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Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Religious life and customs

There are 9 titles in this list.

 

CARNAVAL!
by Museum of International Folk Art
http://www.moifa.org/eventsedu/education/carnaval_guide.pdf

Curriculum guide, developed in 2004 in conjunction with the traveling exhibition CARNAVAL! produced at the Museum of International Folk Art. The guide highlights Carnival traditions in areas in Europe and the Americas where the festival is an important part of community life. It includes background information on Carnival traditions in Laza, Spain; Venice, Italy; Basel, Switzerland; Tlaxcala, Mexico; Oruro, Bolivia; Recife and Olinda, Brazil; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; and New Orleans, Louisiana for incorporation into classroom lesson plans. There are an additional thirty pages of student activities with directions for making masks, costumes, giant puppets, floats, illuminated lanterns, simple musical instruments, and banners. National Content Standards for Fine Arts, Music, Dance, Theater, Social Studies, and Language Arts are included in the guide, which teachers can use to integrate Carnaval's content into their lesson plans. (50 p. PDF)

Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Activities Language: English
Subjects: Religious life and customs; Carnival; Masks; Festivals; Ethnic folklore
Geographic locations: Mexico; Trinidad and Tobago; Switzerland; Spain; Louisiana; Italy; Brazil; Bolivia

Sponsoring Organization:
Museum of International Folk Art
PO Box 2087
Santa Fe NM 87504-2087
(505) 476-1200
http://www.moifa.org/


Cultural Exchange: Jewish and Muslim Connections
by The Jewish Museum - New York
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/core/uploaded/pdfs/cultural_exchange.pdf

Curriculum guide designed to introduce middle and high school students to the dynamic cultural exchange that occurred between Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain. It also explores adaptations by Jews of motifs influenced by Muslim cultures in Turkey, Syria, Persia, Morocco, and Tunisia during the 19th and 20th centuries. Although the guide was created to prepare students for visiting the Jewish and Muslim Connections exhibit at the Jewish Museum, it can be used as a stand-alone resource. The materials focus on three subject areas: Cultural Folklore, Places of Worship, and Traditional Texts, each presented with historical background, suggested activities, and discussion questions. Individual themes and activities can be integrated into social studies, history, creative writing, geography, arts, and humanities curricula in the classroom. (28 p. PDF)

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Art and Culture; Geography; History and Social Studies; Language Arts
Resource Type: Activities; Lesson plans Language: English
Subjects: Art; Islam; Cultural relations; Decoration and ornament; Jews; Muslims; Architecture; Material culture; Middle East--Social life and customs; Spain--Social life and customs; History; Asia--Social life and customs; Religious life and customs; Sacred space; Intercultural communication
Geographic locations: Turkey; Tunisia; Syria; Spain; Morocco; Iran; Africa, North

Sponsoring Organization:
Jewish Museum - New York
1109 5th Avenue at 92nd Street
New York NY 10128
(212) 423-3225
http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/


Dane County Cultural Tour 2002
by Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
http://csumc.wisc.edu/cmct/DaneCountyTour/

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.

Grade Level: 3-5 Curriculum: Art and Culture; History and Social Studies
Resource Type: Activities Language: English
Subjects: Recreation; Community life; Foodways; Folk art; Inquiry-based learning; Farm life; Photography; Traditional farming; Folklore; Fieldwork (Educational method); Interviewing; Wisconsin--Social life and customs; Occupations--Folklore; Religious life and customs
Geographic locations: Wisconsin; General

Sponsoring Organization:
Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
901 University Bay Drive
Madison WI 53705
(608) 256-4640
http://csumc.wisc.edu/

Other Organizations:
Randall Elementary School
1802 Regent Sreet
Madison Wisconsin 53705
(608) 204-3302
http://www.greatschools.net/wisconsin/madison/877-Randall-Elementary-School/


Iowa Folklife -- Volume II
by Iowa Arts Council
http://www.uni.edu/iowaonline/folklife_v2/

Online curriculum resource guide for K-12 students and educators that explores the traditional music, foods, dance, rituals and crafts of Iowa's diverse cultures. A companion resource to "Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities, and Traditions," it includes content pages, audio samples, suggested readings, lesson plans and other online resources. Lesson plans and accompanying materials focus on the blues, Gospel, Latino music, Old Time music, Polka, First Nations Peoples, Vietnamese Tet, and cultural traditions from Laotians, Danes, Bosnians, and Asian Indians who have settled in Iowa.

Grade Level: K-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Holidays; Religious life and customs; Vietnamese Americans; Vietnamese New Year; Iowa--Social life and customs; East Indian Americans; Foodways; Dance; Polka; Old-time music; Music; Blues (Music); Gospel music; Hispanic Americans; Bosnian Americans; Indians of North America; Meskwaki Indians; Laotian Americans; Danish Americans; Crafts; Asian Americans
Geographic locations: Iowa

Sponsoring Organization:
Folk & Traditional Arts Program
Iowa Arts Council
Des Moines IA 50319-0290
(515) 242-6195
http://www.iowaartscouncil.org/programs/folk-and-traditional-arts/resources.shtml

Other Organizations:
Iowa Arts Council
600 E. Locust Street
Des Moines IA 50319-0290
(515) 281-6412
http://www.iowaartscouncil.org/index.shtml


The Men Who Dance the Giglio - Teaching Guide
by Paddy Bowman
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,277

Teaching guide for grades 10-12 to accompany an excerpt of the film “The Men Who Dance the Giglio,” created by filmmaker Jeff Porter in 1995. Nine minutes of the 28-minute film are chosen as a focus for the teaching guide. The film excerpt documents the Saint Paulinus Festival and its 2.5-ton giglio statue carried by 125 men in a Catholic religious procession through the streets of the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. The teaching guide and film explore the topics of community and neighborhood festivals, Italian American culture, ethnicity, and sacred and secular celebrations found in urban areas. The entire film is also available as streaming video on folkstreams.net.

