Inquiry Project
Elena Duran
1) Driving Question:
How does learning a foreign language affect your life?
Does the DQ warrant in-depth study? Yes. Often times in school, students are posed questions that don't pertain to their lives at all, and thus the students have no motivation to solve the problem at hand. My question directly relates to their lives. The purpose of learning another language is more than just communication, and I want my students to see that. They should know why they are learning french and how it will help them someday. If they see the possible benefits of bilingualism, they'll be motivated to succeed in my class.
- Is the DQ an authentic and relevant issue/problem for my students? Yes, it relates directly to their lives, and why they are learning the subject. The issue at hand is why they are learning French and how it will ultimately benefit them.
Is there more than one plausible solution to the DQ? Yes, there are many reasons why learning language is important, and many ways it can positively affect your life, and why specifically French can be useful.
Does the DQ provide opportunities for students to evaluate, analyze, present, and defend their solutions? - Provide a brief introduction to your question as well. Yes, the students will have to explore the possible benefits of learning a language, eventually choosing one for their video. I will introduce the question by asking them why they think they are in French class, and if they think it will benefit them. After discussing some possible reasons, I will pose my question and have them brainstorm before I present the grabber.
2) Grabber
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35170392
Does the story, article, video, announcement, or role play other resource hook the learner into asking more questions about the topic? The hook I’ve chosen is a short video from BBC that sites some advantages of bilingualism. Some of the facts in the video are surprising, and I think it will encourage my students to say, “really?” when they hear the facts and they'll want to further explore the question.
Does the grabber capitalize on novelty and / or high emotion situations? The video lists direct benefits of bilingualism and I think this can appeal to my students emotions and their desire for self-improvement.
Does the grabber establish authenticity & relevance? The video is authentic as it lists facts, but also makes connections to the viewer, such as when the video sites “switching”, a task used by bilinguals, they use French: dog and chien. This would be perfect for my class, because students would directly observe the types of brain flexibility they'll have by learning a new language. I also like that it allows room for exploration by stating that there is “excitement and disagreement” about the subject, suggesting the students could take many different viewpoints when addressing the question.
Make sure to explain how this grabber would be used. I would pose the question to the entire class, and then ask them to take one minute and write down any possible answers. Then, I would call on them and write down some answers on the board. Then, we would watch the video, and see even more answers that the students probably hadn't come up with. This provides a vast list of possible answers to the question, any of which the students can explore.
3) Culminating Activity
How is the activity authentic? I would like my students to individually present one reason why learning another language is important. They can be paired up to create short video explaining the benefit they've chosen. I think that if the students find a benefit of language learning that speaks to them, they will be eager to present it to their classmates, and they'll be excited to create a video where they can explain themselves. This way, the video is showing their authentic opinions supporting an argument that answers the question. I want my students to be genuine in the video, no perfectly scripted and memorized to the point where they don't care about the content.
Does the activity provide students with the opportunity to present and defend problem solution? When the students present their video, they can take questions afterward so that they are having a discussion with their peers, and can further defend their opinion.
Does the activity require student collaboration? Yes, I would like to pair up the students so that they can jointly come up with a benefit of bilingualism, and each of them have to collaborate and agree on what their video will be like.
How will I judge what students have learned from the activity? If the students’ videos are informative, compelling, and genuine, then I know that the students understand why I asked my question. Its unlikely that they won't understand the benefits of bilingualism after this project, because they will have to argue and support the benefits in their video. I will base the grades on the facts in the video, their support of the argument, and the creativity of the video.