How to Use Tall Tales in the ESL Class

What Is a Tall Tale?

A tall tale is a type of story that includes one or more exaggerated or unbelievable elements, making it both entertaining and highly engaging for ESL learners. These stories often stretch reality, but that’s exactly what makes them fun and memorable for students learning English.

Most tall tales share a few common characteristics:

A superhuman main character: The hero often has extraordinary abilities or exaggerated traits, even though they appear human.

A problem to solve: The story centers around a challenge or conflict that the main character must overcome.

A clear role or job: The character usually has a specific occupation or role that drives the story.

Exaggerated events: Actions, situations, and outcomes are often blown out of proportion for dramatic or humorous effect.

 
Using Tall Tales to Support ESL Learning

Tall tales are more than just fun stories—they’re a powerful tool for language development. They naturally introduce new vocabulary, narrative structure, and descriptive language in a memorable way.

Here are five creative ways to use the tall tale of Pecos Bill in your ESL classroom to help students improve their English skills while having fun:

Interviews

Take one event from the story of Pecos Bill and focus on that. First of all, you, as the
teacher, adopt the persona of Pecos Bill with a cowboy hat, boots, and as many
other items of clothing as you can. Give your students time to spend in pairs
or groups, coming up with questions to which they’d like to know the answer.
Next, hold a press conference where the students can interview you about what
has happened. If you have an advanced English speaker in your class, encourage
them to have a go at playing Pecos Bill.

2.    Adjectives

Having the ability to describe people and places is an essential skill for ESL learners.
Our Pecos Bill pack contains a worksheet where students
can come up with their own suggestions of adjectives to describe the character
of Pecos Bill. You could take this one step further and use a zone of relevance
with an array of adjectives. Use sticky notes and a large target (with three
sections). Students should write as many describing words as they can within a
set period of time. Next, they should add them to the zone of relevance. The
adjectives which are perfect for Bill go in the centre; the ones which describe
him on occasions can be placed a bit further out. Those words which do not
describe him at all should be placed outside the target. Encourage your
students to use these adjectives within sentences to advance their learning.

3.   Figurative language

Figurative language encompasses a range of things: similes, metaphors, personification,
anything that creates imagery really. Identifying examples of it can support
one’s language acquisition. Pecos Bill contains lots, and you can get the
children to identify as many as they can. It is also useful to encourage the
students to create their own similes and metaphors. For example, Pecos Bill is
as strong as a...

4.    Freeze framing

Using drama to re-enact scenes from the story can really bring it to life for students.
Dressing up in costumes and creating backdrops can add to the experience.
Partway through a scene, shout ‘freeze’. You can then approach a character and
get them to say what they are thinking at that exact moment in time. Continue
the drama and then repeat. It is likely that not all children will be involved
in acting at the same time. For those watching, use the speech bubbles sheet to
encourage them to write down their ideas about what Pecos Bill is thinking at
precise moments in the story.

5.    Comprehension

Understanding the basics of the text as well as inference and deduction are vital for your
ESL learners. Our cootie catcher is a great way to practise these comprehension
skills. Put children into pairs or small groups and get them using the game,
encouraging answers in full sentences which are grammatically correct. Writing
down their answers after the game has ended is another method of checking their
understanding in a more independent way.

grab your free copy

Tall tales like Pecos Bill are more than just entertaining stories—they are powerful tools for ESL teachers looking to make language learning fun, memorable, and engaging. By incorporating these exaggerated, action-packed narratives into your lessons, you can help students build vocabulary, practice speaking and listening, and develop storytelling skills in a context that captures their imagination. Whether through reading, role-playing, or creative writing activities, tall tales provide endless opportunities to reinforce English language skills while keeping learners motivated. Embrace the fun of tall tales in your classroom, and watch your students’ confidence and language proficiency grow, one larger-than-life story at a time.