Grade Level: 9-12 Curriculum: Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture; Music
Resource Type: Activities; Lesson plans; Primary sources; Video recordings Language: English
Subjects: Educational films; Ethnographic films; Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)--Social life and customs; Community life; Ethnicity; Religious processions; Italian American Catholics; Religious life and customs; Urban folklore; Festivals; Italian Americans; Celebration
Geographic locations: New York (N.Y.)

Sponsoring Organization:
Folkstreams


http://www.folkstreams.net/


Sacred Places: California Missions from Different Perspectives
by Carol Fischer
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/arts_lang_arts/a_la_lesson09.html

Curriculum guide for grades 3-5 which explores the concept of sacred places by looking at works of art representing sacred space and studying the California missions. Includes lesson plan, activities, and links to photographs and art works from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collections. The guide addresses California state standards for Visual arts, Language Arts, History, and Social Studies.

Grade Level: 3-5 Curriculum: Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Geography; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Lesson plans; Activities; Primary sources Language: English
Subjects: Spanish mission buildings; California--Social life and customs; History; Art; Religious life and customs; Decorative arts; Sacred space; Architecture; Hispanic Americans
Geographic locations: California

Sponsoring Organization:
J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles CA 90049-1687
(310) 440-7330
http://www.getty.edu/museum/


Silk Road Encounters Education Kit
by Silk Road Project
http://www.silkroadproject.org/Education/Resources/SilkRoadEncounters/tabid/339/Default.aspx

Teacher's guide (48 p. PDF) and sourcebook (48 p. PDF) that explore the diverse yet interrelated topics of trade, art, music, religion, history, and geography along the Silk Road to supplement classroom materials for students from elementary through high school. The teacher's guide has six lesson plans: 1) The Silk Roads Big Map; 2) Creating a Three-Dimensional Timeline; 3) Trading in the Silk Road Cities; 4) Belief Systems of the Silk Road; 5) Musical Innovation along the Silk Roads; and 6) Treasures of the Silk Roads.) Activities tiered for different educational levels accompany the lessons. A sourcebook provides background information for the lessons on the geography, history, belief systems, arts, music, and the travel of ideas and techniques along the Silk Road.

Grade Level: K-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Geography; Music; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Lesson plans; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Cultural geography; Emigration and immigration; Material culture; Religious life and customs; Silk Road; Musical instruments; Trade routes; Asia--Social life and customs; Music; History; Geography; Middle East--Social life and customs
Geographic locations: Uzbekistan; Turkmenistan; Turkey; Tajikistan; South Asia; Pakistan; Middle East; Kazakhstan; Iraq; Iran; India; East Asia; China; Asia, Central; Asia; Afghanistan

Sponsoring Organization:
Silk Road Project
20 Westminster Street
Providence RI 02903
(401) 427-6980
http://www.silkroadproject.org/tabid/36/default.aspx


Skeleton Esqueleto Puppets and Día de Muertos Ofrendas
by Museum of International Folk Art
http://moifa.org/eventsedu/education/muertos/skeletonpuppets.html

Two activities associated with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) for students in grades 1-8. Also known as All Souls' Day, Día de Muertos is rooted in both indigenous and Catholic religious belief and is increasingly being celebrated throughout the United States. The Skeleton Esqueleto Puppets activity will help students learn how puppets can reflect the cultures from which they come from, using Mexican skeleton puppets as an example. The Día de Muertos Ofrendas activity will give students an understanding of how ofrendas, or altars, are set up in people's homes for dead relatives during this holiday. The activities correlate to New Mexico State Content Standards for Art and Social Studies.

Grade Level: K-2; 3-5; 6-8 Curriculum: History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Activities Language: English
Subjects: Religious life and customs; Holidays; Altars; Puppets; All Souls' Day; Mexico--Social life and customs; Crafts; Decorative arts
Geographic locations: United States; Mexico

Sponsoring Organization:
Museum of International Folk Art
PO Box 2087
Santa Fe NM 87504-2087
(505) 476-1200
http://www.moifa.org/


Sweet is the Day: A Sacred Harp Family Portrait - Teacher's Guide
by Folkstreams
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,64

Teacher’s guide for grades 6-8 to accompany the film, “Sweet is the Day: A Sacred Harp Family Portrait,” created by Jim Carnes and Erin Kellen in 2001. The 59-minute film, available as streaming video on folkstreams.net, tells the story of the Woottens, one of the key singing families who helped Sacred Harp music survive and flourish for more than 150 years in the South. The film intertwines scenes of family gatherings, singing conventions, and farm life in the Sand Mountain region of northeast Alabama with family recollections and songs from the shape-note tradition. The teaching guide and film explore shape-note music and Sacred Harp singing, including the importance of the tradition in the lives of families in the Sand Mountain community.

Grade Level: 6-8 Curriculum: Art and Culture; History and Social Studies; Language Arts; Performing Arts; Music
Resource Type: Lesson plans; Primary sources; Video recordings Language: English
Subjects: Music; Oral history; Shape-note singing; Farm life; Religious life and customs; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Choral societies; Alabama--Social life and customs; Family--Folklore; Community life; Ethnographic films; Family--History; Singing conventions; Singing schools; Educational films
Geographic locations: Alabama

Sponsoring Organization:
Folkstreams


http://www.folkstreams.net/


 

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