Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Games

There are 10 titles in this list.

Association for Cultural Equity - Teaching Resources
by Association for Cultural Equity
http://www.culturalequity.org/rc/ce_rc_teaching.php

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:
Association for Cultural Equity
450 West 41st Street, Suite 602-606
New York NY 10036
(212) 268-4623
http://www.culturalequity.org/

Bullfrog in the Classroom
by Paddy Bowman, Marsha B. Weiner
http://www.alabamafolklife.org/content/bullfrog-jumped-home

Curriculum guide that focuses on learning about children's songs and games collected by Byron Arnold in Alabama in 1947. It includes online audio clips, taken from a published 42-song CD, "Bullfrog Jumped: Children’s Folksongs from the Byron Arnold Collection," plus lesson plans and activities. The guide invites listeners of all ages to use the collection to teach young children old songs and games and to encourage the exploration and preservation of traditional childhood songs. The three Bullfrog Jumped lessons are aligned to the Alabama Course of Study and link to standards across the curriculum for Pre-K, and for grades K-5. Lessons are based on nine songs selected from the CD and include accompanying activities that can be used for library programs, family reunions, or other gatherings outside the classroom. In addition to the study guide, additional on-line materials about the folksong collection can be found on the Bullfrog Jumped site.

Sponsoring Organization:
Alabama Folklife Association
PO Box 4697
Montgomery AL 36103-4697
(334) 242-3601, ex. 234.
http://www.alabamafolklife.org/

Choctaw Dances
by Echo: Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations
http://www.echospace.org/articles/123/sections/189

Curriculum resources for exploring three types of Choctaw dances—social, animal, and war—that serve to bind Mississippi Chocktaw communities, honor the natural environment, and express cultural solidarity. An accompanying video illustrates some current traditional activities that connect the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians with their past, including dance, the use of traditional instruments, and participation in games such as stickball. Curriculum ideas can be used in the classroom for teaching social studies, dance, music, geography, and physical education.

Sponsoring Organization:
Echo: Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations


http://www.echospace.org/

Explore Culture Online
by Arizona State Museum
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/explore.shtml

Online educational activities, podcasts, videos, exhibitions, oral histories, databases, bibliographies, and multimedia resources created for the Arizona State Museum about their exhibits, collections, and programs related to the material culture of Southwest Native Americans. Includes cultural and archaeological topics such as masks, pottery, textiles, painting, and weaving from Northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona. Can be used in the classroom.

Sponsoring Organization:
Arizona State Museum
The University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721-0026
(520) 621-6302
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/

Haiti Teaching Resources
by Association for Cultural Equity
http://www.culturalequity.org/rc/ce_rc_teaching_haiti.php

Educational materials for use in the K-12 classroom in the curriculum areas of music, dance, and language arts, based on Haitian archival collections in the Alan Lomax Archive. The site includes classroom activities focused on a variety of musical genres and characteristics, with video and audio examples recorded by Lomax in Haiti in 1936.

Sponsoring Organization:
Association for Cultural Equity
450 West 41st Street, Suite 602-606
New York NY 10036
(212) 268-4623
http://www.culturalequity.org/

Hmong Cultural Tour
by Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
http://csumc.wisc.edu/cmct/HmongTour/themes/index.htm

Teacher's guide for organizing cultural tours for students in the upper elementary grades, developed as an educational resource for a Madison Children's Museum exhibit, Hmong at Heart, created in 2004. This site documents a class trip of 4th and 5th graders to seven cities in Wisconsin to introduce them to Hmong culture and communities firsthand. Includes a "How We Did It" section, to help teachers plan their own cultural field trips, and students' essays about the trip. Hmong traditions and history, including music, foodways, crafts, games, healing practices, and textile arts are described in the "Field Guide to Hmong Culture," (91 p. PDF). Links to the "Teachers' Guide to Local Culture" (69 p. PDF), which includes a generic lesson plan for grades 3-5, with adaptations for K-2, plus teaching strategies. Also links to the "Kids' Guide to Local Culture," (139 p. PDF), which includes student activities.

Sponsoring Organization:
Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
901 University Bay Drive
Madison WI 53705
(608) 262-8180
http://csumc.wisc.edu/

Other Organizations:
Madison Children's Museum
100 State Street
Madison WI 5370f3
(608) 256-6445
http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org/

Living Traditions: Museums Honour the North American Indigenous Games
by Virtual Museum of Canada
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/English/teachers_corner.html

Activities and background for 8th grade students related to traditional North American indigenous games, such as lacrosse, Eastern Woodland games, archery, longball, paddling and canoe racing traditions, and the tag game known as wolf (or hunter) and moose (or caribou). The site also includes information about the North American Indigenous Games, a multi-sport event involving indigenous athletes.

Sponsoring Organization:
Virtual Museum of Canada
15 Eddy Street, 15-4-A
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada K1A OM5
(819) 994-1200
http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/index-eng.jsp

Louisiana Voices : An Educator's Guide to Exploring our Communities and Traditions
by Paddy Bowman, Sylvia Bienvenu, Maida Owens
http://www.louisianavoices.org/edu_get_start.html

Comprehensive resource guide for K-12 educators on the folklife of Louisiana. Although written for Louisiana, lessons and activities are adaptable to any region. The guide contains forty two lessons and many activities in nine units, correlated to Louisiana Content Standards, particularly those in English Language Arts and Social Studies. Units include: 1) Defining Terms; 2) Classroom Applications of Fieldwork; 3) Discovering the Obvious; 4) The State of Our Lives; 5) Oral Traditions; 6) Louisiana's Musical Landscape; 7) Material Culture; 8) The Worlds of Work and Play; and 9) The Seasonal Round and the Cycle of Life. It includes over 1000 pages, some in PDF-format, and links to many essays, slide shows, video and audio clips, and other web resources.

Sponsoring Organization:
Louisiana Voices
Louisiana Division of the Arts
Baton Rouge LA 70804
(225) 342-8180
http://www.crt.state.la.us/arts/

Plum Stone Dice Game
by Illinois State Museum
http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/pdfs/re_dice.pdf

Activity geared to students in grades 4-8 in which they learn some background about the Native American plum stone dice game and also the rules for playing it. Addresses the Illinois State Board of Education Goals and Standards. (3 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
MuseumLink Illinois
1011 East Ash Street
Springfield IL 62703
(217) 782-7475
http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/

Other Organizations:
Illinois State Museum
502 South Spring Street
Springfield IL 62706-5000
(217) 782-7386
http://www.museum.state.il.us/

A Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife
by Kentucky Historical Society
http://www.history.ky.gov/pdf/Education/Folklife_Guide_Feb04.pdf

Teacher's guide to Kentucky folklife written in 2004 with lesson plans, student activities, and background essays. The guide has individual units on folklore in general and Kentucky folklife in the following areas: fieldwork, interviewing, folk art, foodways, occupational folklife, traditional music, and recreational folklife. The lessons can be used separately or together and are intended for use in the upper elementary and middle school classroom. (87 p. PDF)

Sponsoring Organization:
Kentucky Historical Society
100 W. Broadway
Frankfort KY 40601
(502) 564-1792
http://history.ky.gov/

Other Organizations:
Kentucky Arts Council
500 Mero Street, 21st Floor, CPT
Frankfort KY 40601
(502) 564-3757
http://artscouncil.ky.gov/