. Then, they are assigned a focus/purpose {one of the four elements we are working on} for their reading that they will take back to their literature circles later on. During their second reading, they highlight evidence or clues that will help them describe their element. Then, on the final reading, the students write details to support their story element.

Once the reading is complete, I allow the students to form groups of four {one from each element} and together, they collaborate to create a story map of the tale. 

Then, we meet as a class to create a final story map where we add details or important events that we "overlooked" during our group meeting. 

This has been such an engaging and very short study of tall tales. The kids have not only learned about some pretty cool American Tall Tales, but they have been getting practice in some pretty important reading skills along the way. 

If you need a little extra boost to your tall tale study, you can check out my newest unit on TPT. It will be on sale for $5.00 until tomorrow night! 

Click {HERE} to check it out! 

Hope y'all are having a great week! Xoxo