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Folklife Resources for EducatorsMaterials Related to FolkloreThere are 24 titles in this list.
Barn Again ! Celebrating an American Icon - Teacher's Guide Teacher resource guide with four lesson plans for grades 4-12 on the topic of the American barn as symbol, architecture, community gathering place, and window to the past. Created to accompany an exhibition of the same name developed by SITES, the materials can also function in a stand-alone capacity. They include research and activity-oriented lessons through which students gather information about barn raising, barn dances, corn husking, and quilting bees by reading oral history transcripts, examine architectural designs and historical photos of barns, and do interviews to learn more about barns and to hear barn stories. Lessons focus on the subjects of American Culture, American History, Architecture/Design, Folklife, Language and Visual Arts and address National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. (48 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Bermuda Connections Cultural Resource Guide for Classrooms Educational guide for the K-12 curriculum with lesson plans, projects, and activities developed in connection with the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival featuring the culture of Bermuda. The guide is composed of thirteen chapters introducing students to the cultural arts and heritage of Bermuda, including celebration, foodways, hospitality, play, performance, occupation, artistry, Bermudian identity, maritime life, musical traditions, and the effects of globalization. In addition, the guide provides guidance on doing interviews and fieldwork plus resources for further study and documentation of Bermudian community culture. Curriculum materials are intended for use in Bermuda, but could easily be adapted for classrooms elsewhere. (259 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: The Catskills: A Sense of Place A series of five curriculum guides designed for grades 3-12 about the natural and cultural features of the Catskill Mountain Region. The five guides include: Module 1: Water Resources of the Catskills (208 p. PDF); Module 2: Geography & Geology of the Catskills (191 p. PDF); Module 3: Ecosystems of the Catskills (231 p. PDF); Module 4: Human History of the Catskills (165 p. PDF); and Module 5: Culture & Arts / Building Catskills Communities (192 p. PDF). Each module contains a bibliography of resource persons, publications, Web sites, and New York State standards-based lesson plans. A printed copy of the modules can be ordered at cost from the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development.
Sponsoring Organization: Dane County Cultural Tour 2002 Description of a four-day field trip taken by a classroom of fourth and fifth graders from Randall Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, to farming communities, small towns, and suburbs in south central Wisconsin. They visited ethnic communities and occupational sites, met and interviewed folk artists, musicians, and community historians, and documented their experiences through writing and photography. Many of the field reports included were written by students. This site gives an idea of the places they visited, and the traditions and folklore they discovered, and includes a "How We Did It" section for ideas on organizing similar cultural tours.
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Folk Arts in Education - A Resource Handbook II Resource handbook examining folklife, folklore, and folk arts in education throughout the United States with sample curricula from over fifty programs for youth in K-12 educational settings, museums, arts and humanities councils, and other non-profit cultural and arts organizations. The 262-page handbook includes many web-based educational resources, plus a webography and bibliography, for the study of folk arts that encourage students to become involved in hands-on, experiential learning, fieldwork, and place-based research in local community settings. It is available on the site in downloadable form or for sale in hardcopy or on CD through the Michigan State University Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program Store.
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Folklife and Folk Art Education Resource Guide Guide created in 1997 with lesson plans and activities related to teaching a general folklife and folk art curriculum for the upper elementary school grades. It also provides background on the diverse ethnic, occupational, and regional traditions of the state of Utah. Included in the guide are sample cultural surveys for fourth and fifth graders to use in doing fieldwork plus activities such as hosting a folklife fair. Some of the many traditional arts areas explored are cowboy poetry, children's folklore, occupational folklore, foodways, celebrations, and verbal folklore genres.
Sponsoring Organization: Folkstreams Generic Lesson Plan Generic lesson plan for grades 10-12 for use with films available as streaming video on folkstreams.net. Lesson plan template offers suggestions for viewing films as literary texts and primary sources, analyzing documentary filmmaking techniques, and guiding students in reflecting on the traditions, sense of place, identity, and beliefs of American cultural groups and communities.
Sponsoring Organization: Folkwriting: Lessons about Place, Heritage and Tradition for the Georgia Classroom Curriculum materials created in 2002 that combine the teaching of folklore concepts and fieldwork with the development of writing skills. Using lesson plans, activities, and resources for K-12 classrooms, background is given in the writing process and the concept of folklife as a subject for writing assignments. The guide includes instructions for doing folklore fieldwork and interviews, geared to different grade levels. Although written with Georgia traditions and curriculum standards in mind, the curriculum materials are applicable to the study of other states or regions. (354 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Grand Generation Discussion Guide Discussion guide for grades 10-12 to accompany the film “The Grand Generation,” created by filmmakers Marjorie Hunt, Paul Wagner, and Steve Zeitlin in 1993. The 28-minute film, available as streaming video on folkstreams.net, is a portrait of six older Americans from Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Washington, D.C., New Mexico, and Tennessee, each with their roots in a unique cultural heritage and their own distinctive perspectives on the nature of aging. The discussion guide and film consider the issues of creative aging, diversity, race relations, gender roles, hard times and resilience, creativity, the cycle of life, and technological change in the lives of the featured elders.
