Spanish Poster Project

Imagine that WJC is beginning an exchange program with different Spanish-speaking countries.WJC students will go to one of each of the Spanish-speaking countries. Your class has been given the task of helping the students decide which country to pick.

RESEARCH

You will be assigned a specific country and you will research what the nation offers in the following categories:

/ Geography: location, major geographical features and climate
/ Famous people
/ Popular sports
/ Typical foods
/ Places of interest to visit
/ Special holiday traditions
/ Currency
/ Languages spoken in addition to Spanish
/ At least two things about the people and/or culture [besides language] that are unique and different from life here in Alabama.

*Use the Research Organizer handout to help you collect your research.

ILLUSTRATIONS

/ A hand-drawn graphic that is closely associated with the country
/ A hand-drawn flag of the country
/ A map that shows the location of the country within a continent

POSTER

/ This research will lead to the creation of a poster that is attractive and informative but is not filled with blocks of text. This poster must catch a viewer’s eye. It will be a visual representation of most of your research. Your poster should be an advertisement for your country. You want your country to be chosen as the first choice destination out of the all the Spanish-speaking countries.
/ The content of your poster, planning, attention to detail and effort are the components that will be used to determine your grade. I am not looking for pages just printed out from the Internet.

*Refer to the Poster Rubric handout

ORAL PRESENTATION

/ Your presentation to the class will cover not only the contents of your poster but also additional information you learned when you researched your country.

*Use the Oral Presentation print handout

Research Organizer

GEOGRAPHY: LOCATION, MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES AND CLIMATE

Where is your country located ?

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What countries and bodies of water does it border?

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What is its capital?

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Describe the climate of your country. Does it have seasons as we do in Massachusetts? Does it rain all year? Is it hot in the winter?

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Mention any major geographical features.

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FAMOUS PEOPLE

Explain what we should know about two of the most famous people from your country. Do some research and then, from memory, BRIEFLY tell why they are famous.

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POPULAR SPORTS

Mention the two most popular sports and add any information we should know about them.

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TYPICAL FOODS

Briefly describe some typical foods of your country: Make sure that the name of the food is in Spanish. You do not have to translate into English, but if that information is available, include it.

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TOURISM

Why would we want to go to your country? What places to visit or events to attend is your country famous for? Explain why.

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HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

What are some special holiday traditions?

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CURRENCY

Explain the money system that is used in your country [for instance, we use dollars and cents].

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LANGUAGES SPOKEN [in addition to Spanish]

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CULTURE

What makes the people and the culture of your country unique? Try to identify at least two areas of life that are different from life here in the U.S.

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Poster rubric

4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / Score
Required elements:
Country name
Famous person
Popular sport
Typical food
Places of interest
Currency
Languages
Flag
Map
Graphic / The poster includes all required elements as well as additional information. / All required elements are included on the poster. / All but 1 of the required elements are included on the poster. / Several required elements were missing.
Info is clear and precise / The information is very easy to understand. A minimum of paragraphs is used to present the researched information. / The information is understandable. A reasonably small number of paragraphs are used to present the researched information. / The information is mostly understandable. Several large blocks of text are used to get the researched information across / The information is difficult to understand. Too many large blocks of text are used to get the researched information across.
Info is not plagerized / It is very evident that the research was carefully thought about and the student used his/her own words to present information. / There is evidence that the research was carefully thought about and the student used his/her own words to present information. / There is some evidence that the research was carefully thought about and the student used his/her own words to present information. / There is no evidence that the research was carefully thought about and the student used his/her own words to present information.
Visually attractive / The poster is exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. / The poster is attractive in terms of design, layout and neatness. / The poster is acceptably attractive though it may be a bit messy. / The poster is distractingly messy or very poorly designed. It is not attractive.
Mechanics / There are no grammatical/mechanical mistakes on the poster. / There are 1-2 grammatical/mechanical mistakes on the poster. / There are 3-4 grammatical/mechanical mistakes on the poster. / There are more than 4 grammatical/mechanical mistakes on the poster.
Total

Oral Presentation

The purpose of your oral presentation is to convince the “audience” that they should select your country to visit. The following are the required elements of your presentation:

Location

/ Do not assume that the listeners know where the country is located. Pretendthat they have no idea where it is located and describe it to them. The goal is to have them find it on a map just by listening to you.

TouristAttraction

/ Pretend that you have one chance to make listeners excited to see this place or event. Describe it and tell why the listeners would enjoy visiting it.

Food

/ Tell the listeners about one dish that sounds really interesting. This dish should be something unlike anything they might be able to try in the U.S. The idea is not to make the food sound “delicious.” You want them to get a sense of what the typical food in your country is.

Famous Person

/ The listeners may never have heard of this person. Let them know why s/he is famous to the residents of your country.

Cultural differences

/ Prepare the listeners for something they might not expect if they visit your country. You want to inform them about a cultural difference between your country and the U.S. but you do not want to express your opinion about this difference. The idea is to inform the listeners about something that makes your country and its people unique and different.