New York

Welcome to this awesome adventure that we are about to begin!

In these projects, we are going to travel all around the world and we are going to visit some of the most important English-speaking cities and their most outstanding tourist landmarks. And of course, we are about to experience the really wonderful and funny experience of learning English in a collaborative way.

In this project, we are going to travel to New York, the big Apple, one of the most important cities in the United States and in the whole world. Each session of this project is going to take place in a different and famous part of the city that never sleeps. 

Aurelien Guichard. New York City (CC BY-SA)

At the end of this journey, you will have:

acquired vocabulary about personal feelings, opinions and experiences.

designed and published  an infographic  about five different things you have done in your life so far.

learnt a lot of things about the city of New York, one of the most impressive cities in the whole world. 

Each session of this project is going to take place in a different and famous part of this wonderful city. In each location, there is a proposal of tasks and activities to deal with the official syllabus.

Licencia de Creative Commons
Open Educational Resources by EDIA Project by Cedec.
English. Compulsory Secondary Education.
Author: Leonardo Boix Tàpia.

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 4.0

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

The Empire State Building

Welcome to New York!

Let’s start knowing a little bit more about the city that we are going to visit in this project. Our first stop in New York is going to be The Empire State Building. The second-tallest skyscraper in Manhattan, the Empire State Building was built in 1931 and changed the skyline of New York forever. The observation deck can be visited on the 86th floor for a bird's-eye view of the city.

robertpaulyoung. Empire State Building, New York City, USA (CC BY)

At the end of the session,you will have:

been introduced to New York, one of the most important cities in the world. 

known all the outcomes you have to produce in this project.

started thinking about which five things you are going to include in the infographic about your own life.

Watch the video New York City Tourism and taste some of the events and places New York offers to the tourists. Which place would you like to visit? Which one has impressed you the most? 

H2O Cineworks. New York City Tourism - GoEasy360 (English) (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

After having watched the video, try to answer the following questions orally:

Do you know any other famous places in New York? Do you know the name of the five different neighbourhoods in New York?

Have you ever been to New York? And to any other American cities in the United States? Do you know of anybody who has?

If so, do you remember any of the monuments or places you visited? Any interesting or favourite landmarks?

Would you like to visit this city in the future? Who with?

If you want to know more details about the most unbelievable city in the world, watch this video.

Expedia. New York City Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

As you could see, this is a good resource to see places and hear sounds about the city we are going to work on along this project. Which has been more surprising to you? Is there anything that you already knew? Have you chosen your favourite place in New York?

You can answer and summarize these three questions in a short monologue and you can share it with your classmate or with the rest of the class. You can also record it and upload it to your learning diary as a podcast.

As you are going to see in a few moments, The Empire State Building will be the first place you should include on a Google Site map. Don't forget about it!

Michal Bella. Empire State Building Tour (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

Meanwhile, visit its official website and explore all the things you can visit in the building.

Outcomes to produce while in New York.

At the end of this project, you will have produced the following outcomes:

StockSnap. Checklist (CC0)

Task: Each project has a completely different task, with different steps to complete it. In New York, you have to produce an infographic  with five outstanding experiences of your biography: places you have visited, cities you have been to, people you have met, etc. and spread it through Twitter. All the steps within this task will be identified thanks to their colour, orange.

Challenge: Along the different projects, there is a challenge which is common to all the projects, with a Google Site, where you have to search for certain information of the different English-speaking cities you are going to visit. The different activities are also going to be distributed in different steps and you are going to have some help to look for and select the information for the collaborative challenge. This is designed to be done in groups of 2/3 students. All the activities within this challenge will be identified thanks to their colour, green.

If you think you need more info about how to create a site, you can look for more details visiting the beginner's guide to creating a site. 

Learning Diary: You have to use a blog (wordpress, blogger, edublogs or others), as your learning diary. You will publish the different reflections on the activities you will find throughout the project, the videos of the conversations with your classmates, the reflections on the daily work, all the different tasks, the link to your Google Site challenge, and all the other activities that you will be discovering along the projects. All the activities within this task will be identified by their colour, blue. If you need extra help on how to start a blog, please check some easy steps.

