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Folklife Resources for EducatorsMaterials Related to African AmericansThere are 21 titles in this list.
African Immigrant Experience Multi-unit educational guide for K-12 grade levels with lesson plans and activities focusing on the life and experience of African immigrant communities in Pennsylvania. Topics featured include the refugee experience, why African immigrants are leaving their homes, and their work, families, and communities in Pennsylvania. The site includes transcripts of oral history interviews with African immigrants from Eritrea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mauritania, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia. It also has a link to the online exhibit created by the Historical Society of Philadelphia entitled “Extended Lives: The African Immigrant Experience in Philadelphia,” that documents family life and experiences through primary source materials collected from community members. Materials in the guide are correlated to Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading and Writing, History, Geography, and Arts and Humanities.
Sponsoring Organization: Association for Cultural Equity - Teaching Resources Educational resources and activities for use in the Pre-K through 12 classroom, based on archival materials in the Alan Lomax Archive. Can be incorporated into the curriculum areas of history, geography, language arts, social studies, visual arts, music, and dance. Includes lesson plans and streaming video for four of Alan Lomax's films in the American Patchwork series: "Appalachian Journey;" "Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old;" "Jazz Parades;" and "The Land Where the Blues Began." The site also includes classroom activities with streaming audio, focused on a variety of musical genres and characteristics, with examples recorded by Lomax in Spain, Italy, the Bahamas, England, Scotland, Trinidad, and the American South.
Sponsoring Organization: Crossroads of the Heart: Creativity and Tradition in Mississippi 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.
Sponsoring Organization: Dave - I Made This Jar Educator guide that focuses on the contributions of the enslaved potter and poet, David Drake, who worked in the pottery industry that flourished in the Edgefield District of South Carolina in the 1800s. Curriculum materials were designed to be consulted in conjunction with the McKissick Museum's "I Made This Jar" exhibit, but they may be be used independently of the exhibit. Lesson plans address pottery making, written and oral traditions in poetry, and the economics of slavery in relation to antebellum craft work. The guide also includes student activities, teacher background, and a bibliography. It was created for classroom use in grades 3-12, with guidance on teaching content and skills geared to different grade levels. (45 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Ethnic Fraternal Societies and Mutual Aid: An American Tradition with Old World Roots Lesson plan related to the origins, functions, rise, and eventual decline of fraternal and self-help organizations among immigrants and African Americans with activities for middle and high school students. The lesson focuses on ways that immigrants and African Americans developed alternative social structures and mutual assistance organizations that served their social, psychological, cultural, and economic needs. It also explores issues of diversity, ethnic identity, and whether the government or the people are responsible for providing the social and economic safety net of mutual aid. Background materials include a glossary, resources for teachers and students, and links to primary source materials, including photographs and oral histories, drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania The lesson plan is correlated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, History, and Geography.
Sponsoring Organization: Exploring Diversity in Pennsylvania History Resources for teachers related to the diverse ethnic histories of Pennsylvania. Curriculum materials include lesson plans, student handouts, background readings, and links to primary source materials drawn from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Balch collections related to the topics of settlement, community, work and industrialization, and interethnic relations. Geared to the middle and high school classroom, the units include resources for studying the settlement, history, and culture of Germans, Irish, Italians, Chinese, Latinos, South Asians, Africans, and Koreans in Pennsylvania. Lesson plans are correlated to a variety of Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards.
Sponsoring Organization: The Fisk Jubilee Singers: Singing Our Song -- Teacher's Guide The Fisk Jubilee Singers: Singing our Song Teacher’s Guide is designed to assist classroom teachers and youth leaders in introducing students to the story and significance of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. It includes nine lessons with accompanying CD, DVD, and sheet music which are incorporated into the lessons. A bibliography, discography, videography, and webography provide additional resources for further study. The lessons in the guide can be adapted for students of various ages. Topics covered in the guide include the history and music of jubilee, black spirituals, and African American choral music. It also considers how the evolution of these musical forms contributed to the development of musical culture in Nashville, the prominence of Fisk University, and the African American civil rights movement. The lessons can be used in music, social studies, and language arts classes and support the Tennessee State Curriculum Standards in these areas. Free hard copies of the teacher's guide, and an accompanying DVD & CD, are available upon request by contacting: Dana.Everts-Boehm@tn.gov (44 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Folkvine Folklore-oriented interdisciplinary website featuring documentation of Florida art and artists, from such traditions as lacemaking, quilting, painting, shoemaking, and sculpting using papier mache, bones, and other materials. The site also incorporates circus traditions and cultural arts representing African American, Peruvian American, Puerto Rican, and Hawaiian backgrounds. The documentation of the selected traditional artists and their communities is available through audio and video clips, photographs, and background textual materials.
