TITLE OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Day of the Dead Letter to a Deceased Pet by Sharen Gendebien

1. LEARNING CONTEXT
Describe the pupose, objective, or focus of the learning experience, including:

• the learning standard(s) and the specific performance indicators being assessed;
• a description of where this experience fits into the school or course curriculum; and
• what students need to know and/or be able to do to succeed with this learning experience.

Learning Standards Checkpoint B Reading and writing are used in languages other than English for the purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing personal feelings and options, and getting others to adopt a course of action. This experience is part of the Day of the Dead Unit, which takes about 2 weeks, approximately one week prior to and one week after Nov. 1 and 2 each year. Students need to know about the Day of the Dead, one of the major religious celebrations of the hispanic countries. They need to know how to form the past or preterite tense and will already have been tested on that structure.

2. PROCEDURE
Describe, in narrative form, the actions of students and teachers and the interactions among and between students and teachers, including how the learning experience:

• supports student progress toward attainment of the learning standards;
• reflects current scholarship in your field and "best" classroom practic; and
• incorporates technology (when used) into instruction to enhance learning and to assess student performance.

The students learn about the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead from a video of the same name. They also complete a compare and contrast graphic organizer since the holiday falls so close to our Halloween. One of the most important parts of the celebration is to honor the memory of deceased relatives, but since that idea is upsetting to some students, I have the 10^th grade students write a letter to a deceased pet. I give them a rubric of what is expected in the letter and how it is to be displayed. It must contain at least 10 sentences in the preterite tense, include a picture (a photo or drawing of the pet) and be mounted on construction paper that is decorated with a colorful border. The letters are displayed on a wall or on a table set up to resemble a Mexican Ofrenda or offering display. The Ofrenda includes the items as described in the video. Students also read their letters aloud to the class and I ask classmates comprehension question s in English or Spanish. The students also sample Bread of the Dead. Usually, one of the mothers makes the bread from a recipe I found in English.

3. INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS
Describe the procedures used to accommodate the range of abilities in the classroom, including students with disabilities, limited english proficiency, or bilingual students, such as:

• instructional modifications made; and
• physical modifications of the classroom setting.

No instructional modifications have been required as Spanish 3 is an elective. I am fortunate to have a large room able to the desks plus two large tables and still have plenty of aisle space for my wheelchair student to get around. This would be a problem in a normal sized classroom.

4. TIME REQUIRED
For each aspect of the learning experience, state the amount of time for:

• planning;
• implementation (note the length of your class period, where appropriate, and the number of days to implement the experience); and
• assessment

The planning time is minimal for me as I have taught the Day of the Dead Unit for a few years and have all the materials on hand. It takes me about an hour to assemble graphic organizers and rubric. Implementation is about a week. Assessment if about two hours.

5. RESOURCES
Please note any extraordinary or unique resources (human or material) needed to successfully complete this experience:

• for the student; and
• for the teacher

Students need construction paper, tape or glue sticks, and colored markers. Teacher needs background material on the Day of the Deas such as the video day of the Dead from the Carlex Company or Teachers Discovery, Pablo Remembers by George Ancona, or El Dia de Los Muertos, the Life of the Dead in Mexican Folk Art by Maria Teresa Pomar.

6. ASSESSMENT PLAN
Describe the:

• manner in which students are involved in developing assessment criteria, maintaining an awareness of their progress, and reflection on their work;
• techniques used to collect evidence of student progress toward meeting the learning standards' performance indicators (eg. , observation, group discussions, journal writing, use of alternative testing techniques); and
• tools used to document student progress (eg., scoring guides, rating scales, check-lists). Please submit these tools.

Students complete a compare/contrast graphic organizer in Spanish comparing the Day of the Dead to Halloween. A discussion follows in which students deduce that the hispanic celebration is very respectful of the Dead and is not meant to frighten the children in any way. Their letters are graded based upon a rubric outlining the number of sentences, the number of verbs to be used (I only allow one use of the verb to be in the past), the presentation (letter, photo or picture and construction paper decorated with colorful border. They receive an oral grade for describing their pet orally to the class. Audience must answer comprehension questions orally in Spanish.

7. STUDENT WORK
Send three or four samples of student work:

• that reflect different levels of student performance; and
• include comments reflecting the basis for teacher's assessment.

I do not have samples of student work.

8. REFLECTION
Please offer personal comments on the learning experience:

• why this lesson was developed for the specific learning standard(s) and performance indicator(s);
• what you learned from implementing this lesson; and
• how the lesson was reviewed by peers prior to submission and what you learned from the review.

I have found this assignment to be "doable" by all levels of Spanish 3., keeping in mind that in this type of elective, the students are already above average and are committed to taking the Regents Exam. Most students enjoyed writing about a favorite pet or imaginary pet. With the emphasis on learning a foreign language for communication this type of experience is much more motivating than the fill in the blanks with the proper form of the verb in the preterite tense type of exercise. It is also important to help the students overcome their ethnocentricity by having them learn about important holidays in another culture, such as the Day of the Dead. I hope to increase their understanding and appreciation doings in a different way than "the American way". There is a lot of classroom discussion with this activity, sharing of experiences, and social interaction around the Ofrenda table.