At some point during the year most elementary teachers do something with folktales. Traditional tales work can work as the foundation of a holiday celebration, integrated into a social studies unit, or as a literature study. Fortunately, the Web is awash in folktale sites. The following are sites I've discovered that are likely to enrich any classroom folklore study.
Writing With Writers: Folktale Writing with Alma Flor Ada
/writewit/folk/index.htm
Acclaimed bilingual writer Alma Flor Ada provides students with a sample
folktale, plus writing tips, strategies, and challenges to help them create
their own folktales
Aesop's Fables
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/open.html
This rich site offers two versions of each fable traditional and
contemporary. They have been delightfully illustrated by students in a
University of Massachusetts computer art class.
Story Park
http://www.zensufi.com/story.htm
A large story collection with many Sufi tales from India. Some are stories
by Mariam herself.
Native American Lore Index Page
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
More than 100 stories are available at this site. Blackfoot, Inuit, Squamish,
Lakota, Seminole, Cherokee, Mayan, Hopi, Iroquois, and Chippewa are some
of the many tribes represented here.
Folktales from Aaron Shepard's Home Page
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/folk.html
This is a fine selection of Shepard's folktale retellings. Several of
Shepard's retellings are offered as narratives and as Reader's Theater
scripts. A particularly nice touch is that Shepard provides audio pronunciations
of difficult names.
Monica Edinger
- Subjects:Reading, Native American History, Writing, Indigenous Peoples, Native American, Drama, Theater, Musicals, Native American Heritage Month, New Teacher Resources, Teacher Tips and Strategies, Communication and the Internet, Computers, Educational Technology, Teaching with Technology
- Skills:Writing
