Spanish Novice B3 classes at Meadow Glen Middle School in Lexington, South Carolina, participated in the eighth-grade expedition with the Spanish Case Study, "New? How Can I Help You?"
Students spent a week looking at the history of immigration to the United
States and some of the current resources for new families moving into the country.They discovered a lack of resources for students from the fellow-student perspective. In order to help new Spanish-speaking students feel more at home, students worked with the Novice C2 and C3 classes to put together a magazine featuring different topics for new Spanish-speaking students.
Each week the students wrote a draft of an article on a topic (A Little About Me, Activities and Hobbies, Family, School, Shopping, Eating Out, Where to Hang Out). Toward the end of the semester, they worked collaboratively on the final draft of the topic of their choice or the topic in which they showed the greatest proficiency. Each draft and the final copy received proficiency ratings based upon a proficiency rubric.
The driving question was, “how can I take all that I’ve learned to help Spanish-speaking students feel more welcome in my school and my community?”
The final drafts were bound into a magazine that was published by a local
publishing company. The copies were distributed to the ESOL teacher and
English Language Arts teachers.
How This Project Can Be Useful
- Highlights the power of professional quality design and productions, which raises the overall quality of the student’s work
- Exemplifies the creation of culturally and geographically relevant materials by students for students
- A product/project that could be replicated at any school for their specific needs
- Genuinely useful project that has an authentic audience