Twitter will be a tool you should use to spread and share your work. Along the project you will be required to publish on Twitter using one (or both) of these hashtags: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork

If you are new to this network, take a look at the following link for new users.

All your work along this unit will be evaluated according to the 'Assessment rubric: New York'. You can use it as a guide and a reference for your work: 

Your task: An infography about your own life.

Task Step 1: Think about what you have to do.

At the end of this project, you will have been able to publish an infographic with five outstanding things about your biography.

By doing so, you will be awarded an accomplishment badge by your teacher who will be able to create them with this website and that you will be able to upload to your personal Learning Diary.

Alexas_Fotos. Life Story (CC0)

But first, you have to think about what to include in your interview and brainstorm some answers to these questions:

What can I include in my infographic? 

Which type of experiences can I mention?

What kind of places and monuments that you have visited can you include in your biography? 

Have you ever visited a foreign country? Have you ever been abroad? Why did you travel to that country?

Have you already started thinking about what to include in your infographic about your biography?  Let's start getting acquainted with some adjectives about personal feelings, opinions and experiences. 

This could be a great moment to start with your work on Twitter. Make your first posts summarizing the project and introducing your opinion and images about The Empire State Building using the hashtag: #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Let's continue with our visit to New York!

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

The Statue of Liberty

Did you see that colossal statue?

Discovering New York, you get to one of the most famous places: The Statue of Liberty. The colossal Statue of Liberty welcomes all travellers to American shores and it is placed in the southern side of Manhattan in New York Harbour. The statue was dedicated in 1886. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Liberty Island is maintained by the National Park Service and can be reached by ferry.

What about you? Would you like to go there on your summer holidays in the future?

Tysto. Statue with Manhattan in the background (CC0)

At the end of the session, you will have:

learnt a lot of details about The Statue of Liberty.

learnt the differences between past simple and present perfect. 

started your collaborative Google Site in groups about the city of New York.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Have you ever visited a statue? and have you ever travelled by ferry? Take a look at the video Statue of Liberty and discover this amazing monument.

finleyholiday. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island - 2 minute HD tour (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

This statue is next to Ellis Island, the first island immigrants saw when they arrived to New York in the past. You can also take a look at The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island foundation official website. It is especially interesting to find out a little bit about her history. 

You can also send them a tweet telling them that you have visited the island and the Statue virtually and a detail about it that you have learnt: Official Ellis Island - Statue of Liberty Twitter. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Remember that the Statue of Liberty must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

I have never been to New York but I once went to a musical

You probably have never been to the Statue of Liberty but maybe you went once to a very special place for you. When we want to express experiences in our lives, things that we have done, etc, we use the present perfect tense. It is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a lexical verb. 

We use the present perfect tense for something we have done several times in the past and continue to do and for something that started in the past and continues in the present.

johnhain. Statue (CC0)

You can find more information about this verbal tense at the website present perfect simple.

On the other hand, remember that we use the Past Simple to express past events or actions that have no connection to the present. Sometimes, you may need to make a contrast between these two verbal tenses. In order to know their use in the same sentence, the resource Comparision between the past simple with the present perfect can give you more ideas to use the both tenses.

Challenge: English-speaking cities

Challenge Step 1: Open up a new Google Site and share it with your group

The challenge in this project is a Google site about English-speaking cities. In this challenge, we are going to work in groups of 2/3 people. The first step is to create the site using Google sites.

The rubric to evaluate a google map will be used to evaluate your work. Remember that you have to evaluate it once you have finished creating the route with the ten stops of each city. 

You can have extra help watching the following video about registering and using Google Sites. One of the members of the group is going to be the leader and is going to open up the site and share it with the rest of the members of the group. Thus, the other members will be able to edit the site as well.

Bradley Lands. Google Sites Tutorial for Education (CC BY)

After having created the site, check that the whole group can edit it and start designing a landing page with the title English-Speaking Cities.

