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Unit III Discovering the Obvious: Our Lives as "The Folk" Lesson 3 The Family: Louisiana Family Folklore Activity 3 Family Treasures
Decorative towels that hung over the wash basin gave the greeting "Dobre Jitro" (Good Morning). Pillowcases and bed curtains commended one to sleep sweetly. Popular kitchen cloths . . . contained proverbs familiar to the Czechs such as "Without Work You Cannot Eat Kolach," or "Where the Czech Housekeeper Cooks There Is Good Living," and "Good Food and Good Drink Will Preserve the Quality of Your Life. --Rosie A. Walker, Rapides Parish Grade Levels 4-8 Curriculum Areas English Language Arts, Social Studies
Purpose of Lesson Students identify family treasures and research their context. They organize artifacts into various categories and research traditional Louisiana artifacts online.
Lesson Objectives/Louisiana Content Standards, Benchmarks, and Foundation Skills 1. Students identify family treasures and learn that all families have special objects made special by the stories behind them. CL-1-D4 Identifying and describing social, geographic, and historical factors that impact cultural practices. (3, 4) ELA-7-M2 Problem solving by using reasoning skills, life experiences, accumulated knowledge, and relevant available information. (1, 2, 4) ELA-7-M2 Problem solving by using reasoning skills, life experiences, accumulated knowledge, and relevant available information. (1, 2, 4) 2. Students explore and explain the context of a family treasure. CL-1-D2 Identifying cultural practices that give rise to commonly held generalizations and/or stereotypes. (2, 3, 4) CL-1-D7 Identifying social customs related to religion, family life, folklore, and holidays. (3, 4, 5) ELA-5-M3 Locating, gathering, and selecting information using graphic organizers, outlining, note taking, summarizing, interviewing, and surveying to produce documented texts and graphics. (1, 3, 4) H-1A-E2 Recognizing that people in different times and places view the world differently. (1, 3, 4) 3. Students draw inferences about objects and categorize objects. ELA-7-M1 Using comprehension strategies (e.g., sequencing, predicting, drawing conclusions, comparing and contrasting, making inferences, determining main ideas, summarizing, recognizing literary devices, paraphrasing) in contexts. (1, 2, 4) VA-AP-E2 Recognize and respond to concepts of beauty and taste in the ideas and creations of others through the study of visual arts VA-AP-M2 Recognize that concepts of beauty differ by culture and that taste varies from person to person
Time Required 2-5 class periods
Materials Art supplies and tools to create an exhibit. Print out and duplicate any worksheets or rubrics that you will be using.
Technology Connections Internet Resources
Student Worksheets Assessment Tools
Evaluation Tools/Opportunities Process
Summative
Products
Background Information for the Teacher One person's trash is another's treasure. Usually the story behind an object, rather than its monetary value, makes it special to a family. Rag rugs, dented spoons, battered decoys, Mardi Gras throws, or worn baby blankets may be as special to a family as fine jewelry or china. Some students' family treasures will reflect something about Louisiana traditions and regions. As students look at their own and classmates' family treasures, they'll gain a sense of what families hold dear -- memories of loved ones, hard times, good times, misadventures, and blessings. Although some family treasures may themselves be folk or traditional, many are not inherently folk art. The folklife may be found in the context of the object, its place, meaning, and stories within the family.
To Prepare Read the introduction to Unit III Lesson 3. Bring in a family treasure to share, and discuss its context with students. Where do you keep it, what is it made of, why do you like it, what is its use and value, what are its origins, whom do you associate with it? Does it say anything about being from Louisiana? These questions help frame what folklorists call the context of a tradition. Students take a letter home explaining this lesson and letting parents know that students can create representations of objects they would prefer not leave home (see Letter to Parents and Caregivers in Unit II ). Choose one or several of
these assessment tools/opportunities to use wtih students during this
lesson and prepare the required materials:
Journal Writing - Have students
keep journals during the time of the lesson where they record procedures
and results of their investigations, observations, hypotheses, and
inferences about the information collected. Encourage them to also
record questions and thoughts that occur as they work through the
activities. Portfolios - Students compile
portfolios containing worksheets, graphs, printouts of Internet pages,
printouts of multimedia slide shows, drawings, etc. Remind them to refer
to these items when preparing their exhibits or
sideshows. 4th Grade
Activities 1. Share one of your special
family objects, giving students the context for it by answering the
questions on What's the Context
Worksheet.
