The Substitute Who Told Tall Tales
A funny story about stories, facts and asking good questions.
On Monday, Mr Quill walked into Grade Five, wearing a bow tie and a very large smile. “Your teacher is away,” he said, “so I am taking you today. And I have a lot of stories.” The children shuffled in their seats.
“Did you know,” he began, “that I once climbed Mount Everest in my slippers?” The class stared. “Carrying a wardrobe on my head?” Someone giggled. “And at the top, I met a yeti who played the trumpet.” The giggles turned to laughter.
The children knew it was a joke, of course. But Mr Quill told every tale with a perfectly straight face. He told them that he had once rowed across the Pacific in a bathtub. He said that he spoke fluent dolphin. By morning tea, they were hooked.
At lunch, a girl named Rina sat thinking. “Some of his stories sound true,” she said. “How can we tell?” Her friend Hugo shrugged. “We could ask for evidence.” Rina’s eyes lit up. They made a chart on a sheet of paper, with two columns, “Fact” and “Fiction.”
The next day, Mr Quill told another tale. “I once met the Prime Minister on a train,” he said. Rina put up her hand. “Which train? Which date? Do you have a photo?” Mr Quill blinked. “Good questions,” he said. “I do not, actually.” He grinned. “That one was made up.”
The class began to ask questions each time. “Who told you that?” “Where did you hear it?” “Can we check it somewhere?” They sorted his stories into the two columns. Some were obvious fiction. A few were true, like the story of the lighthouse he had visited.
At the end of the week, Mr Quill stood in front of the chart. “You have done something wonderful,” he said. “You have learned to ask whether something is true before you believe it. That is called critical thinking.” He bowed.
“I confess,” he said, “my stories were a teaching trick. Now you know how to check what you read, in books, in newspapers, and on the internet.” The class applauded. Rina felt very clever.
When their own teacher returned, Mr Quill left a note on the whiteboard. “Always ask: Who says so, and how do they know?” It stayed up there for the rest of the year.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Asking for evidence helps us tell fact from fiction.
- Stories can be both entertaining and educational.
- Critical thinking is a useful skill to have in school and in life.
💬 Questions for Discussion & Reflection
- How did the class decide which stories were true?
- What was Mr Quill really teaching them?
- How could you check whether something you read online is true?
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