Lesson Plan
Observe Indigenous People's Day by Learning about Borrowed Words from Native American Languages
Learn how the languages of people indigenous to North America have contributed American English. Each student will research a word derived from an indigenous language and design a page for a class book featuring up to 30 indigenous words.
Grade:
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Learning Objectives
Students will learn that many of the words we use every day come from North American indigenous languages. Students will design a page for a book based on one word from an indigenous language, including a picture of the item, the original word, the native language, and its translation.
Introduction
(10 minutes)- Ask students “Who knows one language?”
- Ask students “Who knows two languages?”
- Ask students “Who knows more than two languages?”
- Explain that languages are a collection of words that work together to convey ideas.
- Explain that languages are dynamic, or always changing, and that American English, because we have had citizens from so many different countries, has many everyday words that DERIVE from other languages. For example, alligator, mosquito and taco are all Spanish words. Stripe, cookie and waffle are all Dutch/Flemish. Pretzel, pumpernickel and sauerkraut are all German words. Gazelle, bazaar and caravan are all Arabic. Gorilla, gumbo and zombie are all from African languages.
- Explain that students will be studying the ETYMOLOGY of words that have derived from indigenous languages. Tell students that etymology means “the study of where words come from”.