Explain to students
the term context and how it can reflect something
about Louisiana traditions and regions. 2. Ask students to bring in,
sculpt, draw, or photograph a special family object. Distribute copies of
the worksheet and ask them to have family members help them complete it by
providing information about the treasure. 3. In groups or as a class,
share the objects, their stories, and their contexts as preparation for
oral presentations or as a follow-up that leads to writing, publishing,
and illustrating a report. 4. The worksheet may also be
filled out neatly by hand or on a computer to accompany a classroom
exhibit of family treasures or representations of treasures. Technology Option: Develop a
template or stationery file of What's the Context
Worksheet. Have
students type their answers after each question. Students could explore the use of different fonts,
sizes, styles, and colors to make the printed document more
interesting for the classroom exhibit. 5. Discuss themes or
categories that objects fall into and display results in graphs or charts
or make a timeline showing the ages of the objects. For example, some
family treasures may be traditionally made and specific to Louisiana. Or
choose categories such as material, age, color, size. Technology Options: Use a
spreadsheet to make the graphs. 6. In another class period,
ask students to find an object in the online Creole
State Exhibit
that appeals to them, then brainstorm individually about the object's use,
stories, value, what it says about Louisiana. They may use Louisiana
Treasures Worksheet or research on their own. Students should take these ideas
and write or tell a story about the object or research the object and
write or present a short report on it. They may use the What's the
Context Worksheet as a research tool if they choose. Assess their final
products with Treasure Presentation
Rubric if you
choose. 7. Have students share what
they learned about the context of each
student's presentation. Explain that they are to make specific "I learned
. . ." statements pertaining to traditions, cultures, regions, or
families. 8. Create a class family treasures multimedia slide show. Allow students to plan the exhibit of family treasures. They might also include enlarged images downloaded from the Creole State Exhibit that they have chosen to write about and display the stories as well. Students must decide how to categorize and display objects, choose student guides who can tell visitors the stories of the objects, design and produce invitations to the exhibit opening, and invite parents or another class.
4th Grade Explorations and Extensions 1. Invite the principal and other staff members to contribute family object stories throughout the year. 2. Discuss folktales, books, historical events, or legends in which a special family object plays a role. Visit Keepsakes and Dreams, an Online Journal of Immigrant Stories to find some of these stories. Make lists or journal entries that tell what kinds of things are special to people and why. 3. Use the What's the Context Worksheet to study the context of other artifacts, from things in museums to online images.
8th Grade Activities 1. Repeat Step 1 from the 4th grade activities above, sharing one of your special family objects, giving students the context for it. Older students may be more interested in sharing their own special objects rather than family treasures. 2. Ask students to share objects and stories in groups or as a class, emphasizing the importance of context--the who, what, when, where, and how of cultural expressions. They may turn their oral presentations into written assignments using What's the Context Worksheet. 3. Ask students to create a class montage, collage, or digital exhibit of objects and stories. They may use the What's the Context Worksheet in research, filling in details for various treasures. To prepare for this task, have them do the following:
4. Repeat Step 4 from 4th grade lesson above and complete the Louisiana Treasures Worksheet, using objects from the online Creole State Exhibit to prompt a writing assignment. While 4th graders were asked to make up a story about objects that intrigued them, 8th graders can research and report on the actual use and context of their objects in groups or as a class. 5. Teacher scores the finished product using the Treasure Presentation Rubric.
8th Grade Explorations and Extensions 1. Research preservation and archival steps families can take to ensure their family treasures stay in good shape. Visit the online Folklife and Fieldwork: An Introduction to Field Techniques on what to do with results, and print out the hints. Or invite a museum curator or other expert in to demonstrate how to preserve and restore keepsakes. 2. Study the treasures of Louisiana's cultural groups. Go to the Louisiana Folk Artist Biographies website, and select an ethnic group. Study some treasures and their makers. Use the What's the Context Worksheet as a research tool if you choose.
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