Silnutzer, Randi and Beth Eildin Watrous, eds. "Drawing from the Well: Oral History and Folk Arts in the Classroom and Community." (1990)

Each chapter of this document describes a different project and approach for introducing students (elementary to high school) to oral history and folk arts. All chapters use a standard format in which a general overview of the project, describing themes, philosophies, and methods are followed by sample lesson plans, teacher guidelines, and student materials. (1) "Folklife in Education Program: Groton Center for the Arts" (Janice Gadaire) explains and uses basic concepts of folklore techniques such as observing, interviewing, and documenting; (2) "The Lifelines Project: The Oral History Center" (Cynthia Cohen with Beth Gildin Watrous) outlines an interview process focusing on listening skills and students ethnicity, ending with visual arts and writing projects; (3) "History Spoken Here: Exploring Our Roots in the Community" (Robert A. Henry; Joseph D. Thomas) presents an investigation of local history and heritage through interviews, slide shows, and field trips, the results of which were edited and published by students; (4) "A Heritage Within: Folk Heritage and the Arts in Holyoke" (Randi Silnutzer) offers a combination of oral history and music that allows students to learn about their own heritage, as they eventually conduct and then share oral history interviews with family and community members; (5) "Sing Me A Story of History" (David Bates; Diane Sanabria; Beth Gildin Watrous) combines music and oral history with other disciplines to study the 1930s in rural western Massachusetts through primary resources, printed media, radio, and advertising; (6) "The Cultural Curriculum Project" (Kathy Kelm; Mary Lou Jordan) describes an interdisciplinary approach to "cultural immersion" that allows classroom teachers to integrate cultural studies with basic academic subjects for a six to eight-week period. In the final chapter, "Bringing Oral History and the Folk Arts into Your Classroom," Beth Gildin Watrous discusses curriculum development for interested teachers. Four appendices cover practical suggestions and guides for developing interviewing skills, storytelling, ethical and legal issues, and an extensive list of resources and organizations.