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FINDING THE INVISIBLE:
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By studying history, nature, and folklife in the towns and neighborhoods
that surround them, young people experience the adventure of discovery
while learning the skills of research, documentation, analysis,
synthesis, interpretation, creation, and presentation.
-from "The Pedagogy of Exploration: Community-Centered Teaching," by Michael Umphrey, Director, Montana Heritage Project, www.edheritage.org. No matter where we live, folklife and place intertwine. From place names to local legends, traditional music and crafts to religious practices and foodways, every place may be experienced through all our senses. Although often invisible or overlooked, folklore opens windows into other times as well as today, making history come alive and connecting students to community and to the past. In designing lesson plans, consider these cultural perspectives or elements when searching through the American Memory collections. These perspectives in images, texts, and music reveal important clues about place, time, people, and events. This is a good list to share with students as they research the collections and their own communities. For specific activities related to folklife and sense of place, see "Unit IV The State of Our Lives: Being a Good Louisiana Neighbor," in Louisiana Voices, http://www.crt.state.la.us/arts/folklife/edu_unit4.html. Language and Dialect What are regional accents and local usages? What languages are spoken? In what languages are local signs, religious services, or newspapers? Occupations and Occupational Folklife What are past and present business and economic activities, regional occupations, occupational lore? How do they relate to the landscape, geography, and ecology? Foodways How are foods gathered, hunted, grown, marketed, and bought? What are regional specialties, cooking techniques, recipes? What are age and gender roles in gathering, preparing, cooking, and cleaning up? What kinds of restaurants are in the community? What foods are part of community, religious, and family celebrations? What seasonings are important? Geography, Ecology, and Environment In addition to official maps, what is the local, vernacular knowledge of the land and waterways, their use, and their history? Landscape and Land Use Is the area rural, urban, or suburban? What are natural features? What is the evidence of people on the landscape such as buildings, signage, transportation, utilities, and community or cultural boundaries? How has land use changed over time? Soundscape In addition to language and dialect, what are the sounds of the community, and how have they changed over time? Consider homes, neighborhoods, business districts, schools, byways and waterways, nature, parks. Music and Dance From local radio to taped music in waiting rooms, we hear a variety of music genres daily. What are old and new music and dance traditions of your community? Where and when do people hear music? Perform? Dance? Religion and Belief What religions and denominations predominate? What sacred and secular folk beliefs undergird people's worldview, family structure, health care? Settlement History and Patterns How long have various cultural groups lived and where have they lived in your region? Crafts, Decorative Arts, and Material Culture What do people make by hand? How do people decorate the insides and outsides of their homes? What kinds of structures mark the landscape, from fence types to mailboxes? Customs, Celebrations, and Festivals What are the public and private ways that people share customs and mark celebrations? Oral Narrative Genres Tall tales and urban legends are common in many places, but your community may have genres that are specific to place as well as local legends that may be attached to local places. Family Names and Place Names Look in local telephone books to investigate family names, names of streets, and local business names that are clues to place. What are informal local names for places? Folk Groups We all belong to many folk groups based on religion, age, occupation, ethnicity, economic class, neighborhood, hobbies, and so on. What are some folk groups in your community? Seasonal Round How does community life change around the year? Consider nature, crops, customs, recreational activities, education, work, and religious and secular celebrations.
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| Last updated 09/26/2002 |