Arts and Media Basics:
Folklife Resources

Words to Review: enriched, all-occasion cards, pastries, advertisements, condiments

There are a number of ways for students to explore how Mexican culture is a part of their community's life. Ask them to start looking for signals of Mexican culture in the community. Do they see any Mexican products in stores? Does a radio station play Mexican music? Are there signs in Spanish in certain places or Spanish ads in the newspaper?

Put a map of the community up in the room and have students pinpoint where they are finding these clues. What can they learn from looking in the Yellow Pages of the local phone book?

Field trips out into the community make concrete what students are studying in the classroom. Imagine a day-long tour of Mexican life in the community for the whole class, including visits to different locations where the breadth of folklife may be sampled. Visit a grocery store, a bakery, a home, and a church, if possible. Have lunch in a Mexican restaurant, with a cook's tour of the kitchen or explanation of the menu. Prepare students to ask intelligent questions of their hosts. Use the tool kit's "Folklife and Fieldwork" guide as a tool to help equip the students with interviewing skills.

Consider doing a community study that might result in a folklife scrapbook of the community. Portions of this may be arrived at in various ways, ranging from library research to interviews to field-trip summaries. Include literature and photos students may have gathered or taken. Make the scrapbook reflect their interests as well as the scope of what has been studied. Help them make the book something they are proud of, creating your own sense of community around it. When done, offer the book to the school library or to the local historical society to add to its holdings. As a finale, commemorate your scrapbook "publication" with a fiesta, inviting local dignitaries and members of the Mexican community.

Display the map of Mexico (from the tool kit) on the wall to help students locate Mexican states for the activity on page 21. Help students complete the research activity by inviting guest speakers in, providing library materials, and taking field trips into local Mexican- American businesses

Produced by the Oregon Folk Arts Program at the Oregon Historical Society, 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205. For more information, call (503) 306-5290.


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