Suggested Methods

1. Watch the video (15 minutes). Have the class list the communities indicated in the film and try to classify them by type.
   
2. Review with the class the list of Iowa communities portrayed in the video. Can students suggest additional Iowa communities? What traditions are associated with them? Make a list.
   
3. Discuss how the communities in the video use food, craft, music, and various occupational skills to define themselves.
   
4. Adeline Wanatee, the Meskwaki Indian, says that finger weaving is a healing tradition. John Duccini, the fisherman, makes his nets to catch fish. What are the different functions or purposes of the various traditions on your class list?
   
5. Compare and contrast the learning of traditions through informal and formal methods (for example, between learning as a family member and learning at school).

Student Activity

1. Pick one community group portrayed in the video. If you could interview some members of this group to find out about their community’s folklife, what would you ask them? Prepare five questions.
   
2. One of the examples in the video is of auctioneer Bruce Brock from La Mars, Iowa. He is a member of an occupational community. What are the characteristics of his auctioneering language? What other occupational communities have special languages?

HIGH SCHOOL ADDITIONS: Ask students to consider how, if, and why Iowa’s communities are similar to and different from those of other states, or those of other parts of the world. Consider whether traditions stay the same, or change over time. You might stage either class discussions or class debates.

Home/Community Connection

Have students write a list of the communities they belong to. Have them write a list of those communities to which a family member belongs. Have them then create a venn diagram comparing community membership.

Student/Senior Citizen Exchange

Have a senior citizen join the class for the lesson. Pick several of the categories of traditions (work skills, music, crafts, food, language). What are the earliest traditions the senior remembers from his or her youth? How have some of the traditions changed? Have students name some of their school traditions. Did the senior have those traditions when he or she went to school?

		Photo
		LESSON 1.1
	Every year the Iowa State Fair begins with a parade from the State Capitol downtown to the fairgrounds on the outskirts of Des Moines. What community or communities are represented by this tradition?
				PHOTO BY JIM DAY