The guide includes Louisiana Content Standards and objectives, folklife objectives, student work pages, extensions to various subjects for further work, assessment strategies, definitions of key terms, a wide array of resources, and many technology applications. As an example of how to use folklife in various disciplines, consider the following assignment suggestions related to the pirogue, a traditional boat of south Louisiana, as a means for teaching the skills and objectives that teachers must impart. Compare traditional Louisiana boats with those of another state or country. Discuss how a pirogue boat builder calculates his task. With students, find the model pirogue in the online Creole State Exhibit and compute the ratio of a working boat compared with a model boat using a calculator.
Display results in a spreadsheet.
Work with students to plan an interview of a boat builder or someone else in your community who makes things. Ask them to take careful notes and identify elements to include in a final essay or oral report by creating a web. After writing a first draft on a word processor they should return to groups for peer editing and revisions. Ask them to download images of a pirogue and a pirogue maker from the online Creole State Exhibit as illustrations for the final product. They can make their own from clay or use a software drawing program to draw a pirogue.