|
John Henry
taken from legends by Sheila Seifert
1. What was John Henry's job? Who helped him do his job?
After the Civil War, John Henry was
hired by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (called the C&O Railroad). All day, he would take a hammer and swing it to
drive a drill into the ground. His hammer often weighed 14 pounds. In order for him to do his job, he needed a shaker's
help. A shaker would hold the steel drill for him. After each hit, the shaker would turn the drill. Then John Henry would
hit the drill again. Together, John Henry and his shaker did a lot of work.
2. Why did John Henry do this
kind of work?
John Henry wanted a job, and the C&O Railroad wanted to have train tracks that went across
the whole United States. To do this, they needed strong men to hand-drill the train tracks into the ground. They didn't
have electric drills in those days. Everything had to be done by hand. John Henry was a strong man. The C&O Railroad was
glad to have him work for them.
3. What choice did the C&O Railroad have to make? What did they choose?
What was bad about this choice?
The train tracks for the C&O Railroad led up to Big Bend Mountain. C&O
had to decide whether they would go over, around, or through the mountain. They chose to have their workers tunnel through
the mountain. Because of this choice, many men died. The dust in the tunnel was so bad that sometimes the men couldn't
even breathe. It took these workers three years to go a mile and a quarter and get through the mountain. Around a thousand
men died to make this happen.
4. What contest did John Henry enter? How did he win? How did he lose?
A salesman of a steam-powered drill boasted that this invention could out-drill any man. So the workers set up a contest
between John Henry and this machine. The foreman worked with the drill. John Henry used two 20-pound hammers. When it was
over, John Henry won. Some say he finished first, and others tell how he did almost twice as much work as the drill. But in
the end, John Henry lost. He had given all he had to beat the steam-powered machine. He fell to the ground and died.
5. Write a summary paragraph over "John Henry."
Stories about
John Henry can be found online. They are in the public domain. You can adapt them for third-grade readers yourself, or
download this reading sheet immediately in SL3: Comprehension Questions and Reading Sheets along with many other third-grade reading sheets. Or immediately download its full curriculum
and reading sheet, along with other American tall tales and a poem, in SL3: American Tall Tales. Preview either book by clicking on the title.
Johnny Appleseed
taken from legends by Sheila Seifert
1. Who was Johnny Appleseed?
Johnny Appleseed was a man who planted apple seeds in the wild frontier.
Although not mentioned in this tall tale, he did most of his planting in Ohio, but also did some in Indiana, Pennsylvania,
and Michigan in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
2. How did Johnny carry his apple seeds?
Johnny carried a leather pouch full of apple seeds. If he had too many apple seeds to fit in his pouch, he would put them
in packs and put the packs on a horse. Once, he had too many apple seeds for packs on a horse. So he latched two canoes together,
put the packs in the canoes, and paddled down the Ohio River.
3. How did Johnny keep from being bit by
rattlesnakes?
Johnny tied dried grass to his legs and feet. By doing that, he was able to get through an area
filled with long grass and other plants without being bit by rattlesnakes. Some people say that his feet were so hard from
walking barefoot that a rattlesnake's bite wouldn't go through his skin.
4. What did Johnny wear?
Johnny may have worn a tin pan or a tall hat on his head. At one time, he wore people's old clothes. When he grew
older, he no longer traded for old clothes. Instead, he took a burlap coffee sack, cut arm and neck holes, and wore it. He
also went barefoot a lot. If he wasn't barefoot, he might wear a pair of shoes. The shoes didn't necessarily match.
On one foot, he might wear a moccasin and on the other a boot.
5. Write a summary paragraph over "Johnny
Appleseed."
Stories about Johnny Appleseed can be found online.
They are in the public domain. You can adapt them for third-grade readers yourself, or download a third-grade reading
sheet immediately in SL3: Comprehension Questions and Reading Sheets along with many other third-grade reading sheets. Or immediately download its full curriculum
and reading sheet, along with other American tall tales and a poem, in SL3: American Tall Tales. Preview either book by clicking on the title.
Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane
by Calamity
Jane Herself
1. As a child, what was Marthy good at doing? How did she become even better
at doing these two things?