In this first page, you have to describe what your group is going to create collaboratively: a website with information about 10 of the most important English - speaking cities in the world, one city per project. In this project, we are going to work with the city of New York.

If you have created the google site previously, using another project from this series, you only have to add a new page to your Google site.

As you have work in groups of 2/3 people, you can also use the lino website to brainstorm your ideas, collect your links and reach an agreement on which digital materials you are going to use at your Google Site for New York even though you are working at different locations.

It is now time to start working collaboratively with your group. Remember to always follow the steps. That way it will be easier for you to produce the final product of the challenge. Your teacher can always help you with your doubts.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

Staten Island Ferry

Let's take the ferry!

You keep on visiting the wonderful city of New York and your next stop is at the Staten Island Ferry. Maybe the most amazing thing about the Staten Island Ferry is that it's free. It runs 24 hours every day of the year and has become not simply an efficient means of public transport but a tourist destination in itself.

The ferry ride runs between Manhattan and Staten Island and it takes about 25 minutes. The ride offers good views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline. At this stage, you have to continue with your first entry at the site of the English-speaking cities.

Daniel Schwen. The Staten Island Ferry Terminal is located in Lower Manhattan (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

read and answered some activities about the Staten Island Ferry. 

started doing some research on your Google Site project.

opened your Learning Diary and started writing your first post of this project.

Before getting on the ferry, you have to obtain certain information about it. In order to do so, you must check its official website and answer these questions:  

Schedules: To be considered a late ferry, how many minutes does it have to be delayed? 

Current Vessels: How many different current vessels (boats) are there? What are their names? 

Terminals: What are the names of both terminals of the Staten Island ferry? 

Get there: Which means of transport can you use to get to the Staten Island ferry?  

FAQ & Tips: Is it possible to stay on the ferry for a round-trip?  

Remember that the Staten Island Ferry must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Would you like to take the Staten Island ferry? Can you find something you can visit in that part of New York, in Staten Island? Tweet, using the hashtags, what you would like to visit there. In order to help you, you can visit the official Staten Island tourism web and choose the place you would like to go the most. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Who was born in New York?

As you have already seen, New Yorkers use the ferry to go from one neighbourhood in the city to another. It is possible that you already know some people who were born in New York. Let's take a look at a list with the biographies of some of the most famous and interesting people who have one thing in common: they were born in New York City.   

Meet all these people and choose who is your favourite New Yorker. Did you know him/her before? Why have you chosen that person? What about his/her job?  

arnaudko. Vue du Flat Iron Building depuis l'Empire State Building (CC BY-SA)

Send a tweet with the link of the page of the biography of the famous New Yorker telling why you like him/her. Remember to use the project hashtags: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork.

As a result of this activity, you have to create a glossary where you can add the jobs all these people have. You have to upload this list to your personal blog. 

In order to create the glossary you can use a pair of online tools:

Wordle

Tagxedo

When you finish, you can share your link through Twitter using the hashtags of this project: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Your challenge: New York. Here we go!

Challenge Step 2: Getting to know what is required and starting with the research

At this stage, once you have set up your teams and created your Google Site, you have to continue with the entry of one of the biggest cities in the world, New York, for the English-speaking cities challenge. 

The city of New York is the largest city in New York State. Even though New York is the biggest city, the capital city of this state is the city of Albany. This is one of the fifty States that exist in The United States. 

Steinsplitter. Flag of the United States (CC0)

As you have seen in this section, the United States is made of 50 different States. Each one of them has its own flag and its own capital city. 

State of New York. Flag of New York (CC0)

The minimum requirements that your group has to fulfill in order to pass this challenge successfully include:

the map of the city from Google Maps with the route of the ten steps we have in our tour of the city.

one video about tourism in the city,

some text about what tourists can do in the city,

And two links to printable guides, leaflets, brochures, and so forth.

In order to complete the challenge, you are suggested to look up some websites:

Official New York Guide

Wikitravel (New York)

Google maps (New York)

Discover America - New York

These are the suggested websites where you can obtain a lot of information for your challenge. But you can add some more in.

