Submitted by Martha Johnson
Objectives:
Content:
Students will...
- identify a topic related to global interdependence for their 5 paragraph essay
- develop a basic understanding (based on our basic needs as human beings) of how we are interconnected as global citizens
- recognize that some of the ways we are interdependent mean/signify unequal relationships between countries or groups of people
Cultural:
Students will...
- begin to develop an awareness of the immense economic gap existing between the northern and southern hemishpere and its impact on people's way of life
- recognize that people have multiple perspectives related to the many different themes of global interdependence and that these perspectives are directly linked to their cultural-geographical life experiences
Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...
- use comparative adjectives to compare and contrast products and countries using words like: similar, semejante, diferente, distinto, etc.
- use the present tense of various expressions to say "seems like" : parece que... se me hace que, etc. to describe their reactions to their partners soccer ball descriptions
- use comparison words like tan(to) como, mas que, menos que to compare and contrast the two sets of soccer ball descriptions
- Use question format (question words, appropriate punctuation and inverse noun verb order) and vocabulary from day 1 and day 2 to identify in writing what they want to know about global interdependence
Language: Content Compatible
Students will...
- be able to identify how individuals who submit newspaper articles about global themes use the following: describir, discutir, debatir, explicar, and mostrar to convince their audience of the importance of their topic
Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...
- do pair work (share soccer ball descriptions and complete KWL chart)
- gain an understanding how to do advanced internet research and list source information to make a bibliography
- develop note-taking skills
- use decoding skills to identify themes, ideas, concepts and new vocaubluary when reading their article
- identify and use key words in Spanish to do an "advanced search" of the internet to look for an article related to global interdependence
Time Frame:
This lesson will take one 84 minute class period. Note: Depending on students' experience doing internet research, this lesson could take two class periods. Students who finish early could help others or have class time to read their articles in class.
Materials Needed:
- Handout of a KWL chart for Activity 6 (attachment #3). If students work in pairs, you need half as many. I made a an overhead of this so we could co-create it together before I let the students do it in pairs. The one we made together as a class is on page #2 of attachment #3.
- Overhead of the topic for their 5 paragraph essays, how to choose a topic, steps to follow and how to organize a 5 paragraph essay for Activity 5. I made a few copies of this as well to hand out to students who I identified as needing some extra help based on their soccer ball descriptions. (see attachment #2)
- Handout for recording bibliography information for Activity 5 (see page #2 of attachment #2)
- You may also want to make an overhead and a handout of attachment #4: how to do an Advanced internet search in Spanish for Activity #7. I also included a list of newspapers and links to newspapers in Spanish on the backside of this handout (see page #2 of attachment #4 or the resource section below).
- You will also need the laptop lab with Internet access and a printer for students to be able to do internet research in class and if available for the next 3-4 days to write the draft of their essays.
- A laptop and projection panel to model how to do an advanced search in Spanish.
- You may want to have a review sheet of pertinent vocabulary from the first two lessons for Activity #1. (see attachment #1 Vocabulario).
- Copies of La Prensa de Minnesota (or other newpapers in Spanish) to share with students. You may use the websites from the resource section below if you do not have access to print newspapers in Spanish (for Activity #4).
Description of Assessment (Performance Project):
Pre-task:
1. Review and reflect on new vocabulary, issues, topics discussed, etc. from Day One and Day Two. You may want to have a review sheet of pertinent vocabulary from the first two lessons. (see attachment #1 Vocabulario) You may want to assign certain words for students to discuss and present definitions or examples to the class.
2. Hand back corrected work from the first two days with written feedback/comments.
3. Students share and reflect on their first and second descriptions of the soccer ball. Ideally, they would share both descriptions with another student and compare the similarities and differences between the first and second descriptions and the two sets of work.
Language note: Remind students of the comparison words from Lesson 2, mas que, menos que, tan(to) como, the comparative adjectives distinto, diferente, parecido, similar and the different expressions we have been using to say "seems like" to help them share their thoughts about their partners soccer ball descriptions.
During:
4. The teacher will introduce the writing prompt: Escribe un ensayo de cinco párrafos donde examines algún aspecto de la interdependencia global. This writing assignment will be the summative assessment for the unit. Students will do some internet research, use the 5 butcherblock sheets we created in class yesterday and make a KWL chart (Activity # 6 today) to help them choose a specific topic related to global interdependence.
After a brief introduction to the writing assignment, the teacher will have samples of the local newspaper (in this case, La Prensa de Minnesota) available to share with students. The teacher explains that the essays they are going to write, will be submitted to the editor of La Prensa for possible publication in a future issue. Have students look at articles that have been submitted by individuals. Discuss the style these authors use. The teacher can highlight how these authors use the following: describir, explicar, discutir, debatir y mostrar to convince the reader of the importance of the topic. Note: If there are no local newspapers available, there are many newspapers available on the web (see resource section below or page 2 of attachment #4) for students to preview tone and writing style in Spanish. These newspapers may also be a possible source for publication of student work as well. All of my students presented their completed essays to the class as well.
