Projects
InTASC Standard 6: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
There are many forms that students can showcase their knowledge. This can be through formative assessments and summative assessment, but projects can provide a more-holistic assessment of the students' abilities. "Traditional assessments certainly have their place, but they're nested in larger, more authentic applications" (Laureate Education, 2012). Especially when we think of something as fluid and alive as a language, it can be difficult to see a student's full linguistic competencies through a multiple-choice test. Projects provide a more applicable and creative method for students to show what they know in a less-rigid format. “Students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills in the context of doing an authentic, meaningful project" (Buck Institute for Education, n.d.).
In my class, students have multiple opportunities to express themselves through projects, and many prefer project-based assessment to traditional assessments. Projects "[infuse] 21st century skills with academic content knowledge" (Laureate Education, 2012). Types of projects include creating advertisements, brochures, booklets, and family trees, as well as researching different Spanish-speaking countries. In each project opportunity, I think of how the students will be able to ameliorate their speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Table of Contents
Here is one of my classes working on a project during my first year teaching. They created their own city using at least ten different places. From there they needed to describe directions to each of the places in written and spoken Spanish. This project applied the city vocabulary and directions grammar that we had been working on that unit, while also working on speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.
After reading Amanda Ripley's, The Smartest Kids on the World: And How They Got That Way (2014) for my course on Global Education Policy, I realized that projects were only really beneficial if they were constructive and required students to apply their studies in a meaningful way. In the book, a student reflects on her experience in a US classroom versus in Finland. "The class spent an inordinate amount of time making posters. We did so many posters. I remember telling my friends, ‘Are you kidding me? Another poster?’ It was like arts and crafts, only more boring. The teacher gave all the students the information for the poster, and the kids just had to cut and glue their way to a finished product. Everybody’s poster featured the same subject" (Ripley, 2014). I found this both insightful and troubling. It was troubling because I myself had been guilty of time-filling projects during my first year teaching. My second year was an improvement, and this year I am working on how to make my projects more productive. If students are going to include arts and crafts in their lessons, then it needs to serve an educational role and not just consume time before a break or holiday.
Here are some examples of projects done in my class:
Menu Project
During our unit on food, the students worked on creating a menu for a restaurant in a Spanish-speaking country. The students chose a Spanish-speaking country at random (to avoid every student choosing Puerto Rico and Mexico) and searched up common dishes in that country. After that they were tasked with creating a menu for a restaurant in that country. They completed this using a website called Piktochart.com. This project went further than the content in class, as the students researched food specific to another country and then presented it to the class. Students were invested in the many different kinds of cuisines, as well as seeing what their classmates' menus looked like. This project connects to our unit on food.
Menu Project
My Restaurant Menu Project PowerPoint Slides
Menu Project - Student Sample
Here is a student sample from a menu project that we worked on during a unit on food. This student picked Panama. He used a website called Piktochart.com.
This project works on a number of skills. The students practice their researching, typing, and technology skills (searching up information about the food in a Spanish-speaking country). They practice their presentation skills (creating menu and presenting it to the class). They work their reading and writing skills (looking up Spanish food and typing up their menu) and their speaking and listening skills (presenting their project and listening to their peers present in Spanish). It also provides a cultural element, going beyond teaching grammar or vocabulary. This is additionally beneficial for Heritage speakers who understand the language but enjoy learning more about other countries.
School Project
In this project, the students applied recently-acquired school language to describe a celebrity donating (fictitiously) to a school. They described the celebrity and what they donated. I came up with this project as a way to engage students in a topic that is relevant for them. Many of my students have artists that they look up to and enjoy talking about them in a project format. This connects to our unit on school supplies, school subjects, numbers, and descriptions.
School Project
School Project PowerPoint Slides
This project works similar skills as the menu project. The students practice their researching, typing, and technology skills (searching up information about a celebrity). They practice their presentation skills (creating project and presenting it to the class). They work their reading and writing skills (looking up information and typing it out) and their speaking and listening skills (presenting their project and listening to their peers present in Spanish). It also provides relevancy to the students, since they will be talking about popular figures for their generation. This is additionally beneficial, as it engages students in the presentations.
Student Sample of School Project
Translation: Chance the Rapper
He is a man and is tall. He bought computers for all the students for $500 each. His name is Chancelor J. Bennett. He is African American. He has a fiance and a daughter. He is from Chicago, Illinois. He donated $100,000 to our school!
