Is there value in preserving indigenous languages that are almost extinct? That's the question posed to viewers of a short film about the attempt of one Native American woman who is creating a dictionary for Wakchumni, the language of the Yokuts, a tribal group native to Central California.

Concepts

identity, indigenous people, oral language, dictionaries

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Provide groups with different sentence strips, have them create a language for the words in their sentence, and dictionary entries that provide a pronunciation guide, the part of speech, and a definition for each word
• Have groups research other languages in danger of extinction

Classroom Considerations

• Preview the video to determine if the slow, reflective pace is appropriate to your learning situation

Pros

• The six-page packet includes background information about Marie Wilcox and the Wukchumni language, discussion questions, writing prompts, and links to related resources

Cons

• The slow pace of the video may prove challenging to some viewers

Common Core

SL.9-10.1.a SL.11-12.1.a