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This Cultural Heritage: Recording a Native Language Dictionary lesson plan also includes:
- Cultural Heritage: Recording a Native Language Dictionary (.html)
 - Cultural Heritage: Recording a Native Language Dictionary (Google Doc)
 - Spanish Version (.pdf)
 - Spanish Version (Google Doc)
 - Marie's Dictionary
 - Native Digital Land
 - Education Guide: The Land You Live On (.pdf)
 - Note-Taking Sheet (Google Doc)
 - Endangered Languages Map
 - Activity
 - Join to access all included materials
 
How do you rebuild a language that has been banned for years? A short video introduces high schoolers to Marie Wilcox, A Wukchumni Native American from Central California who, for over 20 years, worked on comprising a dictionary of the Wukchumni language. Young historians learn not about the policies behind enforced assimilation and language loss but also about the importance of preserving languages and cultural traditions.
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CCSS:
Designed
Concepts
Instructional Ideas
- Ask groups to create an infographic that details information about the tribe they researched: the location of the tribal lands, the name of the tribe, and the name of its language, and includes words with translations
 - Present the lesson during November's Native American Heritage Month
 
Classroom Considerations
- Requires projection equipment with internet access for the video
 - Class members need devices with internet access for their research
 
Pros
- Groups watch different films about the attempts of California tribes to revitalize their languages and cultures and report their findings to the class
 
Cons
- None