Sponsoring Organization: Ghetto Life 101 In 1993, two teenagers from Chicago's South Side collaborated with public radio producers to create the radio documentary "Ghetto Life 101," based on audio diaries of life in the Ida B. Wells housing projects. A study guide (24 p. PDF) was written for classroom use to accompany the audio segments. It adds new voices and historical perspectives to the original radio documentary. Topics covered in the study guide include growing up in the ghetto, the character of urban neighborhoods, and responding to violence in the inner city. In addition to the study guide, the Ghetto Life 101 web site includes the original audio documentaries, their transcripts, and photos.
Sponsoring Organization: Honky Tonks, Hymns, and the Blues: American Music from Back Roads to Big City Study guides for NPR radio series on southern musical traditions in the U.S. The website provides audio of original radio presentations, including interviews and musical sound clips. Each section deals with a different theme, including: "Honky Tonk Women: The Changing Role of Women in Country Music," "Riding the Rails to Stardom: The Maddox Brothers and Rose," "Country Guitar: The Music Meets Technology and Changing Times," "A Pure Sound: Country Music and the Moral Message," "Thomas A. Dorsey: From 'Georgia Tom' to the Father of Gospel Music," "Música Norteña: Accordion on the Texas Border," "Country Fiddling: From Back Porch to Big City, "The Rise of the Country Blues," "Jimmie Rodgers: Birth of the Country Superstar," "Lone Star Swing: Bob Wills and the Texas Tradition," "Black and White: Crossing the Border, Closing the Gap," and "The Carter Family on the Air: Border Radio and Country Music." Appropriate for use in the secondary school classroom.
Sponsoring Organization: Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities, and Traditions 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.
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Jubilation! : African American Celebrations in the Southeast Educator guide that explores the special nature of African-American celebrations within the family and community, and encourages students to discover their own cultural heritage. It focuses on rites of passage and community celebrations among African Americans in the Southeastern United States, with guidance in documenting celebrations and doing oral history. Includes lesson plans, activities, teacher background, and a bibliography of adult and children's literature. The guide is geared towards students in grades 3-12. (51 p. PDF)
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Lucreaty Clark, White Oak Basket Maker Lesson plans, photographs, and audio interviews with Lucreaty Clark, basket maker, about the history and practice of making white oak baskets. Correlated to Florida State Standards, the lesson plans were created for grades 6-8 in a Social Studies or Language Arts curriculum. The primary source materials in this educational unit belong to the State Library and Archives of Florida's Florida Folklife Collection, available on the Florida Memory Web site.
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Quilts in Women’s Lives – Teaching Guide Teaching guide for grades 10-12 to accompany an excerpt of the film “Quilts in Women’s Lives,” created by filmmaker Pat Ferrero in 1981. Fifteen minutes of the 28-minute film are as a focus for the teaching guide. This excerpt features three women quilters -- artist and teacher Grace Earl, artist and Bulgarian immigrant Radka Donnell, and African American traditional quilter Nora Lee Condra. The teaching guide and film explore the lives, art, work, and philosophy of the three women quilters from different backgrounds. The entire film is also available as streaming video on folkstreams.net.
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: A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle - Curriculum Guides Three curriculum guides to accompany the film “A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle,” created by filmmaker Tom Davenport with Daniel Patterson and Allen Tullos in 1986. The 57-minute film, available as streaming video on folkstreams.net, traces the history of the Landis family of Granville County, North Carolina, over the lifetime of its oldest surviving member, 86-year-old Bertha Landis. In the film, her sons' gospel quartet, "The Golden Echoes" rehearses and performs during a Landis family reunion. Family members also describe their migration North, work, race relations, music, and family ties. The site includes a film study guide by Beverly Patterson for 8th and 9th grades that explores African American history, music, family life and culture, and film as a social and historical document. Also available is an intergenerational film discussion guide by Paddy Bowman that offers ideas for considering issues of Jim Crow segregation, voting rights, gospel music-making, and faith and resilience in African American families. In addition, the site includes a teaching guide for grades 10-12 by Paddy Bowman focusing on aspects of the film mentioned above plus background essays on gospel quartets, Bertha Landis, and Granville County, North Carolina.
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: 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
Sponsoring Organization: Other Organizations: Youth Portraits The Youth Portraits project was established to teach young people recently released from New York City's Rikers Island correctional facility how to use audio to tell stories about their lives. With the help of Sound Portraits producers, the young people crafted short audio documentaries by conducting interviews, cutting their own tape, adding music, and using computers to create finished pieces that were aired on public radio in January 2002. The Youth Portraits web site features their photos, streamed audio pieces with transcripts, and curriculum materials. The educational resources include a study guide (62 p. PDF) plus a recording and interviewing tutorial. These materials can be used in the classroom or as part of a life skills curriculum with youth.
Sponsoring Organization: Zora Neale Hurston, the WPA in Florida, and the Cross City Turpentine Camp Lesson plans, photographs, and writings related to Zora Neale Hurston's work for the Florida division of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) when she went on a recording expedition in 1939 to the turpentine camps in Cross City, Florida. Correlated to Florida State Standards, the lesson plans were created for grades 9-12 for a Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum. The primary source materials in this educational unit belong to the State Library and Archives of Florida's Florida Folklife Collection, available on the Florida Memory Web site.
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