Learning Journal
The Learning Journal is a tool designed for students who seek to actively develop the Learning to Learn competency, with a particular focus on metacognitive processes. Its purpose is to encourage students to reflect on their cognitive strategies, helping them become aware of when these strategies are needed and how to apply them effectively in order to complete assigned tasks. The primary objective of the Learning Journal is to support students in internalizing cognitive strategies, fostering a deep understanding of their use and enabling their application in new situations or contexts. This, in turn, promotes the processes of transfer and generalization that are essential for addressing new cognitive challenges.
"The Predictions Corner: Legends and Traditions of Spanish Culture"
One week before beginning the work on the legends, the title of each legend will be posted on the classroom bulletin board. Next to each title, a box will be placed where students will write on a piece of paper the emotion the title evokes in them and predict the legend's content. The same procedure will be applied to all the traditions. During the first session, dedicated to reading and analyzing the legend, all the predictions made will be read aloud. At the end of the reading, those students whose predictions match the content will receive recognition in the form of a prize and a privilege, the design of which may be created by the students themselves or agreed upon collectively with their classmates.
"Visual Journey through the Legends of Spain"
A panel will be set up in the classroom to serve as a space for collective knowledge construction. Throughout the unit, students will complete it with information, representative objects, key vocabulary, illustrations, and cultural elements that are explored through the different legends. This mural will enable students to visualize their learning, establish connections between the legends, and reinforce their cultural understanding of the covered content.
"Speaking Objects: Keys to Understanding a Culture" (Prown Method)
To deepen their understanding of Spanish culture, students will be taught the methodological procedure we will follow to analyze objects that may appear in these legends or associated traditions. The procedure will be inspired by art historian Jules David Prown’s method of object analysis, which consists of three fundamental phases: description, deduction, and speculation.
Figure 1: Outline of the Prown method
A visual guide of the Prown method will be created, structured around its three phases (description, deduction, and speculation), and will include sample guiding questions for each stage. This material will be individually distributed to each student so they can use it as a reference throughout the unit.
Example:
1. Description
In this first stage, the object will be observed thoroughly and objectively, recording its physical characteristics without judgment or interpretation. Special attention will be paid to:
- Its shape, size, color, texture, and materials.
- Its parts and their state of conservation.
- The possible age or contemporaneity of the object.
Guiding questions for this phase:
- * What type of object is it?
- * What are its dimensions, colors, and materials?
- * What texture does it have?
- * Is it complete or damaged? Is it new or old?
- * Does it have inscriptions, decorations, or symbols?
- * What parts comprise it, and how do they relate to each other?
2. Deduction
In this phase, the object is analyzed based on the sensations, emotions, and cultural or personal associations it generates in the observer. The aim is to connect the object with human experience.
Guiding questions for this phase:
- What sensation does observing or imagining touching this object provoke?
- What emotion does it evoke in me? Does it feel familiar, uncomfortable, beautiful, or strange?
- Do I associate this object with any current memories, experiences, or cultural symbols?
- What type of person might have made or used it?
- What social values or attitudes does it reflect?
- Does the object have a public or private, everyday or ceremonial use?
- What practical function does it seem to have? Or does it seem more symbolic or decorative?
3. Speculation
Finally, reasoned hypotheses will be formulated about the object's social, historical, or cultural context, interpreting what it may reveal about the society that produced or used it.
Guiding questions for this phase include:
What does it say about the society that created it?
What values or ideas does it reflect?
Does it have a symbolic function?
How does it relate to other similar objects?
Why has it been preserved or valued over time?