In order to produce the best possible design for this challenge, you have to take into account the 'Rubric for assessing the design of a digital site'.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 1: Start your blog-portfolio and use it to answer the different questions of the different activities.

One of activities you have to do is a "Learning Diary". You can do it by opening a blog. In this blog, you have to answer, explain reflect on the different proposals you will get through in every project.

In this first post, answer the previous questions about the environment and share the link of your post through Twitter using the hashtags of this project: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Peter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

If you have already opened up a blog in another project, just add these reflections in another page. Remember that creativity is going to be really important in developing the project.

Feedback

Write the answers to these questions on your blog:

What have you learnt?

Which doubts or troubles should you solve?

How are you working with your classmates?

Which must be your objectives for the next steps?

How is your group working?

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The magnificent Metropolitan Museum of Art is the jewel in the crown of New York museums. The Met, as people from New York call it, is one of the most important art galleries in the whole world. There are some permanent exhibitions, collections of Asian and ancient Egyptian art as well as famous 17th century Dutch paintings and the paintings of Spanish masters El Greco and Goya. At the rooftop garden, there is usually a sculpture exhibition by a contemporary artist.

¡0-8-15!. MET NYC (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York virtually.

listened to two people talking about famous American people.

thought what to include in your infographic about your biography.

You can visit its official website and choose, from the galleries at the online collection, a piece of art. Once you have finished the online visit, continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork) choosing one of those pieces of art and sharing the link to the online gallery.

You can also send a tweet to the Metropolitan Museum telling them you have visited it virtually. What has drawn your attention the most? What would you highlight from the Museum?  Send a tweet to the Official Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York Twitter. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Remember that the Metropolitan Museum of Art must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

Famous American People

Listen carefully to Nick and Cheryl. They talk about some very famous American people. After listening, do the vocabulary and comprehension quizzes. You can do the activities of Famous Americans.

ed_davad. Franklin (CC0)

After having done the listening activities, you have to answer the following questions orally and record your questions and answers in pairs in order to upload the result to your learning diary after having answered them:

Have you ever heard of Jimmy Hendrix? What is your favourite American music band? 

What about Michael Phelps? Any other famous American sports person? Have you ever heard of the NBA?

Any other famous American person? Why is he or she famous? Why do you like him/her?

Record your questions and answers in pairs and produce a video clip with your conversation. You can use the web WeVideo to record them. Your teacher can help you in all this process. After having recorded them, you have to project them in the classroom and your classmates have to assess it using the 'Rubric to assess a video assignment in the classroom'.

Your task: Let's continue the research!

Task Step 2: Starting with the research for your campaign.

As the task for this project is to create an infographic with at least five relevant things about your "biography”, it will be necessary to start looking for the information that you will include in your product.

mikegi. New York City (CC0)

At this point, you should make a little research and share the results with your mates:

Look at different and creative examples of infographics.

Now, you have to look for some interesting links where you can create an infographic. Your teacher can help you select the most interesting ones.

You have to share what you have found with the rest of the class through different means. Please, use a Twitter hashtag (#taskbiography or #EDIAnewyork are the appropriate  options).

You can organize the brainstorm ideas about “relevant facts in your life” and start thinking which five you are going to include in your infographic. 

If you still need more ideas about what to include in your biography, it would be a good idea to read about 8 tips about how to write a personal biography in order to have more ideas and vocabulary for your infographic.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 2: Uploading the video with the questions from "Famous American people!"

In this step, you have to upload the video file you have recorded in pairs.

Writing ToolsPeter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

This is a perfect moment for you to check your work. Press the button and answer the questions in your personal blog.

Don't forget to share the entry with the video through Twitter using the hashtags #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork

Feedback

Write the answers to the following questions on your learning diary.

What have you learnt in this session?

Which doubts or troubles should you solve?

How are you working with your mates?

Which must be your objectives for the next steps?

When working in pairs or groups, how are you working in pairs? How is my group working?

