Project Based Learning Unit
Project Title: Achieving the American Dream
Author: LyRonda Ventura and Gusta Arrington
Target Audience: Spanish 1
Grade Level: All grade levels
Proficiency level: Novice low to mid
Proficiency-Based Language Functions:
· What should students know, understand, and be able to do?
-To understand vocabulary related to the topic- justice/injustice/ tolerance/intolerance
-To compare and contrast the experiences of the migrant workers during the 1960s with those
of today.
-Students should be able to relate to the farm workers in their area since the area that they live in is a rural farm town.
-To compare the lifestyle of the migrant workers, in the US, to that of the farm workers in their community.
· What is worthy of understanding?
-The community is full of differences
-Differences are neither bad nor good
· What do I want them to remember about this unit after they complete the unit?
-Tolerance is important in understanding others
-To value their own opinions, and at the same time to realize that there is more than one way
to see life.
-To understand similarities/differences between migrant farm workers and farm workers within
their community.
-To learn to measure a person’s worth not by his/her culture, but as an individual.
Project Idea: Investigation, scenario, problem, challenge, issue, etc.
-To create a community advocacy organization that supports all farm workers within our community. This includes both the migrant farm workers and our traditional farm workers.
Entry Event: to launch inquiry and spark curiosity.
-A letter from Juan to his mother explaining why he wants to come to the USA to realize
American dream. (Spanish and the translated version)
-Cesar Chavez DVD- Vive La Causa from www.tolerance.org
Power Standard: (I was unable to find actual power standards for Spanish so I used the 5 C’s as a reference.)
-Communication- as much as possible in the target language
(all modes- presentational, interpretive, interpersonal)
-Culture of the migrant farm workers
-Connections- history and current events
-Comparisons- history of the 1960s migrant farm problems and current problems
-Communities- local community’s growth through understanding of other cultures
Content Standards & Objectives: Identify the objectives explicitly taught or learned through discovery within this project design; identify the learning targets and the evidence of student mastery for each learning target within each objective. Be sure the project meets the criteria for standards-focused PBL.
Objectives Directly Taught or Learned Through Discovery / Identified Learning Targets(Tasks students will perform.) / Evidence of Success in Achieving Identified Learning Target
(What you want to see from the student.)
Objectives:
1. Communication
a. Interpersonal FL.O.Ll.1.02- Give basic information about a familiar topic.
b. Interpretive FL.O.Ll.1.08- (recognize and make sense of short, oral and written, level appropriate language segments supported by strong contextual and/or visual prompts) FL.O.Ll.1.09- (view, listen to, and respond to culturally relevant sources.)
c. Presentational FL.O.Ll.1.12- prepare and present short, personal spoken and written com-munications.
2. Culture
a. FL.O.Ll.2.01-Perspectives- identify common beliefs and attitudes of the target culture.
b. FL.O.Ll.2.02- recognize and describe common generalizations that one culture makes about another.
c. FL.O.Ll.2.03- Practices- identify and discuss social, geographical, and historical factors influencing cultural practices.
d. FL.O.Ll.2.09- Contributions- identify commonly recognized historical and contemporary figures of the target culture.
3. Connections
a. FL.O.Ll.3.01- identify interdisciplinary concepts and skills to establish connections between the target language and other subject areas.
4. Comparisons
a. FL.O.Ll.4.05- recognize and discuss commonalities in perspectives, practices, and contributions which apply to daily activities found in native and target cultures.
6. Communities
a. FL.O.Ll.5.01- locate linguistic and/or cultural opportunities related to the target language in the local and/or global community. / -Create mission statement for council.
-Mini presentations
-Letter from Juan-Migrant worker (Attachment 2)
-View and discuss video (Cesar Chavez-Delano Grape Strike of the 1960’s).
-Read current articles on migrant workers (found on the internet and those that come from the lesson plan book for the vide)
-Present findings of the group for the created council.
