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Folklife Educational Resources

Alaska Native Knowledge Network.

A huge online network. Includes the Spiral Chart , which gives access to resources via grade and discipline. Of particular note are the lesson plans which use indigenous knowledge and learning methods to teach science and math, but contains links to many other resources.

American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

In addition to online publications such as "Teacher's Guide to Folklife Resources" and "Folklife and Fieldwork," contains thousands of photographs, recording and documents, many of which could easily be used in education projects. See also the Veteran's History Project, and the Local Legacy sites, which give information on culturally important sites and events in each state.

American Folklore Society.

Includes links to the Education and Public Programs sections, and many other resources.

American Folklore Society, Folklore & Education section.

Includes information, links, and the online newsletter. Students can join the Education section ($7) without paying full society dues.

American Folklore Society, Tapnet.

Includes links to many, many folklife resources. Click on Folk Arts in Education.

American Memory Learning Page.

The American Memory Project is a huge collection of online historical resources from the Library of Congress. The learning page contains lesson plans utilizing these materials, and access to many other resources. Of particular note is folklorist Paddy Bowman's webpage on place,

CARTS: Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students.

Web site of the National Task Force on Folk Arts in Education, with many links to national resources. This is the best general website for Folklore & Education resources. The CARTS catalog offers great resources. Also, check out the articles under Resources, and the September 11 Webography.

Center for Understanding the Built Environment.

A great website on teaching about the built environment in the K-12 classroom. Includes lesson plans and resources that relate this topic to many parts of the curriculum.

City Lore.

With a focus on the folklife of New York City, this organization also works with teachers nationally. A valuable source of folklife and multicultural classroom resources.

Cradleboard Project.

offers teaching resources about Native Americans and is supported by an educational foundation started by singer and activist Buffy St. Marie.

The Digital Tradition

The Digital Traditions web site was developed to provide access to the Folklife Resource Center at McKissick Museum. For thirty years, deeply-rooted traditions like quilting, pottery, basketry, communal foodways, and folk music have been documented through audio, video, and photography. Content will be added periodically.

FieldWorking.

A site dedicated to cultural conservation and education, taking its name from the book Fieldworking by Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater and Bonnie Sunstein.

Folkstreams.

is a video-streaming site built as a national preserve of American folk culture documentaries and offers users extensive background materials for each film.

Folkwriting.

Folkwriting provides comprehensive lessons on place, heritage, and traditions based on the premise that students write best when they write what they know.

Kentucky Department of Education.

Click on Instructional Resources, then on Curriculum Documents and Resources, then on Core Content for Assessment, to access the Kentucky state curriculum.

Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA).

It is imperative for anyone working with Kentucky schools to work closely with the curricular materials and testing systems created by KERA.

Louisiana Voices: An Educator's Guide to Exploring Our Communities and Traditions.

Written for Louisiana classrooms, this large and outstanding guide can serve as a model for any region.

Mississippi: Crossroads of the Heart.

Interesting classroom materials on Mississippi folklife.

Montana Heritage Project.

Another excellent state guide for teachers and students. Particularly strong on writing and place.

National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE).

The main site for historic preservation education. Contains many useful links to websites and resources. Also the place to go for historic preservation internships.

National Endowment for the Arts.

Imagine! Introducing Your Children to the Arts, a guide for parents to be used with children ages 3-8, can be downloaded.

National Museum of the American Indian.

Provides online teaching guides, bibliographies of student resources, and virtual exhibits.

National Park Service, Teaching With Historic Places.

Excellent website containing lesson plans and other materials for teaching about historic architecture, landscapes and preservation.

National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Contains information on National Trust programs and many useful links.

NEH Edsitement.

This National Endowment for Humanities site includes links to many useful websites in the humanities.

Oral History Association.

Homepage of the main national organization devoted to oral history, contains much useful information and links.

Oregon Folklife Program,

has several sites of interest, including online student magazines, student made ethnographic films and other products at http://www.open.k12.or.us/start/visual/basics/folk/index.html, and Masters of Ceremony, which contains lessons based on the work and lives of four immigrant artists.

Public Broadcasting System.

Resources include online lessons such as River of Song with lessons on traditional music along the Mississippi; The New Americans on immigration; Vietnam: Stories Since the War , which has dozens of archived personal stories; Africans in America; Ken Burns' Jazz ; American Roots Music; and many others.

Rural School and Community Trust.

promotes student engagement in community based work. The August 2003 issue of Rural Roots includes articles on folklore.

Rural Voices Radio.

Rural Voices is the first spoken word production of the National Writing Project. The stories feature original writings by students and teachers from diverse rural regions throughout the U.S.

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Click on Resources. Offers many resources including online curricular materials (e.g., Borders and Identity about the U.S./Mexican border, Discovering Our Delta, etc.), educational kits to order, Smithsonian Folkways records and links to many other resources. Also see the Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide.

Teaching Tolerance.

An outstanding website maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Includes resources on teaching tolerance and combating prejudice in the classroom. Also offers access to the journal Teaching Tolerance, which includes articles on using folklore in the classroom in the Fall and Spring 2002 issues.

The Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife

The Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife is a great resource for Kentucky educators to be able to introduce elements from their student's own cultures in useful and entertaining way.

The Guide is a full of lesson plans and contextual information using examples from Kentucky specific occupational, ethnic, regional, and recreational communities --to name a few. The activities are mostly geared toward elementary and middle school classes, but can be adapted for more advanced students.

By using the Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife in your classroom, you will be familiarizing students with cultural aspects in their own community as well as providing awareness of other folk communities around the state. In using examples from student's surroundings, you can provide a better rate of understanding as the students can relate the lesson plans in the context of their own lives.
Download a PDF file of the Teacher's Guide to Kentucky Folklife (832kb)