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

Central Park

Strawberry fields in Central Park.

Central Park has the same size as 50 blocks in the middle of Manhattan, and it has a lot of different places to be visited. For example, you can visit the European-style Conservatory Gardens, or you can ride a paddleboat or gondola in the lake, visit Belvedere Castle or the statue of Alice in Wonderland, the carousel or the zoo.

Ed Yourdon. Central Park during Autumn (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

visited Central Park in New York.

known the difference in pronunciation between /e/ and /ei/

drawn the route of different landmarks at the New York google map.

Central Park has been a "character" in hundreds of American films. Do you remember any of these films? Have you watched any of them? 

Do you have a cinema screen near your house? Do you usually go there?

Or do you prefer TV series? Which one/s is your favourite? 

Is there any cartoon that you used to watch when you were younger? And nowadays?

Answer these questions in your learning diary. The title of the post has to be: "Strawberry fields in New York". Can you find more information about the title of this post? Paste an URL with information about this issue in your learning diary also.

After the visit, continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Do you like going to the cinema? Do you usually watch films at home? How often? Who do you watch them with? The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Remember that Central Park must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

I have never had a date in New York

Phonetics is really important in English in order to pronounce words correctly. In this project, we are going to take a look at how to pronounce correctly the following phonemes: /e/ - /ei/ 

/e/ or /ei/.

Click on the Minimal pair practise to practise the difference between these two sounds.

GLady. Young (CC0)

These phonemes are part of the phonetic chart that is used to describe the sounds of many languages. They have been established by the International Phonetic Association (IPA). For more information about the IPA and their work visit: IPA's official web page.

If you need further practise, watch and repeat the following words with these phonemes:

Shaw English Online. /ɛ/ and /eɪ/ | Learn English Pronunciation (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

Apart from this, you can record yourselves practising these words in English. You have to pronounce them correctly, record a podcast with them and share it in your blog.

In order to do this exercise as adequately as possible, you can take a look to the 'Rubric to assess a podcast'.

Your Challenge: New York at the Google Site

Challenge Step 3: Organizing the New York entry at your Google Site 

At this step, you have to start organizing all the information you have gathered in order to add an entry at the site that we had previously opened.

Each group ( 2 / 3 people) has to organize the information you have searched about New York at your Google Site. Creativity in the distribution of the contents is very important. 

At this step, you have to include the following information at your Google Sites: the map of the city from Google maps with the route of the ten steps we have in our tour of the city. 

You have extra information on how to do this route visiting the How to..? section at the didactic guidelines page.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 3: Posting the result of your research in your blog

It's time to continue with your Learning Diary. Remember it helps you reflect on what you are learning and most important: what the best way for learning is. In this step, you have to post the links and other resources that you have found in your research, at your "Learning Diary" and answer the questions that you have below.

Don't forget that, if you have recorded yourselves practising some words, you must add another post sharing your podcast.

Writing ToolsPeter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Remember to share the link of your learning diary through Twitter using the hashtag: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork.

Feedback

Answer the following questions at your blog:

Have you found a lot of / only a few resources?

Have all of them been useful for your research?

Have you found more / fewer resources than in other projects?

Have you found many useless links?

Has it been difficult to select the information you were looking for? Has anybody helped you select the most interesting information? Who has helped you?

Answer these questions at your Learning Diary. You can choose between typing the answers or recording them in a podcast and uploading it to the blog afterwards.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

The Brooklyn Bridge

Let's go for a walk!

When the Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge of its time. Now it is just a landmark. It is also easy to walk across. You can get a panoramic view of the city whether you set out from the Brooklyn or the Manhattan side.

Andrew Choy. Brooklyn bridge at night, New York city, NY. (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

used a thinking routine about the Brooklyn Bridge.

revised and practised present perfect tense with "yet" and "already".

To start with, let’s begin with a thinking routine, about Brooklyn Bridge. Look at the picture of this bridge.

After viewing this picture of Brooklyn Bridge in New York, answer the questions below:

What can you see?

How long do you think this bridge is?

