Teacher Notes

Task, Product & Assessment | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6

¡Bienvenidos a Madrid!

You and your family have decided to take a trip to Spain. Since you speak Spanish, your parents have given you the responsibility to help plan the trip. Today, you will begin preparing for the trip by developing a one-day itinerary for your first day in Madrid, Spain.
The Task Plaza Mayor	Your day will begin at 8 a.m. with breakfast and end after the 10 p.m. meal. For meals, include one meal choice for you and your parents. List the name of the restaurant where you will be eating, along with its address. In Spain, breakfast is normally eaten at the hotel. Be sure to include Spanish cuisine, not American fare or other international foods. For activities, you may plan your day as you desire. But, for the places you decide to visit, list a brief comment to show your parents why your family should visit the place. Your father wants to go to the Plaza Mayor so be sure to include it in your list.
The Product	Your product will need to be in the form of a Spanish-written itinerary or video travel journal. Be sure to include: Time schedule Comments explaining why your family should visit a particular place Food choices for meals Bibliography. (Bibliographic form sheets are on top of the card catalog in the Library) Optional items for your project: Maps or directions to places Pictures of places on your visit Spanish phrases your family should learn to say Precautions to be aware of for safe travel Calculate how much money you will need for admission charges for the places you will visit
Assessments	Daily (Formative)  Group Work  Research Process- Summative (Teacher)  Items Used in the Research Process (notes, outline, drafts, works cited, etc.)  Product  Reflection (Summative)
Step 1: Questioning and Planning  Task/Product | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6
Questioning   Plaza Mayor	As you look at the task above, list as many questions as you can that will help you to understand and investigage this topic. Consider the following factors: Several things to consider: Your parents don't know when Spaniards eat so make sure to plan your day accordingly. Three or four activities is more than enough to complete your day. Directions or maps for finding your way around may be helpful to have. Will you be visiting at a time when there will be a festival or celebration? Perhaps one of your excursions will be souvenir shopping. What local products will be found in Madrid? Don't forget a siesta! What do you already know about Madrid? What do you need to know to begin your research? Examples of questions: How much money will you need for each attraction? How do you bargain with the vendors? Why should you visit the Plaza Mayor? How do you travel safely? Which foods do Spaniards eat?
Planning	You should use a graphic organizer to record your information and to keep track of your bibliographic sources.

Step 2: Gathering, Sorting, and Sifting

Task/Product | Step 1 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6

In this step you will be using a variety of library resources to find answers to your questions.

Tip:If you did not formulate questions in Step 1, go back and do it now. A topic is not a question.

Gather answers from a variety of sources. Your school library media center may have some of the following:

Print Resources  Pamphlets  Culturgrams  U.S. State Department Background Notes Subject Encyclopedias Lands and Peoples (Grolier) Encyclopedia of the First World (Facts on File) Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations (Gale) Encyclopedia of the Second World (Facts on File) Worldmark Encyclopedia of Culture and Daily Life (Gale) Encyclopedia of the Third World (Facts on File) Peoples of the World (Gale) People and Places (World Book) Cultures of the World (Marshall Cavendish) Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures & Daily Life (Gale) General Encylcopedias Academic American Britannica Collier's Encyclopedia Compton's Encyclopedia Encyclopedia Americana World Book Encyclopedia Handbooks Statesman's Yearbook The Europa World Year Book Almanacs (Note: The index to an almanac is in the front of the book.)   Nonfiction Books   Check the library catalog for books about specific countries.

CD-ROM Resources 

World Factbook Discovering Nations, States, and Cultures (Gale) Junior Worldmark: All About Nations, States & Provinces (Gale) World Atlas (Mindscape, Microsoft)

Let's Visit Mexico (Queue) Let's Visit South America (Queue) Let's Visit Spain (Queue) General electronic encyclopedias

Internet Resources 

U.S. State Department: Background Notes U.S. State Department: Travel Warnings Health Information for Western Europe All About Spain CultureGrams : Spain Spanish Tourist Office Ayuntamiento de Madrid Lonely Planet SoftGuide's Madrid Todo sobre Madrid The Weather Channel: Madrid	Altapedia Online CIA World Factbook Flags of the World Library of Congress - Country Studies Global Gastronomer: Cuisines of the World Global Gourmet - Spain SoftGuide's Eating out in Madrid Languages for Travelers Universal Currency Converter Web of Online Dictionaries
Doing Research in Spanish

Remember to cite your references. Check the MLA guidelines and examples for citing resources; however, your school may use a different format.

Sort your research findings by using note cards or a graphic organizer.

Sift through the resources, eliminating those that do not answer your questions.

Step 3: Synthesis and Evaluation

Task/Product | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6

Check point! It is time to assess your progress. Now that you have gathered information, stop to evaluate your findings. Have you found sufficient details to answer all your questions? Can you throw away material which is not useful or does not answer your questions? Do you need to rearrange the information in different categories? Can you condense or combine the information? Do you need to develop new questions to adequately cover your topic?

Figure out how much you have learned. Is the puzzle beginning to take shape? Are you able to make out any patterns? Try moving your information pieces around until some kind of picture emerges. You are looking for insight. What have you learned so far? What more do you need? You are trying to "tease" meaning out of fragments. Synthesis requires rearranging pieces of information until a new version emerges.

 

Step 4: Refined Gathering/Sorting/Sifting 2

Task/Product | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 5 | Step 6

Now that you have synthesized your information and evaluated your progress, you are ready to locate additional information to answer your questions and further develop your topic. Return to any of the resources mentioned earlier in Step Two.

Step 5: Final Synthesis and Evaluation

Task, Product & Assessment | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 6

Synthesis is the act of pulling your research and ideas together to form a new whole.

Before you begin, recall the items you were asked to consider in your research. They were:

• geography
• the arts
• notable figures and events
• other cultural aspects

PLANNING MY ITINERARY

RESEARCH FINDING	HOW THIS WILL BE REPRESENTED ON THE INTINERARY
EXAMPLE: 1. Plaza Mayor	EXAMPLE: 1. Schedule time to visit the Plaza Mayor and determine its location.
2.	2.
3.	3.
4.	4.

Step 6: Presentation

Task/Product | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

Are you ready to prepare your presentation?

	Recall your task and product. Review all of your materials to prepare for your final product. Your product should reflect your efforts during the past steps in the research process.
		Questioning and Planning Gathering, Sorting, and Sifting Synthesis and Evaluation
	Consider: Do you have enough to say? Are you able to explain your findings as well as your suggestions clearly? Are you able to cite the references from which you obtained your facts?