Ultimate Goals
So I had grand plans of orchestrating a comprehensive, super-intensive, especially creative final over spring break. Instead, I rested. A lot. So now I have to finalize finals, though I’ve barely started envisioning how to make them comprehensive, much less intensive and creative.
I want to cover at least the majority of the 5 C’s, but most especially Communication (I figure the Culture & Comparison might happen sort of naturally somewhere in the communicating…No? Too much to hope?) For Connections, I would really like them to write something in ye olde L1 about reading strategies they have learned/honed/had to do. After all, as part of the New Schools Project, our school subscribes to six instructional strategies, including “writing to learn,” so I think I can justify it.
I envision students putting this together as a glog. However, having had at least 3 students fail last year when I piloted the whole project-instead-of-exam idea, I know now that I have to have a backup for those lacking the follow-up gene. In other words: I’m going to have them do the same kind of things, but IN class, ON exam day–ALL of them who do not have a FINISHED glog the day of.
This worked rather well at midterm time in Spanish 2, though the test was a more conventional one and involved a classic study guide students could fill out to prepare while the others worked on their projects. I suppose I may have some multiple choice or short answer questions for the interpretation mode of Communication, but interpersonal would be either a note-passing exercise or recorded conversation, and presentational would be a paragraph or a minute speech of some sort.
In Spanish I, students will speak/write about 3 of the following: family, travel, food, or hobbies.
In Spanish II students will speak/write about 3 of the following: a famous Spanish speaker, customs from a Spanish-speaking country, life saving, American/Hispanic cultural connections, or international problems.
I still need to work out particulars for my grandiose comprehensive plan, but here are some options for students to demonstrate the 3 modes of Communication:
Interpersonal
Copy & paste a typed Skype conversation
Audio recording of a phone or Skype conversation
Video recording of a conversation in person.
Interpretive
Collage + text
Comic strip
5 W’s answers
Response writing
Presentational
Video personal ad (fictitious or real)
Food/restaurant review
Dream vacation or family scrapbook (mixbook?)
