Woody’s classroom

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From artistic activities to tailored lesson plans, Woody’s Classroom helps parents and teachers bring Woody’s message into their own instruction.

Activities

Play Woody Guthrie Bingo while listening to Woody Guthrie’s kid’s song playlist. Mark your board when you hear the words!

LESSON PLANS

All lesson plans are the intellectual property of Woody Guthrie Center. They are intended for educational purposes only.

All Grades

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

 

VIRTUAL TOURS

Woody Guthrie was an amazing artist as well as a songwriter; he created art out of everything. At the Woody Guthrie Center, there are several examples of his work on display, demonstrating his prolific, creative, and passionate nature.

This YouTube playlist gives teachers and students a sneak peek at some of those items. Watch the videos in advance of your visit or to experience the center virtually.

RESOURCES

Below is a selection of materials from other sources to share with your students.

Black Line

The Teaching Woody Guthrie
Faculty Collective

The Teaching Woody Guthrie Faculty Collective, originated in 2020, includes cross-disciplinary college faculty. Their purpose is to share teaching resources, exchange ideas for assessment, create interdisciplinary curriculum and contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

The Collective includes:

Court Carney is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he teaches courses on Black History and American Cultural History. He is the author of Cuttin’ Up: How Early Jazz Got America’s Ear (Univ. Press of Kansas).

Michele Fazio is Professor of English and Co-coordinator of the Gender Studies Minor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke where she teaches courses on contemporary U.S. ethnic literature, servicelearning, and working-class studies. She co-edited the Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies.

Mark F. Fernandez is the Patricia Carlin O’Keefe Distinguished Professor of History at Loyola. In 2012, he was named the Seventh Annual Woody Guthrie Fellow by the Woody Guthrie Foundation and BMI Music Publishers.

Gustavus Stadler is William R. Kenan Professor of English at Haverford College where he teaches courses on 19th- and 20th-century US literature and popular culture. He is the author of Woody Guthrie: An Intimate Life (Beacon Press, 2020).

Aimee Zoeller is the director of sociology and coordinator of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Indiana University Purdue University Columbus. She is a three-time recipient of the Indiana University Trustees’ Teaching Award.

Presentations

  • “Integrating Folk Music into Educational Curriculum.” Folk Alliance International Conference. May 2022. Kansas City, MO.
  • “Teaching Woody Guthrie and the Precarity of the Present.” Working Class Association Annual Conference. June 2021 (Youngstown, Ohio and online).

Publications

Want to connect with the Teaching Collective? Contact Aimee Zoeller.