-Through an internet activity, students will create a Ven diagram of the information they find based on the common belief of migrant workers and that of their own family farm workers. What do they have in common?
-Compile a list of generalizations the students have about migrant workers.
-Research history from Central and South America as well as American history in reference to farming.
-Students will research key figures of the Delano Grape Strike of the 1960’s.
-Discussion on American farming history.
-The comparisons part of the CSO’s is addressed in the above activities.
-The creation of their advocacy council is a direct example of this objective. / -Demonstrate an understanding of the topic by explaining their research on creating mission statements.
-Discuss what fallacies they see. Is it a dream or a reality?
-Students will create a comparison pictograph based on the information they have viewed and discussed and what they have learned about migrant workers from today.
-Students will show their basic language skills by using words/short Spanish phrases in their presentation of their newly formed advocacy council.
-A mini-presentation of their Ven diagrams
-Their reactions to this list from a brief discussion on their rationalizations for their generalizations.
-For students to bring examples of their family’s farming experience to class and discuss how it fits into the US history as well as be able to show one comparison fact and one contrasting fact to that of the Central and South American history they have learned.
-To present a mini-presentation about their key figure.
-With the use of research for American farming history, students will be able to discuss connections between both types of farmers- Migrant and their local farmers.
-Students abilities will be shown in their research/discussions/and creation of their advocacy council/organization.
-Students will be able to present their ideas and rationale behind their creation of their advocacy council from their thorough research and understanding of both history and current situations in both their community and the target culture.
21st Century Skills: Identify the Learning Skills and Technology Tools Standards that students will practice in this project.
21st Century Skills / Learning Skills &Technology Tools / Teaching Strategies / Evidence of Success
Information and
Communication / The student will access, analyze, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in a variety of forms using appropriate technology skills and communicate that information in an appropriate oral, written, or multimedia format. / Aid the student in their discovery of which form of media is best for their desired final outcome. / Student’s final presentation of their group created advocacy council/organization using as much of the target language and cultural understanding as possible for a Spanish 1 level student.
Thinking and Reasoning Skills / The student will demonstrate the ability to explore and develop new ideas, to intentionally apply sound reasoning processes and to frame, analyze and solve complex problems using appropriate technology tools. / Supply the students with a basic beginning direction for the internet searches they will need to use to begin their project and then let them proceed on their own with guided help when needed. / The student’s individual assignments of the pictograph and Ven diagram showing comparisons of the past with today both for migrant workers and their community farmers.
Personal and Workplace Skills / The student will exhibit leadership, ethical behavior, respect for others; accept responsibility for personal actions considering the impact on others; take the initiative to plan and execute tasks; and interact productively as a member of a group. / Make sure that all students understand and know how to use the various programs in which they will be working with. Be there to guide the student through the various processes of the project. / Students will have produced a sound proposal for their presentation with the use of Microsoft Word Office and/or other various programs. Also, they will have created a working group that has separated tasks among their group in order to get everything done.
Performance Objectives: What must all students know and be able to do as a result of this PBL experience?
Know
-To be aware of your community/ surroundings and to recognize injustices and
intolerances.
-Vocabulary/grammar that correspond appropriately to the subject level
-Understand history from both the United States as well as history from Central and
South America.
Do
-To create a defense for justice and tolerance
-To present findings that support your position for creating a council
-To present your proposed council to the committee, along with visual aides
-Creation of a Council name
-Creation of a symbol Design
-Create Mission statement
-Find funding for an advocacy council.
-Decide what a council is created to do.
-Determine who would need to serve on the council.
-Create an appropriate definition of a migrant worker and a US farm worker.
Driving Question: State the driving question or problem statement for the project. The statement should encompass all product content and outcomes, and provide a central focus for student inquiry. Be sure you pose an authentic problem or significant question that engages students and requires core subject knowledge to solve or answer.
1. What is necessary in the creation of an advocacy organization for farm workers in our
community?
