Planning is fun! I am really lucky to work with a curriculum map that is sectioned into themes and allows me to be creative. I also believe this is a plus for my students because they are working with current and authentic material. I use authentic materials that are relevant to students’ interest and connect them to the real world. Therefore the units are engaging to the point that my students sometimes forget they are exploring the target culture in the target language. For this unit in the curriculum map, first I developed the thematic unit and then I planned my PBLL and use it as facilitate teaching and performance assessment as well. Using PBLL allows me to provide tons of comprehensible input as I model the project for the students. I create my version of the project using Spain as my country. We explore the theme as part of the project and my workshops provide students with a language in context. Because I am extremely lucky and I have various countries that speak Spanish, the students develop their project using different countries.
Thematic Unit: The Community and Beyond
In our curriculum map this unit is the second unit of the level 3 course. At the end of level 2 students are talking about themselves and in the transition to level 3 we start thinking about personal relationships (unit1) and after that they transition to the community and their personal and collective identity. This unit opens conversations about roles and resources available to us in our communities as well as those in other communities in the Spanish Speaking world. For all of my thematic units I have used the ACTFL template and adapted the top portion with language from sections of UBD, as my district uses this format for planning.
This PBLL unit allows the teacher to integrate authentic resources and allows students to develop cultural awareness. I created this unit for my Community thematic unit and the students specially enjoy the interaction with the younger students from the local elementary school. I have adapted this PBLL unit to my environment thematic unit in the past as well, and the final product was a great addition to my classroom library.