Students are challenged to explore stories told through pictures, objects, and music throughout the units included in this guide. Students learn to identify and analyze a variety of recurring narratives, and in describing their own experiences, create their own stories and find meaning within these stories. Storytelling develops speaking and…

This Amana (Iowa) Folklife Curriculum has been planned as an easily-implemented sequence of activities comparing community and family folklife traditions with current practices. The K-5 activities are planned to coincide with holidays in the regular school calendar whenever possible. All activities compare and contrast present-day practices with…

The lessons in the teacher's guide about the Bible's Old Testament are based on historic and scientific scholarship and, to avoid a sectarian point of view, focus on the factual data generated by academic research. The lessons are based on what is known about the nature of oral tradition, recent archaeological findings, and the academic biblical…

This manual provides a general introduction to folklore and folklife. Certain articles herein may be used in a basic activity-oriented approach to the study of folklore, beginning at the fourth grade level. Other articles proved a more in-depth study of folklife and of the means by which folk culture is preserved and shared. The teacher must…

Developed as part of an educational kit that includes a four-part videotape, maps, photographs, and audio tapes, this guide gives teacher preparation information, objectives, teaching strategies, and student activities for each of 3 lessons in 4 units: Unit 1, "Introduction to Folklife," presents a definition in lesson 1, "What is…

This book encourages the use of cultural biographies as a way to understand various cultures. The volume is a collection of stories about the teachers and students in New York (New York) schools who have made family studies central to the curriculum. The book emphasizes the everyday lives of families, their social histories, and cultural…

The design of this curriculum project allows teachers to introduce the rich Indian culture in a non-threatening way to learners who struggle with writing material. It was initially developed for special education students who read and write significantly below grade level. Some of the project's lessons include showing the students artwork and…

"Folksong in the Classroom" is designed to be used by teachers of history, literature, music, and the humanities to encourage the study of history through folk song. This volume focuses on the history of the American Revolution, using song and script to better understand the American Revolutionary War. A question and answer segment encourages…

This activity book is designed for grades 5-8 to look at America at home during World War II. The work examines the efforts of the men, women, and children who supported and supplied one of the greatest mobilizations of people and material that the world has ever witnessed. The activities were planned to compliment the exhibit of the same name,…

Each chapter of this document describes a different project and approach for introducing students (elementary to high school) to oral history and folk arts. All chapters use a standard format in which a general overview of the project, describing themes, philosophies, and methods are followed by sample lesson plans, teacher guidelines, and student…

This book is based on the belief that children's literature and history should be linked in elementary classrooms. The resource book has three major sections. The first section provides a brief overview of eight historical understandings that can be developed using children's literature. These understandings, adapted from a list of "history's…

Folk culture is everyday culture. Since all students have a folk culture, a folklife unit is a good starting place for the study of personal, local, state, and national history, and by comparing similarities and differences, for the study of the folk traditions of others. The guide begins with an introduction to the field of folklife and the…

This guide emphasizes the inclusion of traditionally under-represented cultural groups by recognizing calendar events of multicultural significance. The approach presumes that activities centered in the cultural understandings and experiences of diverse students encourage general student involvement and build critical thinking skills. Strategies…

Traditionally, an important function of folktales in West Africa has been to educate, as the older generation imparts knowledge to younger members of the family, tribe, societal unit, or ethnic group both informally in everyday life and more formally within the context of the bush schools. This anthology of West African folk literature offers more…

Argues that the inclusion of ethnic folktales into a social studies unit can reinforce stereotypical assumptions unless it is balanced with accurate and insightful social and cultural instruction. Summarizes and discusses a number of Latino folktales and how they could be used as springboards for appropriate instruction. (MJP)