Student File Folders
At the beginning of each sub-unit, students should either purchase or be provided with a pocket folder. This folder will serve as the student's portfolio of experience with each country, holding written work, notes, handouts, journal entries, assignments, questions, etc. The folder itself will be altered to represent the country according to each student's understanding of it. The teacher should create one as well, to provide an example for the students and to share in the experience with them. Encourage students verbally and by example to decorate the folder with intention; in other words, we are looking for demonstrations of
cultural understanding on a personal level,
not pointless doodling.
You can have the students choose their own colors, I prefer to make the choices for them, in the name of unity. I have selected the following color combinations with the colors of each country's flag in mind; the choice does not always represent the dominant color of the flag, so that student's must find creative ways to duplicate the flag on the folder. Burkina Faso - Yellow; Canada - Red; Martinique - Blue; Madagascar - Green.
Duplicating the flag on the folder should be the first homework assignment. I let students choose whether they put this on the front or back, since the front of anything
I
own is important in terms of what it says about
me
, and I'd like to respect and foster that reality. Students should be encouraged to make thoughtful choices and to explore options, like collage, using bits of the appropriate colors found in different mediums and hues. They can present their flags by explaining what they used and why. You may wish to have students vote in categories like Best Overall Flag Artwork, Best Concept, Best Use of Materials, etc. Especially at the middle school level, students need to be encouraged to enter into the learning process. Also, pride in a job well done and using your strengths to accomplish that job well done are concepts and skills that many of our children are still learning, or have yet to learn. Anything we can do to guide them is crucial. That leads us to the next topic, concerning incentives.
Incentives
Incentives are somewhat controversial amongst teaching professionals. While some assert that the acquisition of knowledge should be its own incentive, others believe young people should be led through the learning process with bits of bait. Regardless of where you fall, little treats and recognitions
do
improve levels of engagement and enthusiasm. The key is to keep prizes cheap and educationally meaningful, individualized towards each country. Don't forget the value of humor, as well as how your presentation of the reward will affect how it is received. For instance, a little sack of rice presented tongue-in-cheek, as a reward for an accomplishment during the Burkina Faso sub-unit, would be a humorous prize that would reinforce the learning process. A boring bag of rice passed out seriously would make for a lackluster prize! Exotic or rare items make a student feel special
and
smart, since he or she is now
in the know
about such things. Imagine awarding a piece of sugarcane during the segment on Martinique - what a cool, quirky thing for a student to bring home! Don't forget to scan department stores and discount warehouses with an eye towards cheap and creative ideas for rewards; you may be surprised at what comes to you! Your incentives really are only as limited as your own creativity! Here are some more ideas:
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- Award certificates designed and printed with country images
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- A photo printed from the internet, that the student might use in a project
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- A dubbed cassette of the country's popular music
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- A toy lion to recall Disney's
The Lion King
and, in turn,
Keita
's
Sundiata myth
Homework &
Do Nows!
Students should be encouraged to think about what they have learned about the country and the thematic concepts introduced by each film. Everyday there should be a fairly short (though not skimpy) writing assignment, to foster that interaction with the culture; it can be structured as a guided (or prompted) homework assignment. Each group of students encountering the new cultures will invite different focal points for these daily prompts, as will each teacher. Within each country/film spotlight in this unit, there are some selected themes and concepts that make easy prompts. I strongly encourage every teacher to look at student comments, questions, and reactions for inspiration on meaningful thought paths to learning. (Hey, another student reward could be the honor of creating tomorrow's homework prompt!)
I advise beginning each class with a
Do Now!
or
Bellwork
prompt that is shorter than the homework assignment. Some days you may choose a different homework assignment; the next day you would probably want to choose a meatier writing prompt as the
Do Now!
Some more suggestions for
Do Now!
prompts are:
-
-
Make 3 predictions about what will happen in the film today, and why
-
-
Match the following language vocabulary from yesterday's lesson
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Write an explanation of what is happening in a selected film still
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-
Create a series of personal preference sentences using the target vocabulary
Ex. (Martinique): J'aime le sucre. / Je n'aime pas les bananas. / J'adore les îles.
