Discusses the benefits of storytelling by teachers or librarians to elementary and middle school students. Topics include listening; sharing versus performing; finding stories, other than folk tales; guidelines for telling stories; and resources, including print sources and Web sites. (LRW)

The Augusta Heritage Center of Davis and Elkins College (West Virginia) was established in 1973 as a community-sponsored workshop program and has continued since 1980 as a college affiliated, nonprofit organization. Rooted in local traditions, the center supports folk-related activities and sponsors in-state programs and research, primarily…

Intended to highlight the work which exists on women's folk humor and to encourage its further exploration, this annotated bibliography has been selected to provide access to the key works dealing with the oral tradition in women's folk humor. The bibliography's 33 annotations range from 1968 through 1992 and are gathered under the headings of…

Intended to be read aloud to children ages six to nine and read alone by children nine and up, this book presents 24 versions of the Cinderella folktale from around the world, thus representing a broad range of cultures, geographical areas, styles, and variations on the basic theme. The folktales in the book are intended to enhance children's…

Analysis of different types of literature promotes cognitive development by giving students an opportunity to apply similar skills and strategies discussed in one genre--fiction, for example--to other genres like poetry, reports, descriptive pieces, and plays. The major intellectual function that each literary genre provides can be examined in…

Designed for teachers in the primary grades, this book provides a number of units outlining possible instructional strategies for teaching folk literature. The book's aim is to help children personally connect with literature so they will continue to love reading throughout their lives. The first chapter offers background on the world of folk…

This collection of short stories contains tales of a mythical animal called the "Tajar." Tajar tales are a tradition among campers who attend summer camps. The stories are to be read aloud, and approximate reading times for the stories are provided. Tajar looks something like a tiger, a jaguar, and a badger. He is a friendly, but mysterious…

Classroom teachers might consider teaching children to become critical readers through the use of traditional literature. It is not necessarily difficult to define critical reading, but it is a difficult task to teach students when and how to read critically. The six skills most important to critical reading are that the reader should (1) read…

This curriculum guide is intended to introduce elementary school students to hero tales and legends. The stories are longer and the vocabulary is more difficult than other literature curriculum guides in this series by the Oregon Elementary English Project. The stories discussed are: "Sinbad the Sailor,""William…

Describes how study of folklore can be integrated into all aspects of curriculum and grade levels to foster awareness of roots and sense of home and community. Suggests topics for research in various areas of American folklore requiring student use of all language arts. Provides 13 annotated student references. (NEC)

A study of folklore can help young people better understand how literature evolved from oral traditions and can help provide a better understanding of the religious, social, and cultural habits of a society. Specific areas of study can include the use of word imagery, the development of drama, and the importance of regional dialect. (AEA)

Examined three- to five-year-old children's understanding of pretense and deception in folktales in which a villain deceived his victim by pretending to be someone else. Found that the three-year-olds were able to follow the pretense but were not able to grasp the false belief integral to the deception. (MOK)

Recounts Polynesian legends and folktales as examples of how the informal knowledge passed on through shared traditional stories can broaden children's worldviews and contribute to a culture vision. Maintains that reading, telling, discussing, and making creative interpretations of folklore are one way to share the intimate side of a culture.…

Examines the bias in 6th-grade boys' and girls' memories of a "feminist" folktale. Finds girls averaged twice as many nontraditional inclusions as the boys. Finds the boys and girls did not alter an overall dualistic perception of maleness/femaleness; however, there was some movement away from stereotypical gender positioning for the…

Explores the nature of writing done by an inner-city teen theater ensemble and shows one teenager's changing understanding of literacy. Describes how the teenagers in the ensemble came to see writing as a mediational means that could be used not only to make sense of their own lives but also to share that sense making with others. (SG)