SESSION THIRTEEN: MODERN DAY FOLKLORE

1. to deepen and extend appreciation of mood and authenticity as part of an author's craft.
   
   
2. to reinforce the use of the "Say Something" technique, to explore half-formed ideas and to promote the social construction of meaning.
   
   
3. to encourage natural, aesthetic responses to reading.
   
   
4. to develop an understanding of both the culture and belief systems of others and for the immigrant experience.

1. Presents the anthology Tales of Gold Mountain: Stories of the Chinese In the New World by Paul Yee, published by Groundwood in 1989, by showing the collection and explaining that an anthology contains a series of stories.
   
   The stories in this anthology are based on the life and the work of Chinese immigrants to Canada in the nineteenth century. They fit into the tradition of folktales. Some parts of the stories the author remembers from China town - from listening to stories and overhearing adult conversations. Other things he discovered from research and reading. While the stories are fictional, they seem real because they are rooted in real places and historical events, such as the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
   
   
2. Introduces the story for the session The Spirits of the Railway by activating prior knowledge regarding:
   
   a) the building of the railways in Canada and
   
   b) the difficulties of building a railway through the mountains in the nineteenth century.
   
   NOTE: It is important to elicit the ideas from the participants and not explain or teach about the railways and the tunnels.
   
   
3. Directs participants to:
   
   a) discuss the title and the painting on page 10 and make predictions regarding what they think the story might be about and
   
   b) read the story in their small groups using the "Say Something" technique.