Examen Final 2012

I am going to try something different for my Spanish 4 Final Exam this year. Last semester, I gave them a choice of three things: make a video for Latinoamerica by Calle 13 (like this or this) ; take a traditional "exam" that was 50% oral and 50% written; or make a movie titled "De Donde Venimos Nosotros". The results were good and it was great to give students a choice. 

But, this semester, I have decided to something a little different (see below for detailed description). Basically, students will choose a song/video from these, and they will learn a variety of things with the song being the focus point. They will share what they have learned on a blog post, share with the class, and create an activity for their classmates to do. Zachary Jones has made excellent worksheets for all of the songs/videos. I would do entire units with all of these songs if I had the time! :) 

I am excited about this final exam for several reasons:

• Students will choose from some great songs/videos with lots of culture and/or a great social message.
• Students will explore and be exposed to lots of authentic material:
• a song
• a video
• an article
• an interview
• images
• a variety of websites
• Tweets from the singer/band (if they have a Twitter account)
• The "exam" includes all of the ACTFL 21st Century Skills:
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
• Creativity & Innovation
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• Technology Literacy
• Flexibility & Adaptability
• Initiative & Self-Direction
• Social & Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity & Accountability
• Leadership & Responsibility
• The language classroom will look like the language classroom of "today" as described on page four of the ACTFL 21st Century Skills Map.
• Here is the detailed description (presented to students in a Google Doc):

Cultura y Civilización

Final Exam

(To be presented the week of 6/18):

Since this entire course has been based on songs, your final exam project will be based on one of the songs/videos found here. After you choose your song, you will sing it, analyze it, translate it, watch the video, describe it, analyze it, learn about the band/singer, learn about the city/country/region the singer/band is from, share what you learn with the class on your blog, and create an activity for the class to do on the day that your present. You will have two weeks of class time to work on this and during finals week, everyone will share what they have learned.

Your blog post should include the following:

• evidence of completion of all of the “TASKS” below
• video
• text
• pictures
• audio of you talking (iMovie, Photo Peach, of some other web 2.0 tool)
• important links (including links to all of your resources)
• a link to the activity for your classmates to do
• a link to the self assessment

TASKS:

1. ___________  Read this entire list and make a plan for the next two weeks. Perhaps, you could put a day next to each line.
2. ___________ Watch the videos on the FINAL EXAM page of our class website and choose the song/video that you are going to focus on.
3. ___________ Watch the video several times (at least once a day during the time you have to work on this final project)
4. ___________ Sing the song at least two times a day.
5. ___________ Do the Zambombazo worksheet for the song (linked above videos).
6. ___________ Translate the song.
7. ___________ Keep a list of the vocabulary words that your learn on your blog. But, instead of an English definition, you must provide a Spanish definition/synonym and/or a picture.
8. ___________  Investigate the singer/band. Answer the usual questions that we have answered about all the previous singers/bands.
9. ___________  Find an interview (video or article) with the singer/band. Summarize what you read/hear.
10. ___________  Follow the singer/band on Twitter and/or Facebook.
11. ___________ Investigate the country where he/she is from.
12. ___________ Find pictures (images and maybe a map) of the place the singer/band is from.
13. ___________ Describe how the song connects to place that the singer/band is from.
14. ___________ Choose your 3 favorite lines from the song. Illustrate them and say them.
15. ___________ Describe and analyze the song and the video (where, when, who, what), and write a summary of its meaning (this is an opinion, so it cannot be wrong).
16. ___________ Create an activity for your classmates to do.
17. ___________ At the end of the project, use the rubric to give yourself a grade and write a short reflection.

	44 o menos	45- 54 puntos	55-60 puntos
Use of Spanish	Your control of the language (grammar) is inadequate for the level you are in.	Your control of the language (grammar) is good for the level you are in.	Your control of the language (grammar) is excellent for the level you are in. To look up words, you used this site. You did not use Google Translate.
	6 o menos puntos	7-8 puntos	9-10 puntos
Competion of Task	You did not complete many of the tasks and/or did not post evidence of completion.	You completed most of the tasks and posted evidence of completion.	You completed all of the tasks and posted evidence of completion.
Use of Technology and Problem Solving	If you encountered a problem with technology, you became frustrated, immediately asked for help and/or gave up.	If you encountered a problem with technology, you asked for help before trying to find a solution on your own.	If you encountered a problem with technology, you tried to solve it before asking for help. You may have helped others solve problems and/or offered assistance to others.
Use of class time	You were frequently off task. You did not make a schedule and just decided on a new task everyday.	You were on task most of the time. You made a schedule, but did not really use it.	You were on task at all times. You made a schedule for yourself and adjusted when necessary.
Blog Design	Your blog is not very organized. You do not include many of the things mentioned in the excellent category.	Your blog is somewhat organized and interesting. You include most of the things mentioned in the excellent category.	Your blog is well organized and interesting. You include: video, text. pictures, audio of you talking, important links. a link to the activity for your classmates to do, and a link to the self assessment.

Suggestions or comments??