Can both cars and pedestrians cross the bridge?

How many cars can cross this bridge a day?

You can also take a look at the TripAdvisor Website with the Brooklyn Bridge Walk proposal. There is also some more information about the history and facts of the bridge at the official New York infrastructure website.

Then, answer the following questions:

What do you think about how the building conditions had to be for workers?

Have you ever crossed such a long bridge?

What does it make you wonder?

You have to answer these questions in your personal blog. The title of the post must be "Brooklyn Bridge Thinking Routine"

You can have more information about this thinking routine  by consulting the resource 'Thinking routine'.

Remember that Brooklyn Bridge must be part of the route on your Google Sites map.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Do you have to cross a bridge to go to school? Is there any river nearby? Are there any bridges to cross it? Are there any other kinds of bridges in your area?. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

I have not been to New York yet!

We can also use "yet" and "already" with present perfect tense to express if the action has finished or not in the present.  Two examples would be

I have already finished my homework.

I have not eaten my lunch yet.

Could you think other examples? Try to write (or say) at least one with already and one with yet.

Mr_Bullitt. Rockefeller Center, in New York City. (CC BY)

Visit some websites in order to learn how to use present perfect with "yet" and "already" in English and practise it: Exercise 1 & Exercise 2 & Exercise 3.

Try to do the activities in pairs. Your teacher can help you with all the exercises. 

Once you finish, you have to write in your learning diary a short text using the present perfect and "yet" and "already.

Your Task: First version of your infographic

Task Step 3: First version of your infographic with your biography.

In this step of your task, it is time to start preparing the infographic  with at least five important facts about your own biography.

Firmbee. Design (CC0)

As you have to do this task individually, you can share your draft with another classmate and he or she can give you some suggestions  in order to improve your final product. Then, you have to give some feedback to another classmate as well.

Your challenge: New York at the Google Site

Challenge Step 4: Organizing the New York entry at your Google Site 

At this step, you have to keep on organizing all the information you have gathered in order to complete the entry.

Each group ( 2 / 3 people) has to organize the information you have searched about New York at your Google Site. Creativity in the distribution of the contents is very important. 

At this step, you have to include at your Google Site the following information:

1  video about tourism in New York.

If you find more than one representative video, you can also include it in your Google Site.

Learning diary

Learning diary Step 4: Revise all the steps of your task and challenge so far.

You are in the middle of the New York project. It is time now to revise all the steps you have done so far in both the task and the challenge.

Peter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Click on the "Show Feedback" button and answer these questions in your learning diary.

Remember to share the link of your learning diary through Twitter using the hashtag: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

At this point, you should also think about how the project is going on. Answer the questions you will find pushing on the button "Feedback".

Feedback

Challenge

How is your site going?

Are you following all the steps?

Have you had any difficulties? How have you solved them?

Task

Have you got the first version of your investigation file?

Are you having any trouble in finding enough resources?

Now, you can share the draft version of your investigation in your learning diary.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

The Chrysler Building

Let's go up the Building!

Let's continue with our amazing trip to the magnificent city of New York. Your next stop now is at the Chrysler Building.

At 42nd and Lexington in Midtown stands the second most famous  skyscraper in New York City, the Chrysler Building. Just a little bit shorter than the Empire State Building, it was built only a year before. The Chrysler Building's architectural details, such as the eagles on the corners of the 61st floor or the multicolored marble in the lobby, make this building a favourite of architecture fans worldwide.

Discovering New York is becoming a truly unforgettable experience!

Misterweiss. View of the Chrysler Building taken from the Empire State Building (CC0)

At the end of the session, you will have:

read about the Chrysler Building.

organized information about New York at the Google site

read and listen to online safety tips.

Take a look at this website with information about The Chrysler Building. Which fact impresses you the most? When was it built?

Remember that the Chrysler Building must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Write a tweet telling what  you like the most about this building. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

What about online safety?

In this project, the task consists of an infographic about your own biography. This profile will be uploaded to the Internet. But do you know how to protect yourself in the virtual world? Do you know enough about online safety?  Do you know what your digital footprint is?

