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Around the Mexican Town
Title: Around the Mexican Town
Topic: Maps and Directions
Level: Novice
Focus Age Group: 15-18 years
National Standards Goals:
Communication Cultures Connections Comparisons Communities
Communicative Mode:
Interpersonal Interpretive Presentational
N.J. Cumulative Progress Indicators:
- 7.1.8 Generate and respond to short messages such as directions
- 7.2.1 Demonstrate an awareness of culture
Time Frame: 90 minutes or homework with one 45-minute class period
Description of Task:
You are living and studying in a Mexican town for a semester. While there, a friend is coming to visit you but you have an exam and cannot meet her/her upon arrival. Write an email with a set of directions to a meeting place for you and your friend. To further help your friend, create a map of the center of your town, labeling the streets and at least five important buildings typically found in a Mexican town. The map must include the bus station where your friend will be arriving. As you write the directions and create the map, be sure to include some of the sites your friend will pass along the way. This will help him or her follow the directions and the map.
Materials Needed: Plain paper, pencils
Teacher Notes:
Students may need access to maps of typical towns, and the vocabulary for basic sites in a Mexican town should be reviewed prior to this activity.
Scoring Criteria:
The written e-mail directions will be assessed on the appropriate forms of directives and the inclusion of typical sites in the center of a Mexican town.
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Exceeds expectations
- all directives are in the correct form
- more than eight directives are used
- grammatical errors do not impede comprehension
- more than five typical sites are used with detailed descriptions such as the color of a building, the size of a statue, etc.
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Meets expectations
- at least six directives are used and are correct
- grammatical errors do not impede comprehension
- five sites are used
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Does not meet expectations
- fewer than six directives are used
- 3 or more incorrect forms are found
- grammatical errors are significant and impede comprehension
- fewer than five sites are used
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Adaptations:
For classes with Internet access, students may wish to find the city map of a real town for use in the project.
Diana Chase
Howell High School
405 Squankum-Yellowbrook Road
Farmingdale, NJ 07727
732.919.2131
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Lesson plans and assessments contributed by Central Jersey World Languages Professional Development Institute 2000.
