Folktales on the Web

At some point during the year most elementary teachers do something with folktales. Traditional tales work can work as the foundation of a holiday celebration, integrated into a social studies unit, or as a literature study. Fortunately, the Web is awash in folktale sites. The following are sites I've discovered that are likely to enrich any classroom folklore study.

Writing With Writers: Folktale Writing with Alma Flor Ada
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/folk/index.htm
Acclaimed bilingual writer Alma Flor Ada provides students with a sample folktale, plus writing tips, strategies, and challenges to help them create their own folktales

Aesop's Fables
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/open.html
This rich site offers two versions of each fable — traditional and contemporary. They have been delightfully illustrated by students in a University of Massachusetts computer art class.

Story Park
http://www.zensufi.com/story.htm
A large story collection with many Sufi tales from India. Some are stories by Mariam herself.

Native American Lore Index Page
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
More than 100 stories are available at this site. Blackfoot, Inuit, Squamish, Lakota, Seminole, Cherokee, Mayan, Hopi, Iroquois, and Chippewa are some of the many tribes represented here.

Folktales from Aaron Shepard's Home Page
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/folk.html
This is a fine selection of Shepard's folktale retellings. Several of Shepard's retellings are offered as narratives and as Reader's Theater scripts. A particularly nice touch is that Shepard provides audio pronunciations of difficult names.

— Monica Edinger

Writing With Writers:
Folktale Writing with Alma Flor Ada
http://teacher.scholastic
.com/writewit/folk/index.htm

Aesop's Fables
http://www.umass.edu/aesop

Story Park
http://www.zensufi.com
/story.htm

Native American Lore Index Page
http://www.ilhawaii.net
/~stony/loreindx.html

Folktales from Aaron Shepard's Home Page
http://www.aaronshep
.com/stories/folk
.html