Sponsoring Organization: Learn NC K-12 teaching and learning resources from the School of Education at the University of North Carolina. Includes lesson plans and learning materials (text and multimedia) on all curriculum areas for use by students independently or as part of classroom instruction. Resources can be browsed by grade level, subject area, and curriculum objective. Lesson plans include folklore, traditional culture, and many other topics. All lesson plans are aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
Sponsoring Organization: Louisiana Voices : An Educator's Guide to Exploring our Communities and Traditions Comprehensive resource guide for K-12 educators on the folklife of Louisiana. Although written for Louisiana, lessons and activities are adaptable to any region. The guide contains forty two lessons and many activities in nine units, correlated to Louisiana Content Standards, particularly those in English Language Arts and Social Studies. Units include: 1) Defining Terms; 2) Classroom Applications of Fieldwork; 3) Discovering the Obvious; 4) The State of Our Lives; 5) Oral Traditions; 6) Louisiana's Musical Landscape; 7) Material Culture; 8) The Worlds of Work and Play; and 9) The Seasonal Round and the Cycle of Life. It includes over 1000 pages, some in PDF-format, and links to many essays, slide shows, video and audio clips, and other web resources.
Sponsoring Organization: The Maine Song and Story Sampler Educational website with thirteen lesson plans plus activities for K-12 teachers that focuses on the folklore, social conditions, history, politics, economics, and cultural life of the state of Maine. Includes access to the Maine Song and Dance Sampler Map with links to audio recordings of stories and songs from the Maine Folklife Center's archival collections, searchable by people or place. The curriculum suggestions are correlated to Maine educational standards for Social Studies.
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Nebraska By Heart A multidisciplinary instructional unit developed in 2007 for grades 6-8 designed to explore folk and traditional arts and folklife, generally and as they exist in Nebraska. The unit includes four lesson plans: 1) An Exploration of Folklife and Folk Arts; 2) Folk Arts and Folklife in Nebraska Culture; 3) Understanding the Folk Process; and 4) Reflecting on Folk Arts, Folklife, and Culture.
Sponsoring Organization: Pass It On: Cultural Traditions of the Lower Eastern Shore K-12 curriculum and activity guide to the cultural life, history, landscape, and traditions of the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Curriculum units with lesson plans and activities include: I) Following the Water (19 pp. PDF); II) Living Off the Land (36 pp. PDF); III) Sporting and Playing (14 pp. PDF) ; and IV) Folklore and Folklife (32 pp. PDF). There is also a map of the Eastern Shore, a glossary of terms, a bibliography for further research, and links to audio and video clips. The curriculum has been synchronized with Maryland state content standards for Social Studies, and can be used for classes in History, Geography, Science, Economics, and Art.
Sponsoring Organization: Rivers of Steel Curriculum The Rivers of Steel Curriculum offers an introduction to the study of the industrial and cultural heritage of southwestern Pennsylvania. Background information and activities in the curriculum are included in its four units: 1) Coal and Coke; 2) Folklife -- Hidden In Plain Sight; 3) Seeing Pittsburgh, and 4) Steel Heritage, all available in PDF format. Activities can be altered for classroom use as needed, according to age, ability level, or curriculum area. The site also has related video clips of traditional and industrial arts in the region in a section called "Open Hearth 5."
Sponsoring Organization: Row Upon Row: Sea Grass Baskets of the South Carolina Lowcountry Educator guide that introduces students in grades 1-12 to the sea grass basket making tradition of the South Carolina lowcountry. Lesson plans address the basic concepts of tradition, folk groups, and folk art, with examples drawn from lowcountry basket making and basket makers. In addition, the guide focuses on the value of studying one's own local history and emphasizes the connections between African American hairstyles and heritage. The units of the guide include student activities and teacher background, geared separately towards elementary, middle and high school levels. Curriculum covered is useful for classes in social studies, art, language, and South Carolina history, and is correlated to the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program. (100-page PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Show-Me Traditions: An Educators Guide to Teaching Folk Arts and Folklife in Missouri Schools Educational guide with eight lesson plans and accompanying activities for fourth and fifth grade students that introduces concepts of folk arts and folklife in general and Missouri traditional art forms and artists in specific. The guide is organized as follows: Section I: Defining Folk Arts and Folklife; Section II: Discovering Folk Arts in Everyday Life; and Section III: Folk Artists in Missouri. Background information is provided on Missouri traditional arts and artists from the fields of Bluegrass music, Colombian-American dance and costume, Ozark riverways and boats, Irish-American music and dance, cowboy and spoken word poetry, German-American bobbin lace making, Missouri fiddling and old-time dance, and African-American storytelling. Site includes links to audio and video recordings plus additional background resources. Missouri curriculum connections are noted for Communication Arts, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Music, and Physical Education. (56 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Teacher Lesson Plans Lesson plans for the home and the K-12 classroom on such topics as Wisconsin folklore and regional history, the arts and social change, and visionary environmental art. The lesson plans are divided into "Constructed Realities Lesson Plans," and "Environmental Builders Lesson Plans," and are based on exhibits that the John Michael Kohler Arts Center has featured. Included are lessons with activities, in PDF format, focusing on traditional, ethnic, and visionary artists, and legendary figures from Wisconsin folklore.
