The Power of Storytelling

Ninth graders explore the power of media in culture and Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. In this nonviolence and media lesson, 9th graders analyze Gandhi's nonviolent methods for social change and discuss the media's power to create...

Argh! Flash Gordon, Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, Valmiki's The Ramayana. Stories of heroes and villains fascinate. And although the tales are reinterpreted over time, and as they...

Universal themes found throughout the world in the form of stories is the topic of today's instructional activity. Upper graders analyze the cultural context of the Mithila piece, Hanuman. They consider the universal themes the image...

High schoolers explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify...

Students study folktales and other stories from West Africa. By hearing and reading these stories they explore many new cultural and religious beliefs, such as spirits inhabiting nature and possessing special powers. Once the students...

Learners identify and describe the influence slavery had on Mark Twains writing, and then determine the status of race relations and ethnic differences in contemporary life.

Life in the Florida swamps after the Civil War comes alive in the 1946 film adaptation of Majorie Kinnan Rawlings’s The Yearling. The film of this powerful coming-of-age story, filled with love and loss, can be used with or without a...

Students assess the importance of wind power in generating energy. In this earth science lesson, students analyze the factors affecting wind power in certain locations. They select a potential site for wind turbines and explain why their...

Students listen to a lecture about the tradition of story telling and oral history. They research three examples of African American and/or Negro Leagues oral tradition. they work in groups of four, and decide on one example from their...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this instructional activity prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct...