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Unit
I
Defining
Terms
Lesson 2 Folk
Groups
[Isleños] started naming every
lake, every pond, for what they left in the Canary Islands. That's
how homesick they were.
––Irvan Perez, St.
Bernard Parish
Grade
Levels
4-8
Curriculum
Areas
English Language Arts,
Social Studies
Purpose of
Lesson
Students understand the characteristics of a folk group, learn
about themselves and their folk groups, and write about a folk group
that is meaningful to them. For another way to introduce the concept
of folk groups, see Unit III Lesson 2,
where students identify various folk groups within the school
community.
Lesson Objectives/Louisiana Content Standards, Benchmarks, and
Foundation Skills
- Students learn that everyone, including themselves, belongs to
different folk groups.
H-1A-M2 Demonstrating historical
perspective through the political, social, and economic context
in which an event or idea occurred. (1, 2, 3,
4)
H-1A-M3 Analyzing the impact that specific
individuals, ideas, events, and decisions had on the course of
history. (1, 2, 3, 4)
H-1C-E4 Recognizing how
folklore and other cultural elements have contributed to our
local, state, and national heritage. (1, 3,
4)
- Students recognize how folklife is passed on and functions in
people's lives.
H-1D-M6 Examining folklore and
describing how cultural elements have shaped our state and local
heritage. (1, 3, 4)
ELA-5-M2 Locating and
evaluating information sources (e.g., print materials,
databases, CD-ROM references, Internet information, electronic
reference works, community and government data, television and
radio resources, audio and visual materials). (1, 3, 4,
5)
ELA-2-M1 Writing a composition that
clearly implies a central idea with supporting details in a
logical, sequential order. (1, 4)
- Students are introduced to the concepts of insider and outsider.
H-1D-M6 Examining folklore and
describing how cultural elements have shaped our state and local
heritage. (1, 3, 4)
H-1A-E2 Recognizing that
people in different times and places view the world differently.
(1, 3, 4)
Time
Required
2-3 days
Materials
Students will need copies of What Is Folklife and Why Study It? and the
students' journals prepared for Lesson 1. If students will use the
printed rather than the online version of the photo, Crawfish Boil in
Breaux Bridge, print and duplicate one or more copies. Print
and duplicate the worksheets and assessment tools listed below.
Technology
Connections
Internet Resources
What Is Folklife and Why Study It?
Thinking About Tradition
Adaptation
Strategies
Crawfish
Boil in Breaux Bridge
Student Worksheets
Folk Group
Inventory Worksheet
Family Pictures
Worksheet
Generational
Music Communities Survey
Assessment Tools
Folk
Group Essay Checklist
Evaluation
Tools/Opportunities
Process
- Lists: How Folklife is Passed On; How Folklife Functions in
People's Lives
- Folk
Group Essay Checklist - completed by students
- Reflections in journals
Summative
- Folk
Group Essay Checklist - graded by teacher
Products
- Lists: How Folklife is Passed On; How Folklife Functions in
People's Lives
- Folk Group Inventory Worksheets
- My Folk Group essays
- Reflections in journals
Background Information for the
Teacher
Review the Folk
Group section in the Unit
Introduction of Unit I Defining Terms. If you have not done
so yet, read the entire Unit
Introduction.
To Prepare
Think about your own folk groups, particularly that of "teacher,"
to offer examples. If the essays are written above your students'
reading ability, refer to the Adaptation Strategies
for ways to adjust and modify them to levels that students can
understand. For another way to introduce the concept of folk groups,
see Unit III Lesson
2, where students identify various folk groups within the
school community, and prepare materials needed.
If students will be observing the photo Crawfish Boil in
Breaux Bridge online, plan ahead to schedule individual
students or small groups on classroom computers. Or use an L.C.D. projector for
whole-class viewing. Viewing it in the school library may be another
alternative.
4th and 8th Grade
Activities
- Review the concepts and vocabulary presented in Unit I Lesson 1 What Is
Folklife? with students. Remind them of the definition of
folklife in the
Glossary: "The living
traditions currently practiced and passed down by word of mouth,
imitation, or observation over time and space within groups, such
as family, ethnic, social class, regional, and others. Everyone
and every group has folklore." Tell students that in this lesson,
you will focus on the "groups" that pass down living
traditions.
- Explore students' understanding of the words "folk" and
"group." On the board, make two columns. In one column, write the
word "folk," and ask students, as a class, to tell you all the
words they can think of that mean the same thing as "folk"
("people," "persons," "friends," "relatives"). Then, in the other
column, write the word "group," and have them, again, come up with
synonyms for this word ("members," "community," "crowd,"
"clique"). Combine words from each column so that students can see
several different phrases for articulating the concept of "folk
group." Discuss how a "friend crowd" might be different from a
"people community."
- As a class or individually, have students read Part
II Folk Groups of What
Is Folklife and Why Study It? Tell students that a folk
group is special because of the living traditions that the members
share. They share these traditions because of their similar values
and beliefs. Have them copy the definition of folk groups into
their journals - "a group of people who share some identity and
cultural expressions, a community," and,
after reflecting on the definition, write down one or more folk groups that
they belong to.
- Using your personal experience, discuss the folk group of
"teachers" to facilitate discussion of the essay. Tell them some
traditions that you have in common with other teachers. Be sure to
provide information for each category used on the Folk Group Inventory
Worksheet, which they will complete in the next activity.
Ask them to speculate about the shared values and beliefs that
teachers have.
- Distribute the Folk Group Inventory
Worksheet. After reviewing the provided example, and
working through another example together, ask students to complete
the worksheet alone so that they can explore their individual folk
groups. Have students read aloud the details of one of their folk
groups. Point out likenesses and differences between groups and
ask students how they, as individuals, differ from other members
of their group. In other words, what traditions do they "resist"
as well as "share?"
- Discuss the concepts of insiders and outsiders by
having students observe the online or printed photo Crawfish Boil
in Breaux Bridge and decide which group they would belong
to. Ask several students to explain why they would feel like an insider or outsider if they
were attending the pictured function, or perhaps something of
both. Ask what they think some of the shared beliefs of this folk
group are. If desired, have students write their reflections in
their journals.
Technology Connection: Have students find the photo
in the Louisiana Folklife Photo Gallery. They
will find the photo if they search for "crawfish
boil."
- Have students read Thinking
About Traditions for an example of one family folk group's
shared values and beliefs. Ask them to think about (1) how
folklife is passed on and (2) how folklife functions in people's
lives, and write their thoughts about this in their journals. If
necessary, write the two topics on the board for them to refer to
as they write. Have several students share their ideas, and write
several on the board under the titles.
- Have students select one of their own folk groups from their
Folk Group
Inventory Worksheets to write about in an essay titled
My Folk Group. Review the Folk Group
Essay Checklist with students to remind them what must be
included.
- Have students evaluate their own performance on the My Folk
Group essay by using the Folk Group
Essay Checklist. Explain that they should rewrite the
essay if they have not included most of the Quality Features, and
that this is their chance to improve both their work and their
grade. When the final versions of their essays have been
submitted, use the Teacher column to grade the essay.
- Have students write reflections about this lesson in their
journals.
4th and 8th Grade
Explorations and Extensions
- Have students use their own classroom as an example of a folk group. Make
a poster for the classroom about the traits of this folk
group.
- Students can create a scrapbook of the folk group described in
their essays.
- Connect folk
groups to music by asking students to complete the Generational
Music Communities Survey in Unit VI Lesson
3.
Unit I Resources
Unit I Outline
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