“Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings and Classroom Applications”
Ericka Collado
West Orange Public Schools
Content Area: World Languages / Spanish
Grade: 8th grade
Proficiency Level: Novice-Mid
Standard 7: Communication & Culture for the 21st Century
All students will be able to communicate, to understand and be understood in real world contexts, in at least one world language in addition to English.
Descriptive Statement:
Students will use language to understand and interpret spoken and written language (interpretive), engage in meaningful conversation and negotiate
meaning (interpersonal), and present information, concepts and ideas (presentational) as they gain understanding of the perspectives of the
culture(s)while experiencing its products and practices, make connections with other content areas, compare the language/culture studied with their
own, and participate in home and global communities in or outside a school setting.
Strand: Interpretive Interpersonal Presentational
Essential Questions
Enduring Understanding
Interpretive:
Interpretive:
6-12:
6-12:
I will understand that…
How do I understand what I
hear and read when I am just
beginning to learn a new
language?
Actively thinking about what I already know helps me better understand.
When listening, watching the speaker closely or examining other visual clues help me to understand more.
When reading, looking at pictures, charts, titles and other visual cues will help me to better understand.
Interpersonal:
Interpersonal:
6-12
6-12
How do I begin, sustain, and
end a conversation when I am
just beginning to learn a
language?
I will understand that…
Presentational:
Presentational:
To have a genuine conversation I have to do more than just ask and answer questions. I have to listen to what the
speaker is saying to me and respond to the message.
6-12:
6-12:
I will understand that…
How do I make myself
understood when speaking and The way I choose to organize and present my ideas helps my audience better understand what I am trying to say.
writing?
Content
Cumulative Progress Indicators (CPIs)
Geography (Social Studies),
Interpretive:
Leisure Activities (Health
Connection) within the context
of the home and target cultures.
Interpersonal:
Presentational:
N-M 3: Identify familiar people, places, and N-M 2: Imitate appropriate gestures and N-M 2: Copy/write words,
objects based on oral and/or simple written intonation of the target culture/language phrases, or simple guided texts on
during greetings, leave-takings, and daily familiar topics.
descriptions.
interactions.
Instructional Focus: Traveling through Puerto Rico
(Describe the process: How do you set the stage, provide comprehensible input and check for understanding? What are some activities that you
practice in class to prepare students for the final assessment task? Please fill in that information below. Give at least one example for each mode.)
The following is an introductory lesson on the Tourist Routes in Puerto Rico: Ruta Cotorra, Ruta Paso Fino, Ruta Coquí, Ruta Flamboyán & Ruta
Panorámica. Once finalized, the IPA is introduced and completed in stages. Below there are some of the activities completed by the students prior to the
integrated performance assessment.
Warm up:
As the students arrive they will be assigned to a station representative of each tourist route. Each station will have a map, illustrations and
objects related to a coquí, horses, the flamboyán tree, a panoramic view and a Puerto Rican parrot. The goal is for students to guess the
topic of the class based on the props/objects provided.
Activities:
1. Introduce the vocabulary related to the tourist routes through illustrations presented in a Power Point slide show.
2. The students will identify what tourist route is represented by their group based on the props in their particular work station/group.
3. Students will work in their groups in creating a mini presentation about the assigned tourist route. The presentation will include a
drawing representative of the route and a brief description of it using a guided format.
4. Each student in the group will have a role in creating the presentation: a recorder/writer, an illustrator, and presenter(s).
5. The students will present their group project.
Closure: Students will engage in a matching game in which they have to categorize props used during the class based on the tourist route
that the item represents.
Assessments:
Interpretive mode:
The students will demonstrate knowledge of the tourist routes in Puerto Rico by identifying illustrations and objects.
Interpersonal mode:
The students will apply learned vocabulary by asking and answering questions about a town in Puerto Rico.
Presentational mode:
The students will demonstrate comprehension of tourist routes in Puerto Rico by describing a tourist route. (Cooperative groups presentation)
Interdisciplinary/Assessment Implementation Strategies

Interdisciplinary Connections: Geography and Social Studies

Technology Integration: Internet searches (interpretive reading), Posting of questions and answers on a blog, and creation of a multimedia
presentation using Photo Story 3. Additional activities using technology: completion of an interpretive task on the tourist routes after listening to
a voicethread file: http://voicethread.com/share/179570/, and completion of a peer assessment survey on presentations:
"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OiGlIv3EATVEK75TrHKtbQ_3d_3d.

Global Perspectives: Virtual trips of places in Puerto Rico, highlighting tourist attractions and designing a video tour.
Summative:
Here you should indicate what your three final assessments will be. Your interpretive task should lead to an interpersonal
task which should lead to a final presentational task. Keep in mind that there should be a real-life purpose for the
communication.
In order to promote tourism of Puerto Rico across the Spanish speaking community in the United States, a local travel agency is
creating a set of video tours featuring towns in Puerto Rico. The students that create the best 3 videos will win a family vacation
to Puerto Rico with all expenses paid. The video tour selection process consists of an interview with a representative of the travel
agency, and the creation of a video tour of a town in Puerto Rico.
Interpretive:
Objective: The students will gather information about a town in Puerto Rico by doing online research.
Task: In order to be prepared for the interview you must research a town in Puerto Rico. Once you have decided the town that you would like to research,
gather the following information: town, location, description of flag, a hotel, a restaurant and tourist attractions on the websites recommended by your
Spanish teacher.
Useful online sources: www.superpagespr.com & http://telemundo.yahoo.com/
Interpersonal:
Objective: The students will exchange information about a town in Puerto Rico through role play.
Task: Now that you are an expert in the town selected, you are ready for the interview. The interview will be between you and a representative of the
travel agency. Create a dialogue with your partner where you both play the role of either the interviewer or the interviewee. Greetings and farewells must
be included since you are meeting for the first time. Then, access the blog already set up by your teacher on the assigned date and conduct the interview.
Presentational:
Objective: The students will create a video tour of a town in Puerto Rico.
Task: Congratulations! If you made it this far it’s because you are being considered to be one of the students to win a family vacation to Puerto Rico. Your
task is now to prepare a video tour of the town researched, using Photo Story. The video must contain authentic images, music and/or a description of the
town. Use the information gathered on parts I & II as to complete the video. In addition, since your target audience is the Spanish speaking community in
the United States, you must include at least four activities that families can do in this town. For example: “Las familias van a la playa.” The best video
tours will be selected to be presented to a group of panelists.
You may leave this section blank or you may provide some “along the way” assessment strategies that you
will employ to make sure that your students are “getting it.”
Formative:
Interpretive: To have students complete a form with specific information as they conduct research.
Interpersonal: To provide sample of questions to create conversation and allocate time for students to practice.
Presentational: To complete the presentation in stages: pictures, creation of text to be used, recording voice and adding music.