Students will learn about linguistics as a historical and geographical tool; examine language family trees of English and Osage languages.
Students will read how indigenous languages were lost; then, through quotes from Native Americans, discover five reasons why indigenous languages are important to preserve.
Students will follow the fascinating process of inventing a system of writing for a language and its sounds, and the dreams-to-reality story of creating an Osage Orthography.
Students define “immersion” and read about the methods and long-term goals of a language immersion school.
Students download app and experiment with features such as listen & learn, games, self-testing, and cultural recordings.
Students review cultural importance of indigenous languages, choose word(s) from the Osage Cultural Glossary, and write a poem incorporating aspects of Osage culture and poetic devices such as imagery and figurative language.
Students compare geographical place names of the Osage compared to modern place names; then read Reference list of remaining Osage place names today & geographic locations, categorize four types, analyze variations, French & English origins.