Personal and Cultural Identity
| Site: | Cowichan Valley School District - Moodle |
| Course: | ELA10 - Spoken Language (2 credit), CSS, Cizeron |
| Book: | Personal and Cultural Identity |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Saturday, 18 May 2024, 8:41 AM |
Introduction
Discovering and developing our personal and cultural identity means we need to recognize...
- Relationships and cultural contexts
- Personal values and choice
- Personal strengths and abilities
Consider all of these elements as you work through the assignments in this section.
Summary Explanation of Assignments
Here is a quick overview of the assignments for this unit. However, be sure you read over the specific assignment instructions that follow for each one. Review the marking rubrics for the assignments before you start.
ASSIGNMENT 1: First Peoples Oral Traditions
Learn about oral traditions through First Peoples storytelling. Find an example of a First Nations, or Inuit, or Metis creation story in the oral tradition. I suggest you choose video format here. Then explain why you chose this story. Explain what is being taught from the story. How does the learning in the story support the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors? You could use the summary points in the article to explain why you chose this story.
Submit both your explanation and the URL - the link - to the story.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Deriving Meaning from Performance
Re-watch the video you selected in the previous lesson and discuss performance techniques that are used to enhance meaning. This is a good time to think about non-verbal communication and its impact on meaning.
ASSIGNMENT 3: Deriving Meaning from Language
Read the following "letter" written by First Nations Cree writer Louise Bernice Halfe. Make some notes on your initial response. Then listen to Halfe read her letter out loud as it was intended. You can follow along with the written text.
Write a personal response that explains how her use of language conveys her primary message. What is she saying to the Pope? Why does she use this language? How does your initial response change (or does it) when you hear the letter read out loud? Are there life lessons being taught in this letter? What are they? You may want to explore some historical resources to give you some contextual background.
ASSIGNMENT 4: Family Interview
Interview someone from your "family" to answer the question "How has life in British Columbia changed or influenced your family? How has your family contributed to the way we see ourselves as British Columbians?" The person you choose to interview will depend on how you define family.
ASSIGNMENT 5: Editing FORUM
Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources. These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials. There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.
Do the practice tests in Unit 2 (SENTENCES) and Unit 3 (GRAMMAR). If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.
In this forum, comment on which of the tests you found easiest. Which one was most difficult? Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you? How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing? Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language? Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your personal writing and spoken language.
ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative
This is where you will make connections between formative moments in your life and use those personal experiences to develop a personal narrative. Your project for this unit is to write a personal narrative that is based on a proverb. Your goal is to prove (or disprove) the proverb based on a personal experience. Review the book on "Writing a Personal Narrative" at the top of the course.
ASSIGNMENT 1: First Peoples Oral Traditions
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Storytelling
"Oral tradition is the means by which cultural transmission occurs over generations, other than through written records. Among First Peoples, oral tradition may consist of told stories, songs, and/or other types of wisdom or information, often incorporating dances or various forms of visual representation such as carvings or masks. In addition to expressing spiritual and emotional truths (e.g., via symbol and metaphor), oral tradition provides a record of literal fact (e.g., regarding events and/or situations)." Source: English 10 and 11 First Peoples Curriculum – 2010 – Ministry of Education
Task:
Find an example of a First Nations, or Inuit, or Metis creation story in the oral tradition. I suggest you choose video format here. Then explain why you chose this story. Explain what is being taught from the story. How does the learning in the story support the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors? You could use the summary points in the article to explain why you chose this story.
Submit both your explanation and the URL - the link - to the story.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Response is thorough and thoughtful and includes details from the story to support an opinion.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission:
Use the "3.1 First Peoples Oral Traditions" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
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ASSIGNMENT 2: Deriving Meaning from Performance
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Task:
Now re-watch the video you selected in the previous lesson and discuss the performance techniques used to enhance meaning. This can be done in paragraph form or point form. Include a short quote from the video for each technique that you identify.
Performance Techniques (including non-verbal behaviors)
- vary the volume, pitch, and tempo of your voice (enunciate clearly and exaggerate expression)
- pitch is useful to use when expressing emotion. Our pitch rises when we are excited and lowers when we are sad.
- use your face, body, and gestures (let your body speak)
- make your body and face respond to the tale
- have a clear focus and maintain concentration
- maintain engaging eye contact with the audience/individual listeners
- create a charismatic presence (make the audience believe in you)
- use different, exaggerate character voices
- use your space/be dynamic
- remember to pace yourself
- always remember to regain your style as narrator
- use silence and pauses to add dramatic effect
Telling a Story
- map the plot as a memory technique (Remember the plot diagram?)
