Lesson Objectives/Louisiana Content Standards, Benchmarks, and Foundation Skills

1. Students learn to read clues about occupational folklife through observation, interviews, and fieldwork research. They research types of occupations in their communities and other regions of the state.

ELA-7-M2 Problem solving by using reasoning skills, life experiences, accumulated knowledge, and relevant available information. (1, 2, 4)

ELA-7-M4 Distinguishing fact from opinion and probability, skimming and scanning for facts, determining cause and effect, inductive and deductive reasoning, generating inquiry, and making connections with real-life situations across texts. (1, 2, 4, 5)

2. Students collect and define special language, gestures, equipment, and clothing of occupations.
CL-1-D4 Identifying and describing social, geographic, and historical factors that impact cultural practices. (3, 4)

ELA-1-M4 Interpreting texts with supportive explanations to generate connections to real-life situations and other texts (e.g., business, technical, scientific). (1, 2, 4, 5)

ELA-4-M4 Speaking and listening for a variety of audiences (e.g., classroom, real-life, workplace) and purposes (e.g., awareness, concentration, enjoyment, information, problem solving). (1, 2, 4, 5)

ELA-4-M5 Listening and responding to a wide variety of media (e.g., music, TV, film, speech). (1, 3, 4, 5)

3. Students compare traditionally made goods with commercially-made goods and differentiate between work skills learned in formal settings, such as school or job training, and knowledge gained traditionally on the job by observation and imitation.
ELA-7-M2 Problem solving by using reasoning skills, life experiences, accumulated knowledge, and relevant available information. (1, 2, 4)

E-1B-M3 Explaining the difference between private and public goods and services. (1, 4, 5)

E-1B-M7 Describing historical and economic factors that have contributed to the development and growth of the national, state, and local economies. (1, 3, 4, 5)

4. Students improve their fieldwork research skills, such as interviewing, designing surveys, observing and documenting activities, listening, mapping, and planning a final presentation.
H-1A-M6 Conducting research in efforts to answer historical questions. (1, 2, 3, 4)
5. Students augment their occupational folklife research with work songs and use artwork by Louisiana self-taught painters to learn how to infer and analyze visual information.
ELA-1-M3 Reading, comprehending, and responding to written, spoken, and visual texts in extended passages. (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-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)

ELA-7-M3 Analyzing the effects of an author's purpose and point of view. (1, 2, 4)