Language+and+Identity

toc =Monday, Feb. 28 - Introduction to Language and Identity=

Anna Deavere Smith: Four American characters (30 minutes)
Read about actress, [|Anna Deavere Smith]. Then watch this performance. Pause after each one to analyze how each character's language reflects his or her identity. (If the full screen option isn't working, you can watch [|Anna Deavere Smith: Four American characters on TED.com]) media type="custom" key="8507032"

How are language and identity connected? (10 minutes)
Anna Deavere Smith shares her perspective media type="custom" key="8506808"

Final Thoughts (10 minutes)
On the back of your note-taking sheet, write a paragraph about how language and identity are connected.

=Tuesday, March 1=

ELA TAKS Test

=Wednesday, March 2 - "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan=

Before Reading - Quickwrite (5 minutes)
What are the different forms of English (and other languages) you use at home, at school, among friends, and elsewhere ? Consider both speaking and writing, including texting and other digital forms. When and why do you use different forms of language?

Before Reading - Get to Know the Author (10 minutes)
Today, we will be reading "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. First, let's learn a little about her from her [|Official Biography on her homepage] (Click the photo of her as a little girl playing piano.)

"Mother Tongue" is a talk Amy Tan gave as part of a panel entitled "Englishes: Whose English Is It Anyway?" at a language symposium in San Francisco in 1989. Since it was written as a speech, not an essay, it will be helpful if you can hear Tan's voice in your head as you read it.

Watch the following interview clips: [|Reading for me was a refuge] [|I loved fairy tales] [|There was a lot of storytelling] [|I used to think that my mother] (scroll down to 3rd video box on this page)

Read the Text (15 minutes)
"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan starts on page 712 of //Everything's an Argument// You can choose to read silently to yourself or read aloud softly with your partner.

After Reading - Discuss and Make Notes (15 minutes)
With your partner, discuss the questions provided and take turns making note of the key points in your conversation.

=Thursday, March 3 - Perspectives on Bilingualism=

Reading
With your partner, read these two selections: "If Only We All Spoke Two Languages" by Ariel Dorfman (//Everything's an Argument//, pp. 704-705) "Mute in an English-Only World" by Chang-Rae Lee (//Everything's an Argument//, pp. 707-710)

Writing
Work together to write a short dialogue representing a conversation Lee and Dorfman might have about bilingualism in the United States.

Speaking & Listening
Give a reader's theatre performance of your dialogue for your classmates!

=Friday, March 4 - Endangered Languages, Endangered Cultures=

// Approximately 7,000 languages are spoken in the world today. //
// Every 14 days a language dies. //

1. Watch the trailer for [|The Linguists]

2. Watch the [|About Enduring Voices Slide Show] (5 minutes)

3. Watch the [|Enduring Voices Expeditions] video (3 minutes) media type="custom" key="8508840"

4. Watch the [|Hidden Language Recorded] video (3 minutes) media type="custom" key="8508804"

5. Explore the [|interactive map of Language Hotspots]

6. Watch the [|Video Extras from The Linguists] and answer the questions provided

Endangered Cultures
Watch [|Wade Davis on endangered cultures] (22 minutes) And complete the What? So What? Now What? chart media type="custom" key="8508970"

=Monday, March 7 - Language Learning and The English Language=

The linguistic genius of babies (10 minutes)
See why Patricia Kuhl calls babies "citizens of the world." Watch [|Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies] media type="custom" key="8507806"

Birth of a Language (10 minutes)
Read the background information first, then watch the video on [|Birth of a Language]

The World's English Mania (5 minutes)
[|Jay Walker on the world's English mania] media type="custom" key="8508230"

English Is a Crazy Language (25 minutes)
Read the excerpt from //Crazy English// by Richard Lederer (//The Norton Sampler//, pp. 110-113) With your partner, discuss the 5 questions on page 113 and take turns recording your responses on the sheet provided

=Tuesday, March 8 - Regroup and Catch Up=

=Wednesday, March 9 - Finish Hero's Journey Presentations= =﻿= =Thursday, March 10 - Words= media type="custom" key="8625372"

Listen to 2 stories about deaf people acquiring language Discuss what these stories tell us about how language shapes our understandings of ourselves and our interactions with the world [|Words that Change the World] (11 min) [|New Words, New World] (16 min)

=Friday, March 11 - Final Thoughts on Language and Culture=

In small groups, choose one of the poems to discuss Follow the Save the Last Word for Me protocol

Select one of the quotations about language and culture Write a response/reflection underneath