Spread the Word: First Nations Languages in BC

Reading Strategy

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In the last chapter, you learned how to build your vocabulary with synonyms. In this chapter, you will learn to build your vocabulary with antonyms.

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. For example, old and young are antonyms. Dead and alive are antonyms.

Find the pairs of antonyms in this list

better sleeping destroy help right
awake harm wrong worse save
Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter. 

Words can have many antonyms. The antonyms for renew are in the grey parts of the circle.

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Try this

1. Ask your instructor for an ANT Circles sheet, or open and print one from the link.

2. Create an Antonym Circle for each of the words below. Use a thesaurus to find antonyms. Choose words you can sound out.

die sick connect grow
Ask your instructor to check your work.

Word Attack Strategy

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When you first began to read, you mostly learned words with three letters, such as hop, pin, and cod.

The first letter is a consonant. The second letter is a vowel. The third letter is a consonant. These words are called consonant-vowel-consonant words. We call them CVC words for short.

Words and syllables with this pattern often have a short vowel sound. Read these words. See if you can hear the short vowel in each list.

rat hid not
gap dim rod
mad pin mop

Word Patterns

Now you will study a new word pattern. This pattern is like the CVC pattern, but it has an e on the end. So we call them CVCE words. Here are some examples:

  • bone
  • cake
  • bike

Check that each word above has the consonant-vowel-consonant-e pattern.

The e on the end of these words is sometimes called the bossy e or the magic e. That’s because the e tells the other vowel to make a long sound.

Read the CVCE words again and notice the long vowel sound. A long vowel sound is when the vowel says its own name.

Now read these words. Make sure you read them with a long vowel sound.

rate hide note
gape dime rode
made pine mope

Practice reading these CVC and CVCE words together

rat rate
gap gape
mad made
hid hide
dim dime
pin pine
mop mope
rod rode
not note

The words in the box are from the reading for this chapter

man home time his
did safe made wave
can save like kid

1. Make a list of the CVC words.

2. Make a list of the CVCE words.

Many words begin with two consonants, like st, pl, bl, wr, th, wh, ph, and ch. Words that begin with two consonants also follow the CVCE rule. The e makes the vowel say its name.

 

Underline the CVCE pattern in these words

3. white

4. these

5. place

6. stage

The CVCE rule is also useful for reading words with more than one syllable.

Underline the CVCE pattern in these words

7. rewrite

8. alive

9. taken

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter. 

Use Your Strategies

Now you are ready to read Spread the Word: First Nations Languages in BC. You will come across many of the antonyms you have looked at. You will also read many CVCE words, which will be in bold. Use what you have learned to understand and enjoy the text.

What do you think about the ANT Circles task? Did it help you make sense of what you read? Rate this task in your notebook. How many stars would you give it? One star means it did not help you. Five stars mean it helped you a lot.Print

Check Your Understanding

Choose the best answer

1. What is the subject of this reading?

a. First Nations people in Canada

b. First Nations languages in British Columbia

c. Skwomesh language

2. What is the main idea of this reading?

a. First Nations languages are at risk, but together we can keep them strong

b. Khelsilem is a good person.

c. Hardwood forests renew themselves.

3. How many First Nations languages are spoken in British Columbia?

a. 10

b. Over 30

c. 102

4. Why are First Nations languages at risk?

a. The government tried to get rid of First Nations languages through laws and schools.

b. Language is not important to First Nations people.

5. Why does Khelsilem want Skwomesh culture and language to be like a hardwood forest?

a. He wants the Skwomesh culture and language to reach a point where it renews itself.

b. He thinks forests are very beautiful.

Write a short answer to these questions

6. Name two ways Khelsilem is helping to keep the Skwomesh language strong.

7. What are some ways First Nations people can learn their language?

8. What is a settler?

9. How can settlers help First Nations languages stay strong?

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter. 

Grammar

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Look at this quote from Spread the Word: First Nations Languages in BC. Is it talking about the past, present, or future?

First, the flowers will come back. Then the grasses and weeds will return. Then the shrubs and berry bushes will grow. Next, the softwood trees will come. Finally, the hardwood trees will return. Now the hardwood forest will renew itself. Each stage made way for the next stage. Khelsilem hopes to set up the next wave of Skwomesh people so they will be like that hardwood forest.

This quote is talking about the future.

Grammar Rule

To talk about the future, use will + the base form of a verb. The base form of a verb does not have an ending on it.

Example: The flowers will come back. Then the grasses and weeds will return.

Which of these sentences are written in future tense?

1. Khelsilem is 24 years old.

2. Khesilem learned his traditional language.

3. Khelsilem will build a school.

4. Khelsilem will help others learn Skwomesh.

5. He is like a shrub.

6. One day, the shrub will become a forest.

Check your work with the Answer Key at the end of this chapter. 

Writing

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Khelsilem hopes to set up the next wave of Skwomesh people so their language will be like a hardwood forest. Their language will not be at risk. It will renew itself. To do this, he lives in a house where Skwomesh is spoken every day. He will also build the Skwomesh Language Academy.

In your life, what will you do to help your community?

Writing Task

Write a paragraph about this topic:

In your life, what will you do to help your community?

Here are some ideas you might write about:

  • Take a bus
  • Plant a garden
  • Fix things that are broken
  • Know my neighbours
  • Pick up litter
  • Vote
  • Use cloth bags
  • Raise good kids
  • Share my skills
  • Buy local
  • Bake extra and share
  • Greet people

Here is an example paragraph:

There are many things I will do to help my community. I will take the bus, ride a bike, and walk rather than drive a car. This will help keep the air clean. I will vote. Then government will have to think about the needs of my community. I will be a good teacher. This will help my community be creative and solve problems. In these ways, I will help keep my community strong.

  1. Make a web to plan your ideas. Ask your instructor for a Make a Web sheet, or open and print one from the link.
  2. Write a topic sentence.
  3. Add the best ideas from your web to your paragraph.
  4. Write a concluding sentence.

When you have finished:

  1. Make sure you correctly use future tense.
  2. Are there any words you could change for a more interesting word?
  3. Did you include a topic sentence, details, and a conclusion?
  4. Hand in your first copy for feedback.
  5. Make changes based on your instructor’s feedback.
  6. Hand in your web with your first and final copy.

Answer Key

Reading Strategy
help/harm, save/destroy, better/worse, sleeping/awake, right/wrong
Word Attack Strategy
QUESTION ANSWER
1  CVC words man, did, can, kid, his
CVCE words home, time, safe, made, wave, save, like
3 white 
4 these 
5  place   
6 stage
7 rewrite 
8 alive 
9 taken
Check Your Understanding
QUESTION ANSWER
1 b
2 a
3 b
4 a
5 a
6 Khelsilem learned his language. He lives in a house where he speaks his language every day. He is building a school to help others learn the language.
7 First Nations people can learn their language in a pre-school, at camp, and by spending time with elders.
8 A settler is a person who came to British Columbia from somewhere else.
9 Settlers can listen to people speak their language, learn about the First Nations land where they live, and support First Nations language learning in their area.
Grammar
The sentences written in future tense are 3, 4, and 6.

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Adult Literacy Fundamental English - Course Pack 3 Copyright © 2015 by Shantel Ivits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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