¡ A VIAJAR SE HA DICHO!

1. ¡A VIAJAR SE HA DICHO! Unit Portfolio Presentation Maya Luna

2. Unit Summary Congratulations! You have been selected to enter a drawing for the chance to win a dream vacation of your choice. All you have to do is plan your dream vacation to any destination* with a budget of $3000 USD. In order to receive the grand prize of $3,000 for your vacation, your job is to contact travel agents, hotels, embassies, airlines, make an itinerary, and learn anything there is to learn about the country of your dream vacation. The trip which is best organized and stays within budget will win the dream vacation. Contest open to all students of La Escuela register in SPN IV. Except U.S., Canada and Mexico. Contact me for information and contest rules.

3. Target Content Standards 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. 1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.  3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language. 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own. 5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting. 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.

4. Unit Objectives

5. Curriculum Framing Questions Essential Questions Am I ready to face life situations in another language other than English? How can I improve my Spanish vocabulary in many areas when creating a trip? How can I apply my learning experience to my life and career skills? What other subject areas and skills can be applied to this project?

6. CFQs Unit Questions How comfortable I feel to communicate in Spanish after learning the language for 4 years? In what new areas has creating a trip increased my vocabulary? Does speaking other languages is beneficial or should people in other countries learn English as a worldwide language? Can reading, math and technology be applied to daily life situations, how? Content Questions Is translating a document using a dictionary provides good understanding of a language?

7. CFQs What useful words I have learned, that I didn’t new before? Is it important to know simple phrases in another language when visiting a new country? How important is to have a little history of a country when visiting it? What sources should I trust on blogs? Does communicating by email has a style of writing which includes rules? Which new technology skills have you learned?

8. Assessment to Gauge Student Needs Prior to Beginning the Unit Questioning: provide a set of questions to students which starts them to brainstorm about their possible projects. This activity allows the teacher to measure the student’s understanding and proficiency in Spanish. One-on-one assessments: meeting with the students to discuss their answers to the questions’ activity. Group assessments: meetings to discuss their ideas for the project and provide feed back. The questions will allow me to pair students in groups according to responses. Once students have a group they will use the method of "Think-Group-share" . During and After the Unit Project Assessment will continue while working on the project and after the project is done by having one-on-one group discussions, making checklists and deadline checklist to monitor student progress, by providing students with brochures, travel agencies packages and resourceful information. Once the presentations have concluded, we will discuss what skills students have learner for their personal lives and future career goals.

9. Why Projects? Projects enhance the development of 21st century skills in the following areas: Working in group projects teaches students interaction skills, leadership, problem solving strategies which will be useful in their personal lives and career s. Projects promote analyzing and synthesizing information in order to solve real life problems. Working in a project promotes self supervision, time management, independence, meeting deadlines and greater use of critical thinking skills. Projects provide students with the opportunity to use a variety of technology skills such as PowerPoint, publisher, Internet search, and more. Students are also able to incorporate knowledge from other subjects such as math, history and English. Projects allow students to reinforce previous learning.

10. Project Summary *Students will work in groups of 4 and create a dream vacation for one traveler with a budget of $3,000 USD. *They will be require to contact real travel agents by email to find quotes to their destination, learn about visa requirements, immunizations, country’s history, airfare price and more. All the data provided has to be real and not fictitious. *They will be require to contact at least two agencies and keep all the communication with those agencies in Spanish, as if they only spoke Spanish and not English. The rest of the research and contacts might be done in the students’ language of preference. *To conclude the project, each group will provide a PowerPoint-oral presentation presenting their dream vacation. All group member s are require to speak in Spanish and participate. *Their notes and contact emails with the travel agents will be collected, as well as a list of 30 new words they have learned. *They will be evaluated by the teacher and their peers to conclude which group is the winner, not just by staying within budget, but oral expression, artistic and visual presentation, and writing skills. *After all presentations have concluded we will have a class discussion about what they have learned.