Folk Tales in the Classroom

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Whether it’s “once upon a time,” “mukashi, mukashi,” “il était une fois,” “c’era una volta,” “habia una vez,” or “tsong chiann,” these words are the signal for all activity to stop, and eyes to open wide as story tellers unfold their tales. Capitalizing on this attention, folk tales, besides telling a good story, can inform on history or geography, or at another level, be a guide—a lesson on how we should react to each other and to the environment that surrounds and nourishes us.

It should be remembered that whether the stories be tall tales, ghost tales, fables, creation tales, or the adventures of heroes and heroines on great journeys, folk tales more likely than not had their origins in adult story tellers relating them to other adults rather than to children. The gory details of the Brothers Grimm are closer to traditional folk tales than the sanitized versions that Disney presents to children these days.

Sanitized, or not, folk tales can be useful tools in the classroom, for they take students more deeply into an understanding of themselves and their own culture. Traditional stories can also lead students into an appreciation of the cultures of other peoples, so that they come to know that there are other ways of dressing, eating, living and worshipping that are just as valid as the ones with which they are acquainted.

The students’ familiarity with comic book stories will help them appreciate folk tales, for all children are conversant with the roles of hero/heroine, the wise figure, the fool, the villain, etc., and so will recognize these characters in other story-telling forms such as folk tales. All these stories and universal roles can be used as models when students come to tell their own stories.

Before a story is shared in the classroom, the teacher, having read it beforehand, might request that students research some background material to give them a feeling for the setting. For example, for the Japanese story of Taro and his Grandmother, which takes place in the time of the samurai, I ask the students to see if they can find anything about samurai and their warlords. This particular story is also a riddle story, so I suggest the students find riddles that seem to be impossible to answer (as in the story) and put them to the class for solving.

In the story of Taro, the grandmother is the wise figure, and so telling the story opens the possibilities to a discussion of elders and their role in society. For more advanced students, I suggest they explore how elders were (and are) treated in other societies and other times. Students could be asked what they appreciate about their own grandparents and other seniors that they know.
Most folk tales suggest scenes for painting and drawing; in Taro and his Grandmother, the picture of Taro carrying his grandmother on his back up the mountain, Taro feeding his grandmother in her hiding place and an image of the war lord, all stand out strongly. Sometimes the school library has different illustrations of the same story and it is interesting to see how various artists have depicted the tale.

I wonder to the students about what food Taro feeds his grandmother, and so the folk tale opens an exploration of Japanese food and what the students know about it.

Since the folk tale was often told with changes of voice for the different characters, and much dramatic emphasis by the story teller, stories usually lend themselves to being acted out in class. Each character could be discussed as to how to portray “goodness,” “bravery,” “villainy,” etc. The students might like to change the story and give it a different ending. The students could also bring the story up to date and set it in their own town which might give the tale even more relevance to their lives.

Almost any folk tale can be used as a research theme, a topic for writing and discussion, an art or drama project as well as just letting the story be a great tale. The important point, I think, in using folk tales in the classroom, is that by involving the students in the use of all senses in the exploration of the story, they not only gain a deeper understanding of the story, they also gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world in which they live.

Naomi Beth Wakan is the author of more than fifteen educational titles. She is the re-teller of folk tales in Telling Tales on the Rim in which Taro and his Grandmother appear. She lives, writes and paints on Gabriola Island, BC. www.naomiwakan.com