Old Man Winter - Lesson Plan II

Sounding out unfamiliar words, “Gluskabi and Old Man Winter” From Joseph Bruchac’s Pushing up the sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children

DESCRIPTORS

Curriculum Areas: word attack, critical thinking skills

Recommended Levels: Students with reading deficits grades 2-5

Time Frame: This lesson is adaptable from 45 minutes to an hour, divided as needed.

Tribal Affiliation: Muckleshoot

Geographic Location: Muckleshoot Reservation, Auburn, WA

Developed by: Cara Francis

Email addresses of developers: meegat@aol.com

Date lesson was developed: 7/27/01

American Indian Standards:

Language Arts:

Standard 5: Read fluently and independently, a variety of materials including those with American Indian themes.

Standard 6: Use a variety of strategies to gain meaning from text.

Standard 16: Show increasing control of standard spellings

Standard 2: Developing and applying Native language literacies while developing/applying English literacies.

Standard 5: Becoming aware of, monitoring, reflecting on, and articulating their own processes and strategies in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

INSTRUCTION

Goal: To be able to apply the rules of standard spelling and phonics to sound out unfamiliar words.

Behavioral Objectives: Students will:

• Practice reading aloud the passages in the play “Gluskabi and Old Man Winter”

Which are written in the Abenaki Language and phonetically spelled out.

• Write words from their own imaginations and supply the definitions.
• Present those words for the rest of the group to sound out using the rules of English pronunciation.

Prior Knowledge Needed:

• Prior reading of the play “Gluskabe and Old Man Winter.”
• Basic knowledge of the rules of standard English pronunciation

Materials and Resources Needed:

• Each student should have a copy of the play “Gluskabe and Old Man Winter” from Joseph Bruchac’s book, Pushing up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children

Culture Content and Strategies:

Exposure to an unfamiliar (this lesson was primarily written for Muckleshoot students) Native American language, as it is phonetically spelled out in English, provides a good opportunity to discuss the underlying rules of any language. With the understanding that Native languages are not always written in a way that makes applying the rules of English relevant, exposure to other sets of rules provides a good “compare and contrast” exercise. In this case a “comparison and contrast” with Whulshootseed, a dialect of Lushootseed, a Southern Salish language spoken in the Puget Sound area.

Lesson Summary and Performance Tasks:

Students will divide into small groups of perhaps 4 or 5. Each group with be assigned an Abenaki phrase from the play such as “”Kwai, Kwai, Nidobak” which is phonetically spelled out in the play as (kwy, kwy nee-doh- bah) “Hello, my friends”. Each group will be responsible to learn to say their individual phrase. After it have been established that each group has learned their phrase, the group will be responsible for creating their own phrase, in a nonsense, made up language and then to explain its pronunciation. The pronunciation can either follow the rules of English or follow a made up standard. The group is also responsible for an English translation. The group should then record their made up phrase on either a cassette tape recorder or using sound recording software such as the record function of Simple Textä. They should supply the meaning, in English, as well.

Assessment:

Assessment should be made by rubric or checklist:

• On how well the group is able to say the Abenaki phrase, following the written pronunciation.
• On the creativity of the group’s made up phrase, including definition.
• On the explanation offered by the group as to why the created phrase is pronounced the way it is. How well it conforms to rules of English or a made up set.

EXTENSION

Technology Integration:

• The use of Simple Text ä allows the student to hear pronunciation in a delayed way, while able to really listen. This is very helpful also for students who have language deficits due to lack of phonemic awareness.

Enrichment/Remediation:

This lesson can be supported either before or afterwards by a discussion of basic phonics vowels, consonants and blends.

Teacher Reflections

To be added by the user