Folklife Resources for Educators
Materials Related to Ethnic folkloreThere 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/
Crossroads of the Heart: Creativity and Tradition in Mississippi
by Mississippi Arts Commission http://www.arts.state.ms.us/crossroads/main.html
Educational website that profiles community-based Mississippi traditional artists and musicians. It includes a teacher's guide with background on the traditions described, a glossary of terms, student activities, and a resource guide for additional materials and websites. The site is organized into five sections: "Mississippi Music" (blues, gospel, fiddling, and sacred harp singing); "Handmade Objects" (Choctaw basketry, wood carving, pottery, and pine needle basketry); "Maritime Traditions" (boatbuilding, netmaking, Vietnamese fishing and boatbuilding, and model boatbuilding); "Mississippi Quilting" (quilter Hystercine Rankin, Crossroads Quilters, and quilter Elaine Carter); and "Mississippi Narrative" (storytelling, church oratory, and fiction). Each artistic form highlighted includes streaming audio of interviews and musical performances or photos documenting the traditional form. For upper elementary and middle school.
| Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Audio recordings; Activities |
Language: English |
Subjects: Decorative arts; Crafts; Choctaw Indians; Wood-carving; Basket making; Fiddle tunes; Mississippi--Social life and customs; Folk art; Oral tradition; Quiltmakers; Music; Blues (Music); Maritime culture; Material culture; Ethnic arts; Ethnic folklore; Quilting; African Americans; Vietnamese Americans; Gospel music; Shape-note singing; Boatbuilding; Fishing nets; Fishing; Storytelling; Needlework
Geographic locations: Mississippi |
Sponsoring Organization: Mississippi Arts Commission 501 North West Street, Suite 1101A Jackson MS 39201
(601) 359-6030 http://www.arts.state.ms.us/
Folk Artists: New Roots
by Institute for Cultural Partnerships http://www.culturalpartnerships.org/fan/
Educational web pages designed for use with students in grades 5-8 which provide activities and primary source materials about recent immigrant and refugee communities in Pennsylvania. A 12-page teacher's guide, "Using the Folk Arts of Newcomers in Your Classroom," offers curriculum suggestions and activities for exploring traditional forms of culture found in the Ahikskan Turk, Bosnian, Chinese, East Indian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Sudanese, and Vietnamese communities in Pennsylvania. Accompanying the guide are stories and videos, some in Spanish, of individual Puerto Rican, Chinese, and Mexican individuals, representing dance, foodways, and other cultural and artistic traditions. The guide correlates with Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and the Arts and Humanities.
| Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8 |
Curriculum: Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Lesson plans; Activities; Video recordings; Primary sources |
Language: English; Spanish |
Subjects: Crafts; Foodways; Vietnamese Americans; Bosnian Americans; Ethnic arts; Dance; Hispanic Americans; Chinese Americans; Puerto Ricans; Immigrants; Refugees; Folk artists; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; Ethnic groups; Ethnic folklore; Sudanese Americans; East Indian Americans; Mexican Americans; Asian Americans; Ahiskan Turks; Decorative arts
Geographic locations: Pennsylvania |
Sponsoring Organization: Institute for Cultural Partnerships 3211 North Front Street Harrisburg PA 17110-1342
(717) 238-1770 http://www.culturalpartnerships.org/
Folk Arts in Education - A Resource Handbook II
by Marsha MacDowell, LuAnne Kozma http://www.folkartsineducation.org/
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.
| Grade Level: K-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Sports and Recreation; Science; Performing Arts; Music; Math; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Video recordings; Primary sources; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities |
Language: English |
Subjects: Festivals; Fieldwork (Educational method); Folklore; Occupations--Folklore; Oral history; Inquiry-based learning; Music; Oral tradition; Place-based education; Holidays; Vernacular architecture; Urban folklore; United States--Social life and customs; Rites of passage; Storytelling; Artisans; Community life; Children--Folklore; Folk music; Folk songs; Folklore--Fieldwork; Folk art; Foodways; Ethnic arts; Culture; Ethnic folklore; Family--Folklore; History; Needlework
Geographic locations: United States; General |
Sponsoring Organization: Michigan State University Museum Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824
(517) 353-2370 http://museum.msu.edu/
Other Organizations:
Michigan Traditional Arts Program Michigan State University Museum East Lansing Michigan 48824-1045
(517) 353-2370 http://museum.msu.edu/s-program/MTAP/
Good Food, Served Right: A Photographic Essay on North Country Food Traditions
by TAUNY-Traditional Arts in Upstate New York http://www.northcountryfolklore.org/goodfood/index.html
Teacher resource guide with activities (20 p. PDF) that accompanies an online photographic exhibit of foodways and their traditions in the North Country region of New York State. The curriculum materials can be used for a variety of ages and grade levels. Includes photographs, audio recordings of oral interviews, and background on the food cultures of diverse groups of people who live in the North Country.
| Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities; Primary sources |
Language: English |
Subjects: Foodways; Food; New York (State)--Social life and customs; North Country (N.Y.)--Social life and customs; Ethnic folklore; Ethnic groups
Geographic locations: North Country (N.Y.); New York (State) |
Sponsoring Organization: TAUNY-Traditional Arts in Upstate New York 53 Main Street Canton NY 13617
(315) 386-4289 http://tauny.org/
Harvesting: Interrelationships Between Humans and Plants
by Teaching Tolerance http://www.tolerance.org/activity/harvesting-interrelationships-between-humans-and-plants
Activities for students in grades 3-12 to introduce them to the field of ethnobotany in order to explore cultural diversity and ethnic traditions. Topics considered include cultural food preferences, the folklore of plants, and the historical relationships that different cultural communities have with plants. For use in social studies, science, and health curricula.
| Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Science; History and Social Studies |
| Resource Type: Activities |
Language: English |
Subjects: Ethnic groups; Ethnobotany; Gardening; Ethnic folklore; Cultural pluralism; Plants; Community life; Food; Foodways
Geographic locations: General |
Sponsoring Organization: Teaching Tolerance 400 Washington Avenue Montgomery AL 36104
(334) 956-8200 http://www.tolerance.org/
Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities, and Traditions
by Iowa Arts Council http://www.uni.edu/iowaonline/folklife/intro/index.htm
Learning guide for middle and high school students plus elders in senior centers based on field documentation of Iowa traditional culture, communities, and groups done in preparation for the Festival of American Folklife and the Festival of Iowa Folklife, both held in 1996. The guide includes lesson plans with objectives, background, conceptual and hands-on activities, and handouts, arranged by subject matter: Social Studies, Language Arts, Music, and Art. Accompanying the lesson plans are activities with guidance on developing a community research archive, collecting field recordings, and creating exhibitions, festivals, and publications based on fieldwork done by students. On the site are two streamed videos for classroom viewing, streamed audio of a CD exemplifying a variety of Iowa traditional musical styles, and "Inherit Iowa," a senior citizen activity guide.
| Grade Level: All ages; 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Video recordings; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities |
Language: English |
Subjects: European Americans; Scandinavian Americans; Crafts; Iowa--Social life and customs; Ethnic folklore; Festivals; Folklore--Fieldwork; Inquiry-based learning; Folk artists; Music; Foodways; Community life; Fieldwork (Educational method); Immigrants; Folk music; Holidays; German Americans; Czech Americans; Hmong Americans; African Americans; Mexican Americans; Occupations--Folklore; Material culture; Fishing; Maritime culture; Quilting; Decorative arts
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/
Latino Philadelphia
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=104
Five-unit educational guide with lesson plans and activities in documenting and interpreting the history and experience of Philadelphia’s Latino communities. The materials in this guide are geared to the middle and high school classroom for use in the curriculum areas of history, geography, reading, writing, and the arts and humanities. The five units focus on Latino Identity and Diversity; Coming to Philadelphia; Labor and Struggle; Building Community; and Arts and Culture. Background materials include a glossary, resources for teachers and students, information on doing oral history, and links to primary source materials, drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and other materials. The lesson plan is correlated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading and Writing, History, Geography, and Arts and Humanities.
| Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Geography; Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Primary sources; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities |
Language: English; Spanish |
Subjects: Cultural geography; Oral history; Immigrant labor; Immigrants; Ethnicity; Ethnic folklore; Ethnic neighborhoods; Emigration and immigration; Music; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs; History; Community life; Mural painting and decoration; Hispanic Americans
Geographic locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); Pennsylvania |
Sponsoring Organization: Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1300 Locust Street Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200 http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1
Wisconsin Folks
by Wisconsin Arts Board http://arts.state.wi.us/static/folkdir/index.htm
Website for students, educators, and the general public featuring traditional artists, art forms, and cultures of Wisconsin. Includes background on regional and ethnic traditional crafts, foodways, music, and dance. Information on the site has content for 4th, 8th, and 12th grade themes in Social Studies, the Visual Arts, Music, Dance, English, Information and Technology Literacy, and Business, correlated to Wisconsin Model Academic Standards and Benchmarks. Also includes contact information for engaging Wisconsin traditional artists and performers for public and classroom presentations.
| Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 |
Curriculum: Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture |
| Resource Type: Lesson plans |
Language: English |
Subjects: Crafts; Foodways; Music; Dance; Wisconsin--Social life and customs; Ethnic folklore; Ethnic arts; Folk art; Geography; Material culture; Folk artists; Decorative arts
Geographic locations: Wisconsin |
Sponsoring Organization: Wisconsin Arts Board 101 E. Wilson Street Madison WI 53702
(608) 266-0190 http://artsboard.wisconsin.gov/static/
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