- use story skeletons to help you remember the key events
- think of the plot as a film or a series of connected images
- tell yourself the story in your own words
- create your version of the story (adapt and improvise)
- retell it numerous times until it feels like a story
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates exemplary active reading skills to comprehend and respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways. All activities are complete. Ideas generated are thoughtful and unique.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission:
Use the "3.2 Meaning From Performance" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 3: Deriving Meaning from Language
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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The use of language in First Peoples texts shape readers' and viewers' construction of meaning and appreciation of author's craft. Types of language used include
Colloquial: conversational language
Dialect: a particular form of language that is specific to a region or social group
Vernacular: the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region
Accent: a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.
Slang: a type of language that consists of words or phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people
Read the following "letter" written by First Nations Cree writer Louise Bernice Halfe. Her use of dialect is used to reflect the Cree storytelling voice. Her use of the vernacular is to emphasize the stereotype she is portraying. Her books are mainly "based on her childhood experiences while being forced to attend a residential school and being ripped away from her family at a young age." However painful her experiences, her writing actively involves reclaiming the long overlooked Native comedic tradition. Her poems about the erosion of old ways, the terrors of residential school and the pain inflicted by alcoholism abound with satiric portraits and shared jokes, yet pierce the heart with their truthfulness and wry humour.
She wrote a letter to the Pope in response to his apology to First Nations people for abuses they suffered in the residential school system.
Task:
Read Halfe's letter on the following page. Make some notes on your initial response. Then listen to Halfe read her letter out loud as it was intended. You can follow along with the written text.
Write a personal response that explains how her use of language conveys her primary message. What is she saying to the Pope? Why does she use this language? How does your initial response change (or does it) when you hear the letter read out loud? Are there life lessons being taught in this letter? What are they? You may want to explore some historical resources to give you some contextual background.
Your response should be 200 words and include 3 paragraphs: an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. Remember that a paragraph should be 5-8 sentences.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates exemplary active reading skills to comprehend and respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways. All activities are complete. Ideas generated are thoughtful and unique.
Written Expression: Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections with logical organization.
Submission:
Use the "3.3 Meaning from Language" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
Dear Pope
Der Pope
forgive me for writing on dis newspaper
i found it in da outhouse, saw lines
dat said you is sorry
some of my indian friends say is good but
some of dem say you sorry don’t walk
so i was sitting here dinking dat we
maybe dalk
say, i always want to dell you stay
out of my pissness
if me wants to dalk to trees
and build nests in house
dats hup to me
if me wants to pitch my dent
and feed da ghost bannock hen berries
and maybe drow some indian popcorn
for you geezuz dats hup to me
i don’t hask forgiveness not want
hand mary’s, or a step ladder to heaven
me is happy with da sky, da bird Iyiniwak,
four-legged Iyiniwak, i is happy
sorry mean dat I don’t need yous church
and yous priest telling me what to do
sorry mean dat i free to dalk to Manitou
the spirits and plant Iyiniwak
dats all for now, poop
maybe we dalk again next time i see you
in da newspaper.
Louise Bernice Half (1994)
ASSIGNMENT 4: Family Interview
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Family: Bonds and Belonging
Family. It seems like a simple word, but really, the definition of family is complex, layered and personal. It can mean many different things to different people. What does family mean to you? What can we learn from family? What do our family stories and history tell us? Take a look at your own family story.
But first, the Royal BC Museum has a learning portal on learning about BC families.
- Watch a selection of home movies about family life, family traditions and growing up in BC.
- Listen to a selection of stories and recollections about family life during pioneer days.
- Look at pictures of families throughout history, as well as of the special traditions and objects that they hold dear.
You are going to conduct an oral interview with a family member. (This person will depend on how you have defined family.)
1. Read the handout on Asking All the Right Questions. Go over the 4 steps on how to conduct an oral interview.
2. Do your preliminary research and develop relevant open-ended questions before you interview a family member to answer the question...
How has life in British Columbia changed or influenced your family? How has your family contributed to the way we see ourselves as British Columbians?
3. Submit your questions and interview recording. Be sure to include a clear introduction and conclusion.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. A short introduction and conclusion are included, and interview questions generate answers that are more than just one or two words.
Oral Presentation: (Exemplary (6/6): Interview is delivered in an interesting, clear and informative manner. Delivery seems natural. Speech is easily understood without mumbling, muttering or stumbling over words. Appears to have been thoroughly rehearsed. Pronunciation is accurate.
Submission:
Use the "3.4 Family Interview" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 5: Editing Forum
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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Task:
Go through the 3 Grammar Resources listed under Course Resources (on the side of the course). These sites are from an online Grammar textbook called The Bare Essentials. There are examples, practice exercises, and practice tests.