Ervins Strauhmanis. Phone security (CC BY)

So, maybe you need to read some information about your digital footprint. When you finish, you can check your understanding by doing the proposed activities. 

Your task: infographic about your biography.

Task. Step 4: Improve your infographic by sharing the links you have visited with your classmates.  

It is a perfect moment to share the links you have visited with other classmates in order to improve the resources you can add to your infographic  about your biography. 

Your challenge: New York at the Google Site

Challenge. Step 5: Organizing the New York entry at your Google Site

At this step, you have to finish the New York entry at the Google Site.

Each group ( 2 / 3 people) has to organize the information you have searched about New York at your Google Site. Creativity in the distribution of the contents is very important. The requirements to finish the entry are:

some text about what to do in the city,

and two links to printable guides, leaflets, brochures.

If you and your group consider that you can add more details to these requirements,you can freely add them to your site.

Learning Diary

Learning Diary. Step 5: Posting the link to your group's Google Site about the New York Challenge. 

At this step, you have to write a post at your blog where you share the link of your challenge about New York. You also have to include a summary of which aspects you have changed, which you have kept and why.

Peter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Click on the "Show Feedback" button and answer these questions in your learning diary.

Remember to share the link of your learning diary through Twitter using the hashtag: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

At this point, you should also think about how the project is going on. Answer the questions you'd find pushing on the button "Feedback". 

Feedback

Challenge

How is your site going?

Are you following all the steps?

Have you had any difficulties? How have you solved them?

Task

Have you got the first version of your investigation file?

Are you having any trouble in finding enough resources?

Now, you can share the draft version of your investigation in your learning diary.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

Grand Central Terminal

Let's take the train!

The year 2013 was Grand Central Terminal's centennial anniversary. Extensively renovated in 1998, Grand Central not only offers dozens of train platforms servicing hundreds of daily departures and arrivals but it is also a place to eat and shop. The ceiling is painted to look like the night sky. The terminal offers walking and audio tours as well.

At the end of the session, you will have:

read and answered some questions about the Grand Central Terminal using its official website.

learnt the use of "for" and "since" with present perfect.

designed the final version of your infographic.

Dudesleeper. Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York (CC BY)

Would you like to know more about the Grand Central Terminal in New York? Do you usually travel by train or underground? Or do you rather use other means of transport? 

Visit the The Grand Central Terminal Official Website, read the questions and answer them:

When does the Grand Central Terminal? (To find out, visit the "Plan your visit" section).

Which are the subway lines that stop at Grand Central Terminal (42nd & Lexington Av)? (To find out, visit the 'Subway map' section).

What means of transport can you take from Grand Central Terminal? (To find out, visit the  'Transportation' section).

You have to answer these questions in your learning diary.

Remember that The Grand Central Terminal must be a part of the route on your Google Site map. 

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Choose one of the shops or dining places from the sales section and send a tweet with the name of the place you have chosen. You can also tweet the answer to the previous questions adding the link of your post from your learning diary. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

You can also watch the Video Tour of Grand Central Terminal to have an idea of its architecture and send the Grand Central Terminal a tweet telling them you have visited the Station virtually.

I have studied English for eight years.

We use present perfect in English with "for" (period of time) and "since" (a point in time) when we talk about our own life experiences. Remember how to use the present perfect tense with for & since.

Jenna Saint Martin Photo. 80 women cheering and wearing many different colors (CC BY-SA)

Let's practise how to use the present perfect with for & since. 

You can compose a digital poster to explain how to use for & since with present perfect and its differences with the past simple tense and make up some examples of its use.

In order to compose a good digital poster, you have to take into account the 'Rubric to assess a digital poster'.

Your task : The final version of your infography

Task Step 5: Designing the final version of your infographic.

After having visited this historical Grand Central Terminal in New York, it is now time to design the final version of your infographic about your biography you have been working on. Remember that it will be published at your learning diary and shared through Twitter.