Culminating Projects
Each sub-unit will culminate in a final project to showcase what the student learned factually as well as culturally; the student must demonstrate both knowledge of and interaction with the country and culture explored. I am a proponent of creating a set of required components within which a student can make choices. Components may be presented separately or in one unified project. The best way to assure that all criteria are met is to create separate rubrics for each component. By showing examples of projects, you can detail how and where each component requirement is met, offering guidance on how to accomplish the task creatively. Bear in mind that although suggestions are given by component area, the same project is often suited to more than one component.
As with the incentive suggestions, the options for final projects are endless. It is vital to consider the capabilities and focal points of each student grouping when determining the exact parameters of the project. Students should be continually reminded that accurate and thorough completion of
Do Now!,
homework, and classroom assignments will be invaluable to them when it comes time to produce a final project. Assignments should be geared to that end. The following are recommendations, suggestions, and considerations that should prove constructive in the creation of those parameters. Each project should consist of 4 components: Fact, Thought, Language, and "Creationivity."
Fact
Students should be responsible for a predetermined amount of the country information facts introduced at the outset of the sub-unit, as well as for factual information presented and discussed throughout that sub-unit. This unit is about encouraging curiosity and synthesizing cultures, not memorizing facts; as such, during the course of the sub-unit I advocate learning games based around country information rather than standard fact tests.1 The fact rubric for the culminating project should contain either A) a list of specific country facts to include, or B) a specified quantity of country facts necessary. Students need only look to their (well-kept!) file folder for this information. I prefer a graphic and/or oral presentation of this information in favor of a written essay, which is often little more than a transposition of facts from notes to paper. Some suggestions for interesting and creative demonstrations of this factual component are for the student to:
-
- Create a PowerPoint presentation - one sub-unit might require a PowerPoint from all students; whole class periods could be spent in the media center so students could benefit from media guidance while exercising their educational autonomy
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- Design tourist brochures and/or posters - local tourist brochures could be examined and assessed so that the techniques could be applied to our brochures.
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- Write and illustrate a children's book about the country
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- Create a trivia game about the country, with questions, game board, rules
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- Teach the facts to 5th graders in our school, or to a local daycare facility, using created visuals. This could be an individual, group, or class project.
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- Write a magazine article, complete with graphics, such as painted "photographs"
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- Perform an original rap or song about the country
Thought
For this component, students will refer to previous thought assignments to answer a question that gets them to expand on ideas, express themselves critically, establish and support personal opinions. They should be led to recognize the difference between fact, critical analysis (or objective opinion), and personal (or subjective) opinion. Partnership with the Language Arts teacher would no doubt be fruitful in this endeavor.2 The thought component may take the form of a separate essay, although that is not the only way to address it. I have included some examples of prompts; note the span of complexity:
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What were the 3 most striking thoughts or observations you noted in your writings? Please explain.
-
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What are the pros and cons to tourist travel articles about foreign countries? Please explain with examples.
-
-
What is the relationship between place and identity in the film viewed as well as in your own life?
-
-
Would you like to visit this country? Why or why not? (Be specific.)
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-
Extract, compile, and augment thought assignments into a student "travelogue."
Language
For each sub-unit, there will be certain French vocabulary that the teacher will have chosen to extract and explore. The language component depends on the priorities of the teacher. Vocabulary should be provided with 3 goals:
1)
|
To help the student describe the landscape and cultural aspects seen in the film
|
-
2) To equip the student with phrases needed to converse about the film
-
3) To enable the student to re-create selected conversations in the film
Students could demonstrate their language learning through any of the suggestions for Fact Demonstration, by completing the project in French. Other ideas are to:
-
- String together phrases into a language cartoon, with cultural references
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- Design a series of postcards using the phrases
-
- Script an original mini-play, or act out a scene from the film
-
- Write a poem
-
- Translate a story, myth, or story segment.
"Creationivity"
"Creationivity" is the name I have
created
to
creatively
express the spirit I hope to promote in my students. It encompasses
creation
, the act of putting together a project, as well as the idea of birthing a project, and
creativity,
to do it uniquely, in a manner that expresses each creator and approaches each project with a fresh eye. Focusing on creationivity provides for a synthesized, complete, and encompassing project; it also gives students a kind of permission to enjoy learning - because it is part of the assignment to be thorough and personal, students are free to express more than they might otherwise. Since creationivity is the vehicle by which the other components of the project are expressed, there are no additional suggestions here. In terms of rubric headings, think in terms of what you are looking for in the end, what would show you that sufficient production time and effort was expended, and that minds were churning appropriately.3