- Definition
A folk song is a traditional song that's been passed down through families and communities over many years, often telling stories about everyday life.
A traditional campfire song passed down by older campers to younger ones acts like a folk song because people learn it by singing together.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A folk song is like a traditional family story that gets told and retold by parents to children over many years.
Ask your child: What is a song that we sing together that your grandparents also sang when they were little?
Common mix-up: Kids may think any popular song on the radio is a folk song. Folk songs are usually older songs passed down by people singing them together, rather than learning them from a recording.
Examples
- A traditional song celebrating the changing seasons that a community sings every year.
- A gentle lullaby that has been sung to babies in a culture for generations.
folk song is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
