Halloween or “All Hallows Even” is a yearly celebration observed on October 31st which combines traditions from festivals of the dead such as the Celtic Samhain (Summer’s End) with medieval Catholic observances on the eve of All Saints Day; a day of pray which commemorates saint and martyrs.
Halloween is a time when common superstitions, folklore, myths and omens seem to carry more weight, due to a thinning of the wall between the physical and supernatural worlds. A superstition is a belief or way of behaving that is based on fear of the unknown and faith in magic or luck.
Black Cats weren’t always considered bad luck. In early Egyptian times, dating back as far as 3000 BC, the domesticated cat became a symbol of grace and poise and was praised for its ability to kill cobras and other vermin.
New Year’s Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar. Since most countries use the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Day is a truly global public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the New Year starts.
Kwanzaa is a seven day festival which celebrates the African American culture and history. It is a time of community gathering and reflection. Kwanzaa begins on December 26th, the day after Christmas, and continues until New Years Day, January 1st.
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar. It is celebrated for eight days and nights. In Hebrew, the word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” The holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.
December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For more than two thousand years, people have been observing Christmas Day with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, sharing meals with family and friends and waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.
December 6 is the Feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a bishop from the fourth century. He is the model for our modern-day Santa Claus, because Saint Nicholas’s generosity was legendary. The night before Saint Nicholas Day, children place their shoes in a prominent location– by a fireplace, or outside their bedroom door. The next morning–usually very early–the children find their shoes filled with little presents from the great saint.
In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The thanksgiving observance at Plymouth was prompted by a good harvest. Initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed the colonists, but the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the settlers by providing seeds and teaching them to fish.
Winter plays a major part in these ghost stories from the United States and Canada.
The cold of winter creeps into these folktales from the United States and Canada.
Read folktales about strong women, witches, legendary heroines, female ghosts and spooks, and some curious girls who get themselves in trouble! These are the women of American Folklore.
Oh a chipmunk, chipmunk sitting on a limb/And he winked at me and I at him/So I picked up a chip and I hit him on the chin/And he said: “Young man, don’t you try that again!”
Here is a list of folklore books recommended for teachers. These collections contain a variety of folktales, from Native American Myths and Legends to Ghost stories. There are also Urban Legends and some really funny Tall Tales.
So, what is folklore, anyway? What exactly is the difference between a myth and a legend? A folktale and a tall tale? Where do you draw the line between a fable and a fairytale? What is the difference between a normal legend and an urban one? For those of you who have spent many a sleepless night pondering such mysteries, I have written up a quick folklore vocabulary list to help solve the murky intricacies of folklore and allow you to sleep at night.
The term folklore is generally used to refer to the traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people which have beem disseminated in an informal manner…
A lesson plan on writing for grades 3-5 which introduces different types of story beginnings to students, allows students to write different beginnings, and engages students in the process of revision.
Here is a list of folklore resources available to teachers on a variety of topics, from folktales to life histories, and from folklife to legends.
A lesson plan for grades 4 and 5 which engages children in the art of storytelling and develops public speaking skills.
Here is a list of lesson plans that have been created using stories from the American Folklore site or appropriate for use with the Spooky Series by .
There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile.
He had a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
Hot-cross buns! Hot-cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
That lives in Drury Lane?
Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?
Oh where, oh where can he be?
With his ears cut short and his tail cut long,
Oh where, oh where can he be?
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
Looking to do a little weather forcasting? These old proverbs claim to predict stormy weather. If after a rain you can see enough blue sky to make a man a pair of pants, it will clear, at least according to some weather predictors. Read them all and see which ones work for you.
The legendary Jersey Devil is a dragon-like creature, with a head like a horse, a snake-like body and bat’s wings. The Jersey Devil is rumored to inhabit the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey, and has been known to cause chaos and panic whenever it rears its unattractive head; though there are some who consider its appearance as the herald of good luck.
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,
But if you wish the wish the witch wishes,
I won’t wish the wish you wish to wish.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
A big bug bit a bold bald bear and the bold bald bear bled blood badly.
