¡Bienvenidos a Nuestro País!

Welcome to Our Country!

A PBL+MM for Spanish I

(SOL SI.12 Communication Across Communities)

Designed by

Brenda L. Witherspoon

QUESTION

While discussing the geography of Mexico, students expressed a desire to know more about other Latin-American countries. Why should they visit a certain country? What are the people like? What can one do there? What is their daily routine?

The class decided to do a project in which they would investigate eight Spanish-speaking countries and attempt to attract visitors to that country.

PLAN

The scenario: Students are placed in teams of four members to form a Tourism Committee for their assigned country. The countries are México, Spain, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Panamá, Argentina, Perú and Guatemala. They must devise an advertising campaign using Keynote software on their laptops to create a presentation to show to an audience of prospective tourists. Each member will be responsible for two to three categories. The presentation will include:

·  Title Page

·  Reference Page

·  Climate/Seasons

·  Monetary Unit/Exchange Rates

·  Famous Attractions

·  Current Political Situation/Head of State

·  Souvenir Information

·  Hotel Suggestions/Rates

·  Airline Information and Rates

SCHEDULE/PROJECT

Phase I-Research Gathering

Time frame-1 week

Using the KWHL graphic organizer, students will identify what they already know about their country, what they want/need to know, how they will go about getting that information and then what they learned that will be useful for their final product. Students will also view the tourist survey located at http://www.oas.org/TOURISM/LA_summ.pdf to further identify what tourists are seeking when planning a vacation.

Phase II-Compilation of Information

Time frame-1 class period

Using the Venn Diagram, they will agree on information to be included, information to be excluded and information that requires further discussion.

Phase III-Preparation

Time frame-2 class periods

Using the Storyboard Hand-out, each team member will outline four slides to be included in the final product.

Phase IV-Creation of the Final Product

Time frame-1 week

Using the Keynote software on their laptops, students will create a slide show with each member’s part portrayed.

Minimum number of slides=9. Each slide should be colorful, creative, include an illustration and the font size must be legible (24 or greater)

ASSESSMENT

The final project will be assessed on the following categories: Topic/Content-Is the information accurate; Technical-Are the correct number of slides included and are the essential elements present; Mechanics-Is the grammar correct?; Cooperative Group Work-How did the team function as a whole?; Oral Presentation-How well was the final product presented to the audience?. A multimedia rubrics will be used to score the final product. Within that same rubrics is a section for self-assessment.

MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION

The multimedia presentation afforded the students an opportunity to achieve their goal of learning about other Spanish-speaking countries. In addition, the project reached across the curriculum, involving Social Studies and English. Students were able to further develop their public speaking skills and ability to function within a team, both relevant and vital skills for the future employment.

CREDITS & REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America

http://fodors.com/

http://www.spanair.com/es/

http://www.latinamericalinks.com/

http://www.exitotravel.com/

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/europe/spain/

Adapted from a template from the WebQuest Page. Updated Spring 2003.