I an a SPED LD/ED 6th grade teacher and also Dept. Head of same. I am currenty doing a unti on tall tales including Bunyan, John Heny, Pecos Bill, and one or two others. Several years ago, a movie was out about several of these legends. It seems to me that I remember there was some kind of race to complete a railroad? My students academic ability is averaging on a 3rd/4th grade ability. Does anyone remember this movie? It would be great for the ending of the unit.
The movie has Patrick Swayze in it as Pecos Bills. I think it’s called Tall Tales It is an excellent “boy movie” in my opinion. It’s set in a “myth time” around the turn of the century and involves losing Paradise Valley to the RailRoad. The theme is really kind of ecological so it might be construed to have a political bent to some. However the heroes are John Henry, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan representing the South, the North and the West. And Pecos Bill only shoots the trigger fingers off the bad guys. There is a brief appearance by Calamity Jane but not what you’d call in a role model role for girls