The Colorado State Folklorists are updating their 1997 folk arts kit for teachers, "Ties that Bind: Folk Arts in the Classroom." Award-winning art teacher Angelique Acevedo has written five lesson plans for the new kit, each with sections tailored to each grade level, K through 12.
In addition to the new Teachers’ Resource Guide: American Holiday Celebrations mentioned in Gregory Hansen's article, Long Island Traditions also announces the publication of another resource for teachers and folklorists.
"Maritime Cultural
Traditions of Long Island Student Magazine," by folklorist and director
Nancy Solomon, is a 13-page magazine that includes background information
on commercial and recreational fishing, duck hunting and decoy carving,
and stories of working on the water by lifeguards, fishermen and baymen.
The magazine features
word games, word searches, and a glossary of vocabulary terms used by
folk artists. In addition there are diagrams of how to make a crab trap,
killey ring and fishing line by bayman Cory Weyant. Copies are $10 plus
shipping and handling.
Long Island Traditions
has been recommended for funding by the National Endowment for the Arts
to develop a curriculum on using traditional architecture to teach design
and history for middle-school students. The project will include staff
development training, field trips for students and teachers and a curriculum
resource guide. The two-year project is being developed with the Freeport
School District.
For information on any of these contact Long Island Traditions at 516/767-8803, litrad@i2000.com or at www.longislandtraditions.org.
Wisconsin Folks provides
information on 73 artists and performing groups that capture the culture
of Wisconsin, such as Dutchman-style polka bands, Swiss paper cut artists,
champion log rollers, Ojibwe basket makers, cranberry farmers and Filipino
youth dancers. WAB staff are in the process of developing in-depth pages
on each of these artists and groups; to date, we have twelve artists’
pages fully developed. All artists have a directory-style page with hiring
information. The twelve featured artists have an additional five pages.
Three pages are written at a 5th grade level: a general introduction to
the artist and art form, a page on the art form, and a page on the cultural
context of the artist and art. A fourth page links with the state’s
curriculum standards addressed in the preceding pages, and the fifth is
a list of resources on the topic for students and teachers.
Students have responded
positively to the interactive elements on Wisconsin Folks, to the many
colorful photos and to the well-written text. Teachers have complimented
its ambitious design, the flow of the pages, the quality of the content
and the links to the state’s curriculum standards. Librarians and
museum educators have appreciated the comprehensive hiring information
provided on each artist, and the artists do too. (All of the artists included
in Wisconsin Folks want to be hired for public programs, and so this curriculum
resource also serves as a hiring directory.) Folklorists are attracted
by Wisconsin Folk’s innovative approach to the material.
Wisconsin Folks will
expand over the next two years with the addition of contextual information
on two artists per month plus additional educational materials for teachers.
During the coming year, the Wisconsin Arts Board will provide training
opportunities for educators on how to best use Wisconsin Folks, with the
first scheduled for June 21-23, 2002, at Folklore Village in Dodgeville,
during the Midwest Folklife Festival.
To visit the Wisconsin Folks site, click here. Funding for the site’s development came from the State of Wisconsin, the National Endowment for the Arts, and many generous in-kind contributions from partnering agencies.
