Educator resources

  • The Teachers Page – Teachers from around the country have designed lesson plans as part of their participation in an annual summer institute at the Library of Congress using the large online collections of the American Memory Project, which digitizes thousands of photographs, documents and recordings.
  • Folkstreams – Documentary films on American roots culture, along with transcriptions, lesson plans, and study ideas.
  • Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students – created by City Lore, website of the National Taskforce on Folk Arts in Education, which links to national resources, the online “CARTS Catalog” and folk artist registry.
  • Louisiana Voices – a pioneering guide for integrating traditional arts and culture into 4th and 8th grade classrooms
  • Montana Heritage Project – Home of a statewide network of educators and students engaged in community documentation and cultural heritage education with extensive articles and teaching ideas.
  • NEH EDSITEment – The National Endowment for the Humanities selects top-notch education websites in the humanities.
  • Oregon Folklife Program – through the Oregon Historical Society.
  • Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage – Find online curriculum such as “Borders and Identity” about the US-Mexico border as well as kits to order and a link to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which offers great recordings which are especially useful for American History and social studies.
  • A Teacher’s Guide to Folklife Resources for K-12 Classrooms