BSU+Final+Project

Diane Mehegan December 12, 2011

__ Final Project Overview __ __ Cultural Discovery for 7th and 8th grade Spanish Classes __ Essential Question: What are the benefits for adolescents in the study of a world language? What effect does the study of world cultures have on our lives?

Project timeline: This project will be ongoing throughout the academic year, but will be divided into two month segments with groups and focus countries changing to align with the current curricular goals.

Academic standards: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Communities, Communicating for real purposes

Students will communicate with Spanish speaking students from a Spanish country on a weekly basis. Communication will be in Spanish and English. Sources for finding a partner class are Edmodo, Epals, and iEarn. Students will work in groups and will use a variety of digital tools to craft their communications. It is expected that questions (regarding culture, vocabulary and grammatical structures) will arise during the course of the year, which will be posted on a PBL bulletin board, researched, and discussed.

Assessment: Students will keep a wiki journal to indicate their weekly participation, and to reflect on their learning. Journals will be read by the teacher on a weekly basis with comments given on student learning and participation. Since the focus of the curriculum is to increase the ability to communicate in a world language, the students will be expected to use vocabulary and grammar from the current lessons in their communications and correct usage will be assessed.