Grade Level: 3rd
Unit Title: Tall Tales/Fables/Myths/Legends: Compare and Contrast Settings & Paraphrase
Duration: 2-3 weeks
***The following Reading Progression reflects using Mentor Text to teach the specific genre. Therefore,
reading will come first in the progression followed by writing. Lastly, grammar skills are included and
should be taught throughout the unit of study.
Story Elements in fables, legends, myths, and tall tales
1. Understandings:
Essential Questions:
 Themes in traditional literature relate to our
 How does reading a variety of genres impact
lives.
the reader’s life?
Knows:
 Embedded themes that relate to our own lives
can be found in fables, legends, myths, and
stories
 Exaggeration is a component used in tall tales,
fables, myths, and legends.
 Settings in myths and traditional folktales have
similarities and differences.
 Authors have a purpose in sharing traditional
literature.
Dos:
 Compare and contrast settings in myths and
traditional folktales and provide text evidence.
 Make connections (thematic links, author
analysis) between literary and informational
texts with similar ideas and provide text
evidence.
 Make inferences and draw conclusions about
the structure and elements of drama (plot,
character) presented through dialogue in
scripts that are read, viewed, written, or
performed.
 Paraphrase the themes and details of fables,
legends, myths, or stories.
 Summarize and sequence the plot’s main
events and how they relate to future events in
the story.
 Describe interactions of characters including
relationships and changes.
 Analyze, make inferences, and draw
conclusions about the author’s purpose
supported with text evidence.
Impact of culture on fables, myths, legends, tall tales
2. Understanding:
 Culture impacts writing.
 The same legend, myth, tall tale, fable, can
change depending on its origin.
 Traditional literature is read to better
understand history, traditions, and culture.
Knows:
 Traditional literature stories are passed down
orally from one group to another in history.
Examples include: folktales, fairy tales, fables,
legends, and myths from different cultures.
Essential Questions:
 In what ways do folktales, tall tales, fables,
myths, and legends impact culture?
 How are cultural beliefs and values portrayed
in traditional literature?
 How do different versions of the same story
change throughout time?
Dos:
Writers exploring with Tall Tales, Fables, Legends, and Myths
3. Understandings:
Essential Questions:
 There are different components that make up  Why do writers produce stories in different
folktales, legends, myths, tall tales, and fables.
ways?
 Different genres have unique organizational
patterns.
Knows:
 Writers tell stories orally to help organize,
elaborate ideas, and use their voice to tell
stories.
 Imaginative stories build the plot to climax
with details about characters and setting.
 Scripts can be read, viewed, written, or
performed.
 Reading with expression and phrasing
improves understanding of text.
Dos:
 Read grade level texts fluently with
expression and appropriate phrasing.
Writing tools/Effective tools for Tall Tales, Myths, Fables, and Legends
4. Understandings:
Essential Questions:
 Effective writing communicates clearly to the  How do descriptive words make writing more
audience.
interesting?
 Elements of dialogue support understandings.  How can dialogue be used to support
understanding?
Knows:
 Writers choose words to convey meaning in a
precise, interesting, and natural way. Words
create images.
 Drama based on dialogue includes the
elements plot and character.
Dos:
 Use effective word choices to convey the
intended meaning.
 Write focused, organized, imaginative stories
to express ideas and feeling about real or
imagined people, events, or ideas with a plot
that leads to a climax and details about
characters and setting.
 Organize ideas into paragraphs (including
paragraph indentation)
 Revise stories for voice.
Grammar Skills
5. Understandings:
Knows:
 A comma and a coordinating conjunction
(and, or, but) connect two simple complete
sentences into a compound sentence.
 Commas are used when listing items in a
series.
 A contraction is a combination of two or more
words with an apostrophe replacing a letter
or letters.
 A possessive shows ownership and some
need apostrophes.
 Adding prefixes and suffixes change the
meaning of words. A prefix is a letter or
letters added to the beginning of a word. A
suffix is a letter or letters added to the end of
words.
 Homophones are words that sound the same
but have different spellings and meanings
 Synonyms have similar meanings and
antonyms have opposite meaning.
 Homographs are words that have the same
spelling but have different meanings and
pronunciations.
 Paragraphs organize writing and should be
indented.
Essential Questions:
Dos:
 Use compound sentences (joined by
coordinating conjunction) with subject-verb
agreement in writing.
 Recognize and use apostrophes in
contractions an dpossessives.
 Recognize and use commas in a series.
 Write legibly in cursive script with spacing
between words.
 Identify the meaning of common prefixes (ex:
dis, re, un, de) and suffixes (ex: ful, less, ing, ly,
ed) and how they change the meaning of
roots.
 Identify and use antonyms, synonyms,
homographs, and homophones.