Casey Jones

Lesson 8~ Core Content Objectives

The students will:

Demonstrate familiarity with the tall tale “Casey Jones”

Identify the characters, plot, and setting of “Casey Jones”

Identify the characteristics of American tall tales, and

explain the characteristics as they apply to “Casey Jones”

Describe how Casey Jones responds to the big challenge he

faces in the story

Identify the meanings of new vocabulary words

Lesson 8

Mounted (verb)

To get on or climb up

Example: The cowboy mounted

his horse.

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Legendary (adjective)

Well-known; famous; like or

having to do with a legend Example: Professor Higginstein is a

legendary scientist who ingeniously

discovered the “Enlarging Machine”

which proved to make experimenting

possibilities endless.

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Passengers (noun)

People traveling from one place to

another in a car, bus, or trainExample: The passengers got onto the bus at the bus

stop.

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Pride (noun)

A feeling of respect for yourselfExample: The musicians took great pride in their

performance.

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Casey Jones

Introducing the Read-Aloud American tall tales have special characteristics ~stories are set in the

American West -Frontier setting ~Amazing childhood, adventures

~creation/inventions (natural landmarks like the Grand Canyon) ~humor,

exaggerations/larger-than-life

The main character in today’s tall tale is named Casey Jones. This tall tale is

about a real person named ~John Luther Jones. He was from Cayce [pronounced

like the name Casey], Kentucky. That is how he got the nickname “Casey” Jones.

Even though there was a real man named Casey Jones, some of the things that

happen in this story are not real and are exaggerations, so this story is still

considered a tall tale and thus partly fiction.

Lesson 8

Casey Jones

Purpose for Listening

After railway workers like John Henry helped finish building the tunnels that

would allow trains to go from the eastern United States to the western frontier, trains were the main mode of transportation for Americans. People rode trains to get from place to place, and trains were used to move items quickly from one part of the country to another. Casey Jones was an engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad who drove a steam engine or locomotive. A locomotive is a vehicle with wheels that does not use an animal to pull it. A locomotive can run on its own engine and pulls the rest of the train. The first railway locomotives were powered by steam. People have called the locomotive “the mighty, iron horse.”

Listen carefully to the story find out about the challenge Casey Jones faces and how he became a legend.

Read-aloud Anthology Story ~flip book images Page 67 Image 8A-1

Lesson 8

Comprehension Questions

1. Literal What is the title of today’s story?

2. Evaluative What kind of special story is “Casey Jones”? Is this tall tale fiction

(made-up), non-fiction (true), or both?

3. Inferential Where in the American frontier does this story take place?

4. Inferential How was Casey Jones’s childhood amazing?

5. Literal What is one amazing adventure Casey Jones has in this tall tale?

6. Evaluative What is something Casey Jones invented? Do you think the things the tall

tale said happened when he blew his whistle really happened?

7. Evaluative What is one thing you find humorous or funny about this tall tale.

8. Evaluative Name one exaggeration from this tall tale, and explain how it is an

exaggeration. Does this exaggeration make Casey Jones seem larger than life?

9. Evaluative Think Pair Share: How is the tall tale of Casey Jones similar to the tall

tale of John Henry? How is it different?

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Word Work: Legendary

1. In today’s read-aloud you heard, “This is a story of a legendaryengineer.”

2. Say the word legendary with me three times.

3. Legendary means famous or well-known, or describes something or someone that is like a legend.

4. “John Henry” and “Casey Jones” are legendary stories about American legends.

Examples: Figuring out how electricity works was a legendarydiscovery.

The pyramids in Egypt are legendary.

5. Can you think of one legendary person, place, or thing? Use the word legendary when you tell about it.

Echo response: “__________ is legendary.”

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Word Work Activity: Legendary

Directions: We are going to read several examples. If the person,

place, or thing we read is legendary, say, “That is legendary.” If the

person, place, or thing we read is not legendary, say, “That is not

legendary.” Raise your hand to respond.

1. man walking on the moon

2. John Henry beating a steam drill in a contest

3. the playground

4. discovering the vaccine to a very common disease like chickenpox

5. the invention of the automobile —or car

6. brushing your teeth every morning, after dinner, and before you go

to bed

Lesson 8 Casey Jones

Casey Jones

View YouTube video and ballad 9:50

The Brave Engineer- an American Legend

Lesson 8

Fairy Tales and Tall Tales

Domain Review

Core Content Objectives Addressed in This DomainThe students have:

Demonstrated familiarity with specific fairy tales

Described the characters, plot, and setting of specific fairy tales

Identified common characteristics of fairy tales such as “once upon a time” beginnings, royal characters, magical characters or events, and happy endings

Identified the fairy tale elements of specific fairy tales

Identified tall tales as a type of fiction

Demonstrated familiarity with specific tall tales

Identified the characters, plot, and setting of specific tall tales

Identified the characteristics of tall tales

Identified the characteristics of tall tales in specific tall tales

Core Content Review

Using only two hammers, I beat a steam drill in a competition to see

who could cut through a mountain the fastest. Who am I?

I am a famous logger from the frontier who, as a child, found a blue

ox in the woods and called him Babe. Who am I?

I am the cowboy. Who am I?

Legend says that I dug the Grand Canyon. Who am I?

As a young boy, I lived with a pack of coyotes that raised me as

their own. Who am I?

I was born with a hammer in my hand. Who am I?

Fairy Tales and Tall Tales

Riddles: Who am I? (TE: Page 186)