Spoken word is a form of poetry that utilizes the strengths of the communities: oral tradition, call-and-response, home languages, storytelling, and resistance. Spoken word poetry is usually performed for an audience and must be heard. The authors are interested in investigating how spoken word can be utilized as a critical teaching tool that can…

This paper explores some forms of inquiry that are becoming influential within teacher education. In particular, the document focuses on forms of inquiry variously called "stories,""narratives,""personal knowledge,""practical knowledge," or in one particular genre "personal practical knowledge."…

Describes a project within a postgraduate course for inservice South African teachers. Small student groups create collaborative dramatic performances based on their literacy histories and utilizing their diverse cultural and representational resources. The project involves teachers at multiple levels. It creates comparative perspectives that…

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…

This book strives to combine creative writing, the whole language approach, thinking skills, and problem-solving strategies with an introduction to ecological concepts. It aims to bring scientific facts to life by creating empathy for wild creatures and teach basic science skills by using creative writing and storytelling. This book contains nine…

This curriculum unit for middle school students explores the art of folklore and story telling. In the unit, students will explore the nature of various types of stories and tales and will identify the characteristics and motifs of subgenres such as tall tales, fairy tales, and fables. The following lessons are part of the unit: Folktales: A…

A Native American literature professor's account of college students' cross-cultural field experience on two Indian reservations near the Grand Canyon shows how the experience enhanced student understanding of the Native American belief in the people and land as one, storytelling and a sense of the sacred, and the history and impact of…

Provides a useful introduction and overview to using storytelling in the elementary social studies classroom. Presents a rationale for using storytelling, tips on getting started, preparation for the story, and follow-up activities. Includes a 61-item bibliography of folktales and stories. (MJP)

This collection of writings was compiled over a 19-year period (1972-91) by the last writer and one of the last storytellers of the Kenai dialect of Dena'ina (Tanaina) language of Cook Inlet, Alaska. Peter Kalifornsky is a literary artist and scholar born in 1911. The 147 writings are organized in eight chapters, with a prelude containing two…