ELA10 - Spoken Language (2 credit), CSS, Seipp

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.