Assessment Plan: Define the products and artifacts for the project. Be sure to include a variety of assessments for learning that are closely tied to the content, learning skills and technology tools outcomes. The products and criteria must align with the objectives and outcomes for the project. State the criteria for exemplary performance for each product. Plan for assessments that provide student feedback as the project progresses and provide for a culminating appraisal of performance or product with an accompanying rubric that clearly assesses the learning targets. When building the culminating assessment, remember the acronym GRASPS.
Major Group Products / (presentations, proposals, etc)· Mission statement/symbol design
· Presentation of the advocacy council for all farm workers
· Daily log of group work.
· Proposal for funding of council
Major Individual Projects / (journal entries, individual assignments, etc)
· Daily log of individual work
· Quizzes on vocabulary and grammar
· Half way through- a mini- presentation- where are you in your work
· Mini-presentation on family farming history
· Ven Diagram on migrant workers vs. the community farmers from their research.
· Before and now pictographs.
Assessment and Reflection:
Rubric(s) I will use: (Check all that apply.) / Collaboration / x / Written Communication / xCritical Thinking & Problem Solving / x / Content Knowledge / x
Oral Communication / x / Other
Other classroom assessments for learning: (Check all that apply) / Quizzes/ tests / x / Practice presentations / x
Self-evaluation / x / Notes / x
Peer evaluation / x / Checklists/observations / x
Online tests and exams / Concept maps / x
Reflections: / Survey / Focus Group / x
Discussion / x / Task Management Chart / x
Journal Writing/ Learning Log / x / Other- min- presentation/ individ / x
Map the Project: Examine one major product for the project and analyze the tasks necessary to develop a high-quality product. What do students need to know and be able to do to complete the tasks successfully? How and when will they learn the necessary knowledge and skills? Do the products and tasks give all students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned?
Product: (setting up scaffolds)
Knowledge and Skills Needed / Already Have Learned / Taught Before the Project / Taught During the Project1.vocabulary / on going
2.grammar / x / x / x
3.history / x / x
4.rules/regulations for establishing a new council / x
5.current events / x / x
6.what is a mission statement- rules and format / x
Project Resources:
School-based Individuals:
-Teachers for the panel
- Administrator
- Student newspaper
Technology:
-Computer for research and current new events
-DVD- Chavez- Viva La Causa
-Video for recording presentations
-PowerPoint for presentation of advocacy council
Community:
- Mayor
- Spanish-speaking people involved with the Hispanic community, farmers from our
community
-Community newspaper
- parents that have an interest in this project
Materials:
-Access to computers
-Access to professionals- mayor, city council members, and a lawyer
-Ven Diagrams
-paper for pictographs
Websites:
- www.tolerance.org
- www.ufw.org
- www.farmworkersmovement.org
- Google: racial profiling, farmers movements, illegal/legal entry into the US
Manage the Process: Describe everything necessary to ensure targeted learning does occur. This may include, but is not limited to, plans related to grouping, classroom management, and the types of knowledge and skills students should have mastered prior to beginning the project. List the preparations necessary to differentiate instruction for the diverse learners in your classroom.
Grouping
· Student grouping- with qualifications
· Know Friends/boy/ girlfriends groups and make suggestions on who not to work with
· Who could you help?
· With whom will you work best?
Classroom management
· Self/ group control
· End of the project student by student evaluations
· Reflection and de-briefing at the end of the project
Knowledge and skills – prior learning
· Basic verb conjugation in the present tense
· Conversational skills
· Written – letters
· Computer skills for research
· Basic understanding of working with others.
Diverse Learners
· Students will be placed in groups with whom they can work with comfortably
· Each student will be paired with a student who can offer them advice and answer their questions.
· Individual assignments can be modified according to their IEP/needs/etc.
· Group assignments will be required to stay the same due to the other learners in the group but the various tasks within the group will be divided accordingly with the diverse needs in mind.