Wikivisual. Write Articles Step 3 Version 2.jpg (CC BY-SA)

Your teacher can help you with your doubts with the final details of your infographic.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 6: Summarising all the steps taken so far in order to design your infographic.

After having finished the conversation in your interview, you have to revise all the work you have done so far in order to summarize all the steps you have followed.

Peter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Click on the "Show Feedback" button and answer these questions in your learning diary.

Remember to share the link of your learning diary through Twitter using the hashtag: #taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

At this point, you should also think about how the project is going on. Answer the questions you will find pushing on the button "Feedback".

Feedback

Number them.

Write them in chronological order.

Have you had any difficulties? 

If so, how have you overcome them?

Has anybody helped you solve them?

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

9/11 Memorial

World Trade Center

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum commemorates the approximately 3,000 lives lost in the 2001 terrorist attack that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center. There are two square pools where the World Trade towers once existed, with trees and some green spaces around them. The names of all the victims are written on the walls that are near these pools. The memorial opened on September 12th, 2011.

Norman B. The completed South Pool in April 2012 (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

visited the 9/11 Memorial. 

had fun singing one of the most famous songs by the New Yorker singer "Lady Gaga"

shared your infographic through different means.

Why don't you visit the official 9/11 Memorial's website? 

At this website, you can obtain some information about all the different activities you can do at the 9/11 Memorial. Before answering the questions, take a Google map virtual tour of the place.

Can you find the answers to the following questions at the website?

How much does a teenager (up to 17 years old) have to pay for a General Museum Ticket? (Check the Visit the Museum section)

Who have been the architects of the 9/11 Memorial? (Check the Museum Architects section)

How much can you save on your ticket if you hold the New York City Pass? (Check the City Pass section)

Remember that the 9/11 Memorial must be part of the route on your Google Sites map.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Which section from the official 9/11 Memorial is, in your opinion, the most impressive for you? Did you see images or videos or what happened in the past? You can also access the complete 9/11 Timeline with audios and videos of what happened that day. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

There is no bad romance in New York!

You have been visiting New York, one of the most important cities in the world. One of the most important singers who were born in New York is Lady Gaga who is a famous singer and actress. 

Would you like to play it and know one of Lady Gaga's songs and its lyrics?. Choose the level of difficulty and have a good time: Lady Gaga - Bad Romance.

Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (Official Music Video) (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

If you want to know further details about this New Yorker singer, just take a look at her official website. 

You can also get in touch with her through her official Facebook and Twitter. What about tweeting her how we are using her songs to learn english?

She also has an official Youtube channel with all her videoclips.

Enjoy with this American singer!

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). This is an open tweet about Lady Gaga. You can recommend a song (explaining why), suggest some other websites about her, talk about any other American groups, or any other idea you may have about music in English.

End of Task: Infography about your biography.

Task Step 6: Disseminating your infographic about your biography

We have reached the end of this task. It is now time to announce to both parents and other teachers & students that you have been working on your infographic about your biography and that it is finished.

Cherie A. Thurlby. Defense.gov photo essay 060911 (CC0)

Remember that you have to share your infographic through Twitter using the project hashtags. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

Have you enjoyed this experience a lot? So, we still have some more challenges to carry out along this series of projects.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 7: Upload your infographic link to your learning diary.

At this moment, you have to publish the link of your infography to your personal learning diary.

Peter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Then, one of the members of the class or your teacher can put all your infographies links together and publish them to any of the publishing websites:

symbaloo.com

listly

Thus, you will be able to get instant access to all of them in just one site.

You can also share it through Twitter using the following hashtag: #EDIAnewyork & #taskbiography. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

At this point, you should also think about how the project is going on. Answer the questions you'd find pushing on the button "Feedback".

Feedback

Challenge

How is your site going?

Are you following all the steps?

Have you had any difficulties? How have you solved them?

Task

Have you got the first version of your investigation file?

Are you having any trouble in finding enough resources?

Now, you can share the draft version of your investigation in your learning diary.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

Times Square

Arriving at the end of our journey!

Our journey to