Encouraging teachers of middle and secondary school students to learn to write using their own folklore, each chapter in this book presents a 1- to 3-week unit of study including background information, student activities, transcripts of discussions, and suggested readings for both teachers and students. After an introduction (Knowing Our Insides and Our Outsides), chapters in the book are: (1) An Introduction to Modern Folklore; (2) Teaching Writing while Teaching Folklore; (3) "Bloody Mary": Introducing Students to Folklore; (4) "My Name Was Carlos": The Folklore of Naming; (5) "When I Was a Little Girl...": The Folklore of Childhood; (6) The Cat Burglar: Family Folklore I--Stories Our Families Tell about Us; (7) "Nuestro Pasado" (Our Past): Family Folklore II--Family Photography; (8) "Even Heroes Have Heroes": Mexican--American Students Study Their Folk Heroes; (9) "Aren't We a Little Old for This?": Suburban Students Design a Unit on Folk Heroes; (10) "All Right! We've Got a Substitute!": School and Teenage Folklore; (11) "Tales of the Shopping Mall: Modern Urban Legends; and (12) "Nuke the Raiders!": The Folklore of Graffiti. Contains 79 references. A 79-item list of selected resources for teachers and students is attached. (RS)