Language Practice
This page provides resources to help students, teachers and families gain confidence in learning and speaking the Lingít language.
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Lesson 1: Lingít Vowels
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Lesson 2: Voiceless "L"
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Lesson 3 & 4: Earning Digital Badges - Practicing Short (a) & Long Vowel (aa) and X̱
Digital badges are an effective way to motivate students and acknowledge their mastery as part of remote learning. This week we launched our digital badge program by asking students to demonstrate mastery of pronouncing Glacier Valleyʼs name in Lingít: Sitʼ Eetí Shaanáx̱ to celebrate the formal adoption of this name by the school board on September 8, 2020. Kindergarten and 1st grade used Seesaw and 2nd - 5th grade used Flipgrid, which interfaces with Canvas. Below are examples from both showing how interactive and creative these can be. Gunalchéesh to Midnight Music for providing an exceptional free webinar on how to implement digital badges and to Juneau School District teachers, Mariel Odum and Geoffrey Wyatt for helping me with Badgr and Canvas.
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Digital Badge Challenge
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Digital Badge Student Response Using Flipgrid
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Teacher Response
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Lesson 5: Badge #2: Haa Ḵusteeyí chorus
Whether by Seesaw or Canvas, students can earn digital badges to show mastery of their language learning. 2nd - 5th grade students are using Flipgrid to document their learning, which allows for creative recordings and responses from fellow students to encourage, compliment and have fun! The badges were created in Canva, which provides a free Educatorʼs account for all educators. Digital badges have been very motivating for our students. We hope to offer one every week.
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Lesson 6: Badge #3: Wáasá iyatee? How are you?
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Lesson 7 & 8: Counting in Lingít 1 - 10
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Cyril George, Sr. (b. 1922) counting in Tlingit, explains why the numbers are as they are:
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Cyril George is a clan leader of the Deisheetaan (Raven/Beaver clan) from Khaakáak'w Hít (Basket Bay Arch House) in Angoon, AK. His Tlingit names are Khaakáakw, Kaatdaa, Khaalkháawu, and L.átkádú.een.
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Lesson 9: Introducing American Sign Language
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Kyle Worl also introduced the use of American Sign Language (ASL) in his Lingít Leadership classes as a way to reduce the use of English. With every spoken word or phrase, there is an image and sign to accompany it. I loved the idea and called upon Janet Olmstead, the Juneau School District Deaf and Blind Educator, to ask if she would be interested in recording videos that would provide the sign language for our weekly words and phrases.
Janet generously agreed adding that this partnership will not only help teach the Lingít language, but also help a school or class communicate with a deaf child in the future. This is the first in our series! |
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Lesson 10: Daasá iyateen? What Do You See? Digital Badge
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Earning digital badges have motivated many of our students to demonstrate their mastery of Lingít words and phrases. Crystal Worl and the Trickster Company generously gave us permission to use her whale design for this badge: Wáasá iyatéen? (What do you see?). Gunalchéesh, Crystal and Trickster Company for supporting our community and work with kids! Please checkout this brother and sister team, Rico and Crystal Worl, who sell their artwork and creative merchandise online and have received national recognition for it.
Just this week, KINY reported the unveiling of Rico Lanáatʼ Worlʼs stamp design titled, "Raven Story," for the U.S. Postal Service as part of its Forever Stamps series. And Crystal was one of five Native artists from around the country to show their work at President-Elect Joe Biden’s house. |
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USPS postage stamp design by Rico Worl called"Raven Story."
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Rico Lanáatʼ Worl and Crystal Worl: Trickster Company
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Crystal Worl Honored at Biden Home: KTOO Report by Lisa Phu (November 12, 2015)
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Lesson 11 - 12: Wáasá i toowú yatee? Digital Badge
(How Do You Feel?)
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We integrated these ten feeling phrases into the Yéil Ḵa Tʼá puppet/play artist-in-residency and storybag, which includes a set of game cards. You can watch access downloadable instructions, video tutorials and more by visiting this Playing Games. Gunalchéesh Elizabeth Kent, X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell, and Jinkasee.ee Willard for putting these games together.
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X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell, shares his resources freely. He gave us permission to use images from his Beginning Tlingít Workbook (which you can download from his website) to help design a set of Lingít game cards that can be used to play several games at home. He also created two video tutorials to help families learn the games together. Below is his introductory video to get you started. Congratulations, X̱ʼunei, for being awarded three fellowships to enhance your work in Tlingit language and artwork. X̱ʼunei speaks and studies the Tlingit language, and advocates for indigenous language revitalization. He is an Associate Professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast, has a Ph.D. in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language Revitalization from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi and is a Northwest Coast Artist, musician, author, & filmmaker.
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Pack of game cards sent home with every K-5 student.
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Lesson 12 - 14: Yéil ḵa Tʼa Formline Puppet Digital Badge
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Abel Ryan, Tsimshian artist and teacher, designed formline puppets for all seven characters for our Yéil ḵa Tʼá play as part of an artist-in-residency, which he has given permission for the Juneau School District to use. He is featured in Alaska Magazine (January 5, 2021). Tʼoyaxsut ʼnuun, Abel, for sharing your knowledge and artistry with the Juneau School District.
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Abel Ryan is featured in Alaska Magazine (January 5, 2021).
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Abel Ryan draws each formline design - in fast motion!
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Lessons 15-18: Daasá eeya.ax̱? What do you hear? Digital Badge
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Crystal Worl and the Trickster Company generously gave us permission to use her brown bear baby formline design for this badge: Daasá eeya.ax̱? (What do you hear?), which connects to the oral narrative, The Woman Who Married the Bear. Using American Sign Language, the language focus of this badge is to pronounce land animals listed on the TCLL 100 vocabulary list that include the letters (X, X̱, G, G̱). Gunalchéesh, Crystal and Trickster Company for supporting our community and work with kids! Please consider supporting their business. They sell these formline design babies as stickers, along with other beautiful merchandise.
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Lessons 19 - 21: X̱asix̱án: I love ...
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Michaela Goade, Caldecott-winning illustrator for We are Water Protectors, not only gave time to share her journey as an artist and love of childrenʼs books with our Juneau children for our Read Across Alaska event, but she generously gave us permission to use one of her images from Shanyaakʼutlaax: Salmon Boy for this digital badge focused on family members and types of salmon.
As part of the Read Across Alaska festivities, families had the opportunity to read Michaelaʼs work while hiking trails in the community Juneauʼs StoryPaths, in which families were encouraged to read Michaelaʼs illustrated books along hiking trails in the community. Gunalchéesh, Michaela, for being such an inspiration for our children. |
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