Marthy Jane Cannary was good at riding horses and shooting. When she was young,
she liked being outdoors and riding horses. Because of all the time she spent on a horse, she became an expert rider. When
her family moved from Missouri to Montana, she hung around the hunters in their group. By doing this, she became good at hunting
and an even better rider.
2. When did Marthy stop wearing dresses? How did she get the name Calamity Jane?
When Marthy joined General Custer's regiment as a scout, she stopped wearing dresses. Then when she saved her commander's,
Captain Egan's, life by not letting him fall off his horse, he came up with a nickname for her. He said, " '
I name you Calamity Jane, the heroine of the plains.' "
3. What was Jane's pony express route?
What did she do when Wild Bill died?
Calamity Jane carried mail between the cities of Deadwood and Custer.
She was a good rider and a good shot so most people left her alone. When Bill Hickock was killed at a gambling table, Calamity
Jane tracked down his killer. She found him at a butcher shop. Since she'd hurried to find him, she didn't have her
gun. So she captured the man using a meat cleaver that she had found in the butcher's shop.
4. When
did Calamity Jane settle down? When did she start appearing in shows?
Calamity Jane married Clinton Burk of
Texas in August 1885. She had a baby girl in October of 1887. Just over ten years later, the Kohl & Middleton company
asked her to be a part of a show. People in the eastern part of the United States wanted to know more about Calamity Jane.
They wanted to see this famous woman scout and sharpshooter themselves. Her first show was in Minneapolis on January 20th,
1896.
5. Write a summary paragraph over the "Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane."
The story of the "Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane" can be found online.
It is in the public domain. You can adapt this story for third-grade readers yourself, or download this reading
sheet immediately in SL3: Comprehension Questions and Reading Sheets along with many other third-grade reading sheets. Or immediately download its full curriculum
and reading sheet, along with other American tall tales and a poem, in SL3: American Tall Tales. Preview either book by clicking on the title.
Rip Van Winkle
by Washington Irving, retold by Charles M. Skinner
1. How did Rip meet the men on the hill? What were they doing? What did he do with them?
Rip was out wandering
in the Catskill Mountains. When he saw a short, ghostly looking man, Rip helped him by carrying his wooden barrel of alcohol,
a keg, up a mountain. The man walked with him. He was grim and silent. Toward the top of the mountain was a plateau. On that
plateau, he met a group of grim men, who were bowling. They invited him, without words, to share a drink with them.
2. How had Rip changed since he had fallen asleep? How had his gun and clothing changed, too?
When
Rip awoke, his gun had rusted and rotted away. His clothing had become moldy rags. His beard was long and white, and he was
bent over and lean.
3. What changes had taken place in Rip's village since he had left it?
There were many more homes in the village, and the streets went through what once was a meadow. The adults and children
were different, and those he hung out with at the tavern were no longer there. His home was gone, and even the name of the
tavern had changed. His son and daughter had grown to adulthood, and his wife had died.
4. With whom did
Rip live? What stories did he tell?
After Rip realized what had happened, he went to live with his married
daughter and his son. Rip told many stories, but the one he liked best was about how he brought a keg of alcohol to Henry
Hudson and his crew. Every 20 years, these men's spirits came to enjoy a party in the Catskill Mountains, the very ones
they were amazed by when they were living. The alcohol they drank, if drunk by a mortal, would put that person to sleep for
twenty years, until they, Hudson and his crew, returned. And that's what happened to Rip Van Winkle.
5.
Write a summary paragraph over "Rip Van Winkle."
The story of "Rip
Van Winklef" can be found online. It's in the public domain. You can adapt it for third-grade readers yourself, or
download it immediately in SL3: Comprehension Questions and Reading Sheets, along with many other third-grade reading sheets. Or immediately download its
full curriculum and reading sheet, along with other tall tales and a poem, in SL3: Tall Tales. Preview either book by clicking on the title.
Simple Literature. Copyright © 2011 by Sheila Seifert. Printed electronically in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
No part of these comprehension questions and answers may be commercially reproduced in any form or by electronic or
mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems without permission in writing from Simple Literature.
Individual home-school, private school, and public school teachers may print this material for personal use in their classrooms.
|
