Strategies
This unit shows the beauty in a Diné storytelling that makes a connection to the Dinéway of life and belief. My vision is to help my Diné students and other students in my class to become aware of who they are through their immediate clans and how it connects them to others. This unit can be used in the Diné Culture and Language and also under the social studies standards. When K’e, kinship, or clanship is introduced, the instructor needs to correlate it with Diné stories that will open up to how the Diné clans were created, why we use it, and when and where can we use it. The oral stories by my father and mother on the Diné Emergence Stories are a good start to read to the students, so they can envision and make it real to themselves and become one of the characters. Pictures that are added on as resources can be used along with the passages. Book resources are included not only to help the teacher to understand how and where to use the stories, but also to help the students see how identity is very important. The main focus as an instructor is to keep your mind open to many valuable stories. As one of the Diné lessons we were brought up with was, “Don’t ask too many questions, but if you listen, then you will see and understand.”
The beginning of the school year is the best time to start this unit, due to the students being new or some coming in knowing one another already only by name, but creating that bond among the students is crucially important through introduction. This unit will take the whole nine weeks to make it successful and to change the classroom environment from just student-teacher to family oriented. Within our Diné Studies elective course that they attend for 45 minutes a week, we will also be doing the same type of lesson with their own activities, but this unit will be for the immediate class to be used every day. It will create the bond among the students and instructor.
The oral stories by my father and mother on the Diné Emergence Stories let the students become aware of how storytelling is important within our Diné culture, because it creates our life, humanity, lessons, and being one with the Diné Holy People. Students are taught to listen carefully to not just words, but to their surroundings by using their senses and most of all their imagination. The imagination will open them to a new world that they have never heard of or have been to, by just keeping their mind and hearts open to this revelation. Oral storytelling creates the world around our students of their culture, language, and gives them an identity of where they are coming from. Always remind the students to understand their story more that they can carefully look at each illustration and that there are many versions of these stories.
At the beginning of the school year, a form will be sent home with each student for their parents to fill in the information of their child’s name, parents’ names, their four clans in order, and where they are from. These forms will be broken up into sections to show the students why we introduce ourselves in such a way to promote our identity. The following areas will be included; naming themselves, naming of the parents, naming of the four clans, and location of where they are from. An assignment can be given as a homework for the student for their parent to help them illustrate or take notes in these sections. It is important to always have the parents or family involved with this unit. This home involvement will hopefully keep the family interested too, to also learn more of themselves and their children. Throughout the give and returns of the activities, information will be transferred into their “Shi” book. This book will be the end result for each student, and by the end of the nine weeks each student should be able to introduce themselves in Diné language and properly.
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