Tall Tale
Use these sentence starters to help you brainstorm topics for your writing.
Mountainous Molly was so tall she could barely fit in her family’s car. | |
Handy Henry was a quiet but well-known figure in the town of Elmwood. | |
In all the Midwest, Sam Payton was the fastest runner. | |
Captain Walsh was the bravest captain in the Mid-Atlantic fleet. | |
When Mary Cleary was two years old, she could pick up her bed. When she was four years old, she could pick up the family car. | |
Main character quality: likes to get the job done | |
Main character quality: likes to compete in any race and win | |
Main character quality: likes to be the most important person in the small town | |
| _____ was so small he or she could hide in a _____. | |
_____ was so big he or she could _____. | |
| Writing Traits for Tall Tales | |
| Ideas | Did I have a story that revolves around a larger-than-life main character with a specific purpose? |
| Organization | Did I create a time line or an outline before I began writing? Did my story have a beginning that introduces the main character, a middle that has a humorous problem, and a conclusion with the problem being resolved? |
| Voice | Did I use a humorous voice? |
| Sentence Fluency | Did I use a variety of sentence types? |
| Word Choice | Did I use everyday language? Did I include figurative language, such as exaggeration, similes, and metaphors? |
| Conventions | Did I check for mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization? |
| Presentation | Did I include illustrations? Is my final copy neat and appealing? |