I enjoyed reading your choices Laura and must confess they share an affinity with my own choices. On another area--and, yes, I'd love some commentary--I've found success in the past (the Boston Massacre collaborative paper springs to mind)by actually sitting in as a member of floundering groups and modelling tasks they seem to be glossing over. I think there's a way and a spirit that you can do this that doesn't attack the group's sense of autonomy.
The spotlite projects that looked interesting to me ( as a math teacher) were the product comparison and the projectile Motion since these were the only remotely mathematical. As a history teacher and lifelong learner Banned in America and Archetypes were both interesting. On the driving questions, I felt some were a little too loose and would have to be carefully guided so as not to suck up too much time.
The spotlight project that might work for my 8th grade students is reading poems on a similar theme and create a podcast in which students express their feelings in the target language. This might still be too difficult for our level 1 students because abstract vocabulary would have to be introduced before or during the project.
I also enjoyed the spotlight project on the poetry unit. I would want students to create their own poetry (it doesn't have to rhyme) in the target language and present those to the class.
I made note of the following potential Driving Questions; these appealed to me:
ReplyDeleteShould censorship play a role in society?
What makes a book a classic?
What is a hero?
What is justice?
When do we grow up?
I enjoyed reading your choices Laura and must confess they share an affinity with my own choices. On another area--and, yes, I'd love some commentary--I've found success in the past (the Boston Massacre collaborative paper springs to mind)by actually sitting in as a member of floundering groups and modelling tasks they seem to be glossing over. I think there's a way and a spirit that you can do this that doesn't attack the group's sense of autonomy.
DeleteDick, the "Mrs. Robb" is actually the "Ann" one!
DeleteThe spotlite projects that looked interesting to me ( as a math teacher) were the product comparison and the projectile Motion since these were the only remotely mathematical. As a history teacher and lifelong learner Banned in America and Archetypes were both interesting. On the driving questions, I felt some were a little too loose and would have to be carefully guided so as not to suck up too much time.
ReplyDeleteThe spotlight project that might work for my 8th grade students is reading poems on a similar theme and create a podcast in which students express their feelings in the target language. This might still be too difficult for our level 1 students because abstract vocabulary would have to be introduced before or during the project.
ReplyDeleteSounds intriguing
DeleteI also enjoyed the spotlight project on the poetry unit. I would want students to create their own poetry (it doesn't have to rhyme) in the target language and present those to the class.
ReplyDelete