Final presentation

1. Overview of presentation

1. Introduction

1. For our final presentation we have developed a curriculum idea to facilitate the introduction of Spanish literature to students. Our basic idea is to get the students to think creatively by writing their own poem, and then to get them to think critically by analyzing a poem from a twentieth century Nicaraguan poet, Ernesto Cardenal.

2. Materials to be learned/studied

1. We chose Ernesto Cardenal's poem because of its brevity and for its potential to evoke emotion.

3. Targeted age group

1. While lower level Spanish language courses tend to focus on the communicative aspect of the language, upper level courses tend to begin to introduce students to the skills of reading and composing in Spanish. As our targeted age group we chose college juniors or seniors since it is at this level that students are likely to be introduced to Spanish literature.

4. Learning objectives

1. Our primary objective is to get students to begin to appreciate literature from another culture. We hope to demonstrate to students that literature is both a creative and a critical act; that is, the poet or author not only generates creative ideas, metaphors, or stories, but also orders them in a certain way or juxtaposes them to evoke a response from the audience. We want the students to realize that they are creative and critical, and that they can share in the creative and critical processes of writing, reading, and analyzing poetry. Our secondary objective is to continue enhancing the students' language skills through task-based instruction. The instructor understands that the student needs improved language skills in order to better interact with the assigned readings.

5. Curriculum

1. This course in literary studies will be designed to allow students to interact with assigned material through the use of various creative and critical thinking strategies, cooperative learning, and motivational strategies. Students will be asked to read and evaluate the assigned texts utilizing activities such as creative writing, group discussions, role playing, compositions, group papers, discussing films, creative dramatics (e.g., act out poem or scene from novel) and class participation.

6. Instructional plan for this particular lesson

1. Through tasked-based instruction students are asked to work as a team and are given more responsibility as they take on an active role in their learning. The teacher is no longer viewed as the ultimate source of knowledge as students construct their own meaning as they interact with the texts and their peers. By taking on more responsibility and being actively engaged in the learning process, students will be more motivated to learn. Language and literature are learned best when they are meaningful to the learner. (See handouts for detailed instructional plan of class activity)

7. Introductory Unit plan (one week-three class days)
1. Day one-create a poem (creativity by design)
2. Day two-analyze a poem (Bloom's taxonomy and cooperative groups)
3. Day three-introduce idea of keeping journal for students' metacognitive processes
8. Methods and procedures used

1. We tried to embed strategies for cooperative learning (think-pair-share groups), creative thinking (process product activity-creativity by design), and critical thinking (components of Bloom's taxonomy) within an overarching methodology of tasked-based instruction. Students will work together in groups and share the responsibility for completing the given tasks. In order to get the students to think creatively we introduce them to a creative writing activity. Once they have tapped into their creative thinking skills by writing their own poem, we get them to think more critically, employing some of the steps from Bloom's taxonomy of higher order thinking. For example, in accordance with Bloom's first step, knowledge, we ask one member of each group to report to the class what the members of his or her group believe are the facts of what is taking place in the poem. For comprehension we ask them to give their interpretation of what is going on in the poem. Next, the students analyze (analysis in Bloom's taxonomy) the poem by comparing and contrasting the perspectives of the poet and his lover. The final step of the taxonomy is evaluation. In this step the students judge the poem by appraising the perspectives and moods of the poet and his lover. This final step also incorporates Edward de Bono's (OPV-other people's views) exercise.

9. Conclusion

1. Assessment procedures
1. Evaluation poetry compositions
1. Purpose of the evaluation: To measure the achievement of each student in terms of creative expression, as well as in the recognition and utilization of poetic patterns for self-expression.
2. Responding to content: The instructor's response should encourage writers to express themselves better. Acting on behalf of the intended audience, the instructor will negotiate meaning with the student writer. The instructor's responses must be carefully constructed so as to direct the student's attention to precisely those elements that we emphasized in our directions, such as interpretation, comparison, and appraisal.
3. Portfolios: A student will be required to maintain a portfolio of creative compositions in the poetry unit (minimum of three). By the assigned deadline the student will have chosen their best composition to submit for a letter grade. The student will submit all work (minimum of three) and elaborate on specific achievements in their chosen work. The criteria would include: word choice, originality, musicality, and quality of theme.
2. Evaluation reading comprehension
1. Purpose of the test: To measure the achievement of each student with regards to their ability to read, comprehend, and interpret poetry.
2. The test: The poem will be included as part of the material to be covered on the test on poetry. Our position is that reading tests should be constructed to encourage students to read more. There will be two sections covering this particular poem. The first will be five multiple choice questions which emphasize the poem's content and a close reading of it. The second section would give the student a choice of topics (tone, theme, perspective, word play) upon which to write paragraph utilizing elements of Bloom's taxonomy.
2. Curriculum impact