"The Famous Women Project" -A Collaboration with the 8th Grade World Language team
Reflection for World Language Women’s Project, summer 2024
Title of Project: The Famous Women Project
Participants:
Dawn Kleint (French), Xuemei Li (Mandarin), and Anthony Sabedra (Spanish)
Intended for… 8th grade students of French, Mandarin and Spanish
During the 2022-2023 school year, I assigned my 6th grade students a final summative project called " a Famous Women," which integrated various grammar points and vocabulary they had learned. Spanish and French teachers also implemented this project for their 6th grade students. However, we encountered challenges related to students' research skills and limitations in their language proficiency. After discussing these issues, Anthony, Dawn, and I agreed that the project would be more effective if incorporated into the 8th grade curriculum.
This summer, I collaborated with Anthony in person on August 14 to refine and enhance the project. I agreed with Anthony on restructuring the two main components: the written text and the creative medium. Our goal was to develop resources and a feasible timeline to support students effectively. Additionally, we will provide this long-standing project with more scaffolding, regular evaluation, and revision. Working with Anthony was a pleasure; he is a wise, inspiring, and experienced language teacher who generously shares his resources and teaching practices. I also valued all the discussions with both Dawn and Anthony about this project.
I remain committed to highlighting cultural topics while building language skills. I am always enthusiastic about collaborative efforts and am grateful to work with exceptional colleagues like Anthony and the World Language team at Burkes. I also appreciate Anthony's willingness to consider my suggestions for a future collaboration regarding collecting pictures and videos to support students in world language writing. Thank you, Anthony !
Xuemei Li