Part I. Introduction to Jack Tales
Suggested time allowance: Three 45-minute sessions.
Objectives:
- Define the meaning of "Jack Tale"
- Gain an understanding of the American storytelling tradition.
- Identify the standard features of a tale such as character, plot, and setting
- Illustrate a similar tale
- Recognize feelings and emotions within the tales that are common to humanity
- Compare and contrast Jack tales
- Explore the similarities and/or differences of the Jack Tales to tales from their culture
- Write an emulation of a Jack Tale
- Tell a tale to their classmates
Anticipatory set:
What are Jack Tales?
Find out what students know.
- Write "folktale" on the board.
- Ask if anyone ever seen this word before. If yes, where? What does it mean? Write responses on board.
- Have you heard any folktales? Ask the students if they've heard of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Explain that if they have, then they have heard a Jack Tale.
Explain that the Jack Tales are an oral tradition, which means that people traditionally tell the stories rather than write them. Some of the Jack Tales are in books like Richard Chase's "Jack Tales" and William Bernard McCarthy's "Jack in Two Worlds:Contemporary North American Tales and Their Tellers," but the best way to appreciate the the tale is to hear someone tell it. No two people will tell the tale in exactly the same way, so it can be fun to hear the tales told multiple times by different tellers.
Activities/Procedures:
-
Listen to an audio version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Play the audio and provide students with a handout of the text to read along as they listen.
- Audio (26 minutes):
- Text to read along with audio:
Vocabulary List:
- Affectionate
- Ague
- Beseech
- Capacious
- Cultivate
- Endeavor
- Ermine
- Folly
- Giddy
- Hitherto
- Lumbering
- Morsel
- Paltry
- Perpendicular
- Perseverance
- Slay
- Venture
- Vexed/vexation
Discussion:
Open a discussion about storytelling traditions we have today.
- How are they similar or different from your culture?
- Ask, "Is there anything you or your family does that is like a Jack Tale?"
- How does this story fit into different cultures?
- How does this story span generations?
Suggested homework and independent practice:
For advanced learners: Have students read and summarize the article below.
http://www.answers.com/topic/jack-tales
Research Questions:
- What is the oral storytelling tradition?
- Who is the "author" of a folktale told through the oral tradition?
- What is the difference between a myth, fable, folktale, legend or story?
Assessment:
- With a partner, have students compose three questions they have about Jack Tales.
- Have students present questions to the class.
Resources:
