Why we tell stories.
"Stories from the oral tradition began around hearthside and campfire. These tales were almost always fantastic in nature, involving magic or talking animals. Initially, they provided entertainment for adults, who freely altered details as they told and retold the stories. As adults shared these stories, children lounged around and listened.Because these stories were born in the oral tradition, no one knows who first told each tale and which version is original. Therefore, folklore may be defined as stories that originated orally and have no authors."
- Children and Young Adult Literature
Storytelling has many functions. Arguably the most important one is passing down culture - stories are a way to compare the
past to the present, showing how older solutions impacted what we view as our communal identity. There are dark sides
to storytelling as well, such as enforcing negative stereotypes. As we conclude our week of folk art, we take a look at some of the ways in which storytelling as a whole gives vibrancy and color to the world we live in, and tells us more about the communities we are a part of.
In the lesson below, take your students through the Model for Studying Place as it pertains to literature. These keystone concepts will allow your students to conceptualize geography as a study of humanity moving through the world, and the ways in which literature holds a mirror up to that process. Using the book Everglades by Jean Craighead George as an example, students will begin to understand storytelling as a means of understanding the relationship between people and place.
Lesson written by the Florida Geographic Alliance.
As students gain a more comprehensive knowledge of place and their role in it, encourage them to participate in a lesson like the one below. The Local Folk Art Brochure is a great way to bring the concepts they learned in the previous lesson into reality. Students will apply what they learned to a practical product, and will get to use their creativity while examining their own communities.
Lesson written by the Florida Geographic Alliance.
Myth and Legend
Finally, we take a look at the role oral storytelling plays in geographical study. In Boogeyman, students will break down common legends passed down through their own communities - and realize that they too are a part of an unfolding history.
Lesson written by the Florida Geographic Alliance.
