Resources

For Teachers, Folklorists, Academics, and Beyond

Folk arts contribute not only to students’ understanding of cultural traditions but also to their ability to think critically, gather and analyze evidence, and express their ideas and interpretations through personal creativity. Folklife and the tools of the folklorist can support learning in all subjects, including the arts. Folk arts are uniquely suited to explore the ways in which traditional art forms reflect the history, culture, geography, and values of different cultures and communities.

Everyone has folk traditions — expressive customs practiced within a group and passed along by word of mouth, imitation, and observation. Calling on the work of folklorists and the field of folklore in the classroom educates, motivates, engages, and fosters the creative expression of students and powerfully links them to their communities. Integrating the study of folk arts into existing curricula awakens self-awareness in students of their own roles as tradition bearers, their families as repositories of traditional culture and history, and their communities as unique resources.

(Text above adapted from: Local Learning: A Folk Arts Integration Handbook)

Local Learning is committed to fair use and open access of educational materials. We, as Publisher, also look to protect the work that we publish from unauthorized, commercial use. Our Local Learning resources housed on the Local Learning website and at  www.JFEpublications.org are freely available to individuals and institutions. We license all work with the exception of only alternatively copyrighted photos or media that are expressly labeled under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, CC-BY-NC-SA. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you the Author and us the Publisher, and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Note: These resources are shared as a service and include historic texts that don’t always reflect the current views of Local Learning. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about the readings or activities in our library.

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Learning Activity and Lesson Plans

Oral History in Interpretation and Museum Education

This curriculum packet was designed for a Teaching with Primary Sources workshop titled “Oral History and Interpretation” offered by Local Learning in partnership with Vermont Folklife and Washington State Parks.

Collecting Local Stories

This learning guide was developed for the Festival of Iowa Folklife at the Smithsonian, but is full of learning activities that can be adapted for a variety of places. One lesson plan is available as a download, or you may find the full guide online.

Cultural Stewardship Conversation Guide

When we identify and protect our important ways of life and cherished places that make up our cultural ecosystem, we strengthen vital relationships to each other and the wider world.

Research and Readings

End-of-Life Tool Kit

The Toolkit for the public provides resources on death and dying, geared to both health professionals and the public.

Walk in Another’s Shoes

“The trim, silver-haired man sits ramrod straight, a legacy of his former military training. Sitting close by, not quite as still or straight, his eight-year-old Swapping Stories partner’s smile reflects his own. After the storytelling session, the former Mr. America finalist states, ‘Even though there’s a 75-year difference in our ages, we’ve had very similar […]

A Community Celebration Of Place

A program brings rural Alabama communities together when students interview community elders and get the stories to music.

A Patchwork of Our Lives: Oral History Quilts in Intercultural Education

How oral history can help young people develop intercultural and intergenerational competencies.

Among Folk: Using Folklife To Build Partnerships With Students And Their Families

A folklife curriculum bridges the generational gap between students, parents, and grandparents and aids in student’s quest for their own identity.