City Project
In this project, the students choose a city in a Spanish-speaking country and create a travel guide, describing different attractions in that city. They then present it in front of the class to work their presentational skills on top of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This project connects to our unit on describing cities and places within the city.
City Project
City Project PowerPoint Slides
This project works similar skills as the previous projects (although with different target language). The students practice their researching, typing, and technology skills (searching up information about cities in Spanish-speaking countries). They practice their presentation skills (creating travel guide and presenting it to the class). They work their reading and writing skills (looking up attractions and typing up their brochure) and their speaking and listening skills (presenting their project and listening to their peers present in Spanish). It also provides a cultural element, going beyond teaching grammar or vocabulary, by teaching about different cities in Spanish-speaking countries. This is beneficial for all students but additionally beneficial for Heritage speakers who understand the language but enjoy learning more about other countries.
Student Sample of City Project
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Translation:
Prado Museum: People look at paintings from many painters here and take photos.
Rosaleda Gardens: People talk, walk and smell the roses here.
Buen Retira Park: People rent rowboats to paddle across the man-made pond.
Main Plaza: People go to buy things in the plaza. They eat in the restaurants.
Monumental Theatre: People listen to music. They watch actors in presentations
Royal Palace: People visit the Royal Palace. They ask questions to palace guides.
Menuela Cafe: People drink coffee here. They eat pastries.
Ana Maria Matute Public Library: People read books. They discuss stories that they have read.
Santiago Bernabeue Stadium: People watch football players compete. They celebrate their favorite football team.
Storybook Project
In this project, the students create a booklet about their lives using the target language learned throughout the class. This was the final project for Spanish 1. This project connects with many of the topics that we learned throughout the school year.
Storybook Rubric
Translation: 1. What is your name? 2. How old are you? 3. How are you? (Description) 4. What do you like to do? With your friends? When it's nice out? During the weekend? 5. What classes do you have? What do you need for the classes? 6. Who do you live with? 7. Describe your family. 8. What do you have to do to help in the home? 9. What do you prefer to eat? 10. What is your daily routine? 11. What do you wear? In the winter? In the spring? In the summer? In the autumn?
Credit to Jessica Hall, 2014
This project works on many skills related to topics that we learned throughout the year. The students practice their presentation skills (creating booklet and presenting it to the class). They work their reading and writing skills (creating their booklet and reading their peers' books) and their speaking and listening skills (presenting their project and listening to their peers present in Spanish). This is a summative project, touching on many topics that we learned all year. It is relevant to the students, as they see how much they can talk about themselves in Spanish by the end of the year.
Student Sample of Storybook Project
Translation: 1. My name is [blurred name]. 2. I am 15 years old. 3. I am from Haiti. I live in Connecticut. 4. I like to sleep. I like to eat with my friends when the weather is nice. I like to swim. I like to sleep on the weekends. 5. I have algebra and history class. I need books and pencils. 6. I have black hair, brown eyes, and I am short and very smart. 7. I live with my mom, my brother, my grandfather, and my grandmother. I have two dogs, and we live in a big house. 8. My mom is short, but she is very strong. My brother is very small but very smart in English class. My grandmother loves to go shopping and my grandfather works a lot. 9. In my house, I sleep, watch TV, and make cookies. 10. I prefer cereal for breakfast, lasagna for lunch, and cheesecake for dessert with a glass of milk. 11. My daily routine is walking up, preparing for school, going home and doing homework. Then I watch Netflix. 12. In the winter I wear hats. In the spring, I wear jackets and shorts. In the summer I wear shorts and swimsuits.
In the sample above, the student that created this booklet spoke no Spanish at the beginning of the school year, so her improvement is very apparent. The project involves the students describing themselves and their families using a number of grammar points and vocabulary topics that we learned throughout the year in the form of a booklet. At the end of the year, I paired this final project with a final, summative assessment. Between the project and the assessment, the students demonstrated their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. In the project, they also worked on other skills, such as using creativity in drawing and communication and presentation skills when they presented their booklet. It is important that after students complete their projects, they present them in Spanish. This will ensure that students are working their speaking and listening on top of their reading and writing.
References:
Buck Institute for Education [BIE]. (n.d.). “What is PBL?” Retrieved from http://www.bie.org/about/what_pbl
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Introduction to planning backward
. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Ripley, A. (2014). The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.