Note: Their essays could also be published in an immersion journal at the school or shared with other immersion students in other grades/classes. In the past, my students have shared their work with junior high Spanish Immersion US History and World Geography classes. Ideally, there should be an authentic audience/purpose for their writing whenever possible! The authentic audience should be presented clearly at this stage to movtivate students to do their best!
Language note: Check in with students to make sure they understand the following: describir, explicar, discutir, debatir y mostrar. Ask students to give examples where the author of the article they read uses these strategies.
5. Using an overhead, the teacher will re-introduce the writing prompt (tema), some ideas on how to choose a topic using the KWL chart, (see activity #6), steps to follow and a brief explanation of the format of a 5 paragraph essay and the information you need to complete a bibliography. All of this can be found in attachment #2. Students may practice their note-taking skills as needed.
6. Students will do a think-pair-share activity using a KWL chart to brainstorm ideas about a topic they are thinking of using for their 5 paragraph essay. The teacher will model this process first for the students using an overhead transparency of a blank KWL chart and encouraging input from the students. They may want to look at the butcherblock papers again for ideas too. They could also refer back to the vocabulary review page (attachment #1) for vocabulary reinforcement as they complete the chart. See attchment #3 for a blank KWL chart and a sample of one we made together as a class.
7. Using a laptop and an overhead projection panel, the teacher will model (encouraging the students to follow along) how to do an advanced search in Spanish for an article using key words (see attachment #4). It is also important to explain to students the variety of different reading levels, quality of work, etc. that is available on the web. They need to skim their article (before printing) to make sure that it is quality information and an appropriate reading level.
8. Students will have the remainder of the class period to do internet research on the topic of their choice. Each student should find at least one article related to a topic or sub-topic on their K-W-L chart that they can print out and take home to read. They must do an advanced search using key words they choose. The article(s) they select must be in Spanish. After they have done at least one advanced search, they may decide to use one of the web newspapers in Spanish to search for an article as well (see resources section below or page #2 of attachment #4). Note: They will probably have to search within those sites using key words as well. Remind students to use the "Hoja para la bibliografia" to record the information they will use later to create a bibliography. (see page #2 of attachment #2). They must have at least one source for their bibliography for this essay.
Post Task
9. Check-in with students about their research and topics. Did everyone find at least one article? Did everyone remember to write down the citations for the bibliography on the worksheet? Have students share the main idea, title, or author of their article. You may want to ask them to describe the key words they used to successfully find their information. You may also ask them to share what they perceive as the author's perspective about the topic.
Language note: You may want to review different expressions used to say "seems like" to help students express their perceptions about the author's perspective.
10. Tarea: Leer el artículo que encontraste hoy y apuntar las ideas principales del autor. Subrayar palabras o conceptos nuevos.
Assessment:
Formal Assessment:
The teacher could formally assess the K-W-L chart, however, I believe it is more of a pre-writing tool to help them focus their research. I would read them over, give them some feedback and give them points for doing the work. Perhaps the biggest assessment aspect for today's lesson is whether or not they found an appropriate article.Informal Assessment:
The teacher can informally assess student responses during whole class discussions, small group and individual work time.
References and Resources:
You may want to refer the students to the following websites while they are doing their research. Note: This list was compiled by students in a Spanish Immersion Current Events class. Students added new sites to this list daily throughout the course like a giant word wall. It is also included as the second page of attachment #4.
Sitios en el Web que pueden ser útiles para encontrar noticias actuales (periódicos en el Web)
www.prensalibre.com (Guatemala)
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/wjhs/mediactr/forlangpathfinder/span_eve/
www.thepaperboy.com (Acceso a diferentes periódicos en el mundo en diferentes idiomas.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/news/
www.periodismo.com (se puede conectarse con muchos otros sitios)
http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/
www.terra.com/redirect/google/actualidad/htm
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/wjhs/mediactr/forlangpathfinder/span_eve#Internet (se puede conectarse con muchos periódicos en español de diferentes países)
www.onlinenewspapers.com/spain.htm
Attachments:
NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)1. Vocabulario. (Vocabulario.doc) This includes a review of vocabulary from Days 1 and 2 and maybe used for a review during Activity 1 or to help students complete the KWL chart during activity #6)
2. The writing prompt (Tema.doc), Como seleccionar un tema, pasos a seguir, un ensayo de 5 parrafos y hoja de la bibliografia. For use during activity #5. The hoja de la bibliografia should also be used to write down citations during Activity #8.
3. KWL chart: blank and sample (KWL_Chart.doc) for use during activity #6.
4. How to do internet research (Busqueda.doc) and a list of newspaper sites and links in Spanish for use during activity #7.