Do the practice tests in UNIT 2 (SENTENCES) and UNIT 3 (GRAMMAR). If you are not achieving 100% on these tests, review the lesson in the EXAMPLES and the do some practice EXERCISES to review.
In this forum, comment on which of the tests/concepts you found easiest. Which one was most difficult? Was there a concept in these practice tests that was unfamiliar to you? How might you begin to apply these learning lessons into your own writing? Can you see where you might use some of these conventions of language? Provide a discussion of your results and their applications into your speaking and writing. Comment on another's post. Did you get other ideas for applying these grammar lessons into your own writing?
There are TWO activities in a FORUM:
- Go to the main page of the course and click on 3.5 Response Forum. Start a new discussion topic by clicking on Add a New Discussion Topic.
- Reply/Respond to someone else's discussion topic by clicking on their topic and selecting Reply. Your response should provide an analysis of the discussion in the post and some original ideas. Try using the following prompts to guide your response to another post. "I wonder…" "I know…" "I can…" Don't just agree or disagree.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student has carefully considered prior and new knowledge of sentence construction including run on sentences, sentence fragments, modifiers, and parallel structure. Student has carefully considered prior and new knowledge of grammar rules including use of verbs and pronouns. Student demonstrates clear understanding of personal learning.
Response/Reply: Exemplary (6/6): The response/reply is thoughtful, insightful and respectfully exchanges ideas and viewpoints. Student demonstrates an exceptional level of understanding and communication of shared information.
Submission:
Use the "3.5 Response Forum" link on the main page of this section of the course to post your forum response to your teacher for marking.
ASSIGNMENT 6: PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative
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Learning Target (Curricular Competencies):
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A personal narrative is an essay about personal experience that tells a story, so it is usually written in the first person. A personal narrative is a true story about something that happened in your life. You might share an exciting, surprising, or scary experience, like the time you went camping and saw a bear. Or you might share a moment when you learned an important lesson.
To maximize its impact, the essay should:
- Be written to have an emotional impact on the reader
- Include a lot of references to sensory perceptions and emotions
- Use vivid details and imagery
The best personal narratives include many details, helping readers to feel like they are a part of the story, too.
In this unit, you will write a true story from your own life in way that makes it come alive once again!
Task:
Your project for this unit is to write a personal narrative that is based on a proverb. Your goal is to prove (or disprove) the proverb based on a personal experience.
A proverb or adage is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. They are often metaphorical.
Here are some common examples...
- A watched pot never boils
- If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong
- Actions speak louder than words
- Don't bite the hand that feeds you
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- Don't judge a book by its cover
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
- The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill
- A penny saved is a penny earned
- If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- Good things come to those who wait.
OR write an example of one of your own
Step 1: Generate Ideas
Before you begin planning your personal narrative, spend some time thinking about events (big or small) in your life that were meaningful or formative to you. It might be something you decided not to do and regret. It might be something you almost didn't do but are so glad you did. Maybe you learned something about yourself?
Step 2: Connect one of your experiences to a proverb to SHOW how the proverb is true or not true.
Step 3: Write the rough draft
Step 4: Proofread and Edit. See the checklist on Editing and Proofreading in Class Handouts
Step 5: Write the final draft.
Assessment: Below you will find the exemplary criteria used to assess the assignment.
Learning Target: (Exemplary 6/6): Exemplary comprehension of the task and clear accomplishment of the objective. Student demonstrates exemplary personal narrative writing skills. Final product demonstrates a thorough understanding of the format of the multi-paragraph composition. There is a clear main idea that connects to one of the prompts. Body is developed with engaging and convincing support. The concluding idea makes a strong final statement of the main idea. Student demonstrates exemplary use of descriptive language to convey emotion.
Ideas/Content: (Exemplary (6/6): Exemplary development of ideas. Content contributes to the central idea and makes insightful connections. Support is engaging and convincing. It is logically developed to show the main idea. Accomplishes the purpose with originality, individuality, maturity, and sophistication.
Reflection and Insight: (Exemplary (6/6): Complex emotional connections and original ideas are included in a thoughtful response that includes specific example(s) of the student’s learning with connection to meaningful personal experiences. Development and support indicate exemplary reflection and insight.
Written Expression: (Exemplary (6/6): Sentence structure and vocabulary are varied, skillfully written, and carefully chosen. Work has been proofread and there are few or no errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.
Submission:
Use the "3.6 PROJECT - Writing a Personal Narrative" link on the main page of this section of the course to upload your assignment to your teacher for marking.