Sponsoring Organization: Teacher's Guide for Nevada Folk Arts Roster Folk arts education guide created to accompany the Nevada Folk Arts Roster program and to provide an overview of the traditional arts and folklife of ethnic communities in Nevada. Includes lesson plans for the general study of folklife and also lessons on Mexican, African, Asian, Western and Eastern European, Hawaiian, and Native American cultures in Nevada, plus information on individual traditional artists working in the state. Accompanying worksheets and activities provide guidance in doing fieldwork. Lessons are designed for 4th and 7th grade students, but may be adapted for other age groups or skill levels. Correlated to Nevada Standards for Education for the areas of History, Social Studies, Geography, Library, Music, Physical Education, Visual Arts, and English Language Arts. (46 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: A Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife Teacher's guide to Kentucky folklife written in 2004 with lesson plans, student activities, and background essays. The guide has individual units on folklore in general and Kentucky folklife in the following areas: fieldwork, interviewing, folk art, foodways, occupational folklife, traditional music, and recreational folklife. The lessons can be used separately or together and are intended for use in the upper elementary and middle school classroom. (87 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Teaching Folklife: Educational Materials for Students and Teachers This educational resource contains lesson plans designed to introduce teachers and students to a basic understanding of traditional culture in Tennessee. It is most useful for students in the 4th through 7th grades. The guide includes five lesson plans: I) Introduction to Traditional Culture; II) Storytelling and Oral History; III) Folk Arts and Crafts; IV) Traditional Music; and V) Foodways. The resource includes a glossary of folklife terms and readings brought together from a wide variety of sources on the topic of Tennessee traditional arts. Materials in the guide can be used in the classroom for teaching Language Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Social Studies, and Math.(179 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: The Texture and Weave of the Traditional Arts Teachers' guide for middle and high school students focused on traditional life and folklore. Originally created to accompany a Nevada Arts Council exhibit entitled "The Texture and Weave of Traditional Art," the five lessons in the guide present general folklife concepts that can also be used in a stand-alone capacity, with examples taken from Nevada traditional culture. The guide explores how culture, traditional art forms, local history, and heritage are created by everyone and shared in communities and families. It also seeks to guide students in creating an awareness of cultural diversity in their local communities. Lessons meet the Nevada content standards for Visual Arts. (29 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: The Ties that Bind Multi-media resource created in 2006 for K-12 classroom teachers to address Colorado model content standards in History, Geography, and other disciplines. The tool contains the following: Written essays (Sections 1 and II); Lesson plans (Section III); Lists of additional resources (Section IV); plus audio and video resources that can be downloaded from the site. Eleven lesson plans include: "The Art of Interviewing" (14 p. PDF), "Colcha Embroidery" (8 p. PDF), ""Exploring Cowboy Life Through Cowboy Poetry," (30 p. PDF), "Folklore Bingo" (10 p. PDF), "Hmong Cultures" (12 p. PDF), "Introduction to Folklore for Grade 12" (6 p. PDF), "Latino Cultures" (10 p. PDF), "Quilts across Cultures" (12 p. PDF), "St. Patrick's Day and the Irish" (12 p. PDF), "Take a Trip to a Special Place" (6 p. PDF), and "Wheat Weaving" (10 p. PDF).
Sponsoring Organization: Tradition: Tennessee Lives and Legacies Teacher's Guide Teacher’s guide designed for grades 3-12 which enhances the understanding of Tennessee’s folklife heritage. Originally developed to prepare students for visiting an exhibition of the same name, the guide can stand on its own as an educational resource. The materials include profiles of Tennessee folk artists from a variety of regional and ethnic backgrounds, representing Cumberland Plateau old-time fiddling, Middle Tennessee buck dancing, African American blues, Choctaw beadwork, the making of Mennonite sorghum, and Mexican needlework. The guide also introduces students to the basic concepts of folklife, tradition, folk group, family folklife, tradition bearer, folk artist, and fieldwork. Accompanying forms and guidelines on interviewing family members and presenting findings in the classroom are included. The materials conform to Tennessee State Curriculum Standards for Art, Social Studies, Modern History, and Science. (24 pp. PDF) For a DVD of photographs of Tennessee traditional artists, including those in the teacher's guide, contact: dana.everts-boehm@tn.gov
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