http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9137999p-9054275c.html

Tlingit language program provided to schools in Southeast

The Associated Press

Published: July 16, 2007
Last Modified: July 16, 2007 at 10:36 AM

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Every public school district in Southeast Alaska has
been provided with a new tool to teach the Tlingit language at a time when
the number of fluent speakers is dwindling.

The first broad-scale Tlingit language and culture curriculum was
co-produced by Sealaska Heritage Institute and the Juneau School District.

"It's designed to put resources in the hands of teachers who aren't
necessarily cultural experts or language teachers so they can learn along
with their students," said Yarrow Vaara, Tlingit language specialist for
the institute.

The curriculum uses technology to help engage the students in learning,
Vaara said. Along with binders of text covering the 18 units, audio
components and interactive vocabulary games are included.

"This curriculum has a particular language focus that is unique that is
also addressing the academic standards," she said. "We're merging
technology with the different focuses, too."

The curriculum is the result of a three-year project funded by two grants
from the U.S. Department of Education. The lessons were field-tested by
several Juneau teachers in 2005 and 2006 prior to being sent to other
school districts.

Vaara said the district's Tlingit immersion program spawned the project.

"We quickly realized that in order for that to be a successful program,
they needed the resources and materials to use in the classroom," she said.
"Just because someone can speak Tlingit doesn't mean they can teach it."

The curriculum is designed for beginning speakers and targeted at
kindergarten to second grade, but can be used as a tool to teach any age.

Vaara said the students she teaches appear to be learning the language more
quickly and are benefiting from the resources.

"I think there are many more younger students that are showing an interest
and are getting a basic language exposure," Vaara said. "As they continue
to grow and are more exposed, they will certainly increase their chance of
learning the language."

Some of the students are becoming teachers themselves, she said.

"We actually have the students going home and teaching their parents, which
is kind of a unique situation too," Vaara said.

The curriculum has a heavy focus on the environment of Southeast Alaska and
includes units of study on salmon, sea mammals, berries, plants, totem
poles, herring and more. There is also a unit on Native civil rights leader
Elizabeth Peratrovich and others focusing on Tlingit stories, such as "How
Raven Stole the Sun."

The institute eventually will have a curriculum for beginning and advanced
language learners, she said.

A parallel curriculum focusing on the Haida language will be coming out in
the next several months, Vaara said.

Web links The Tlingit curriculum is available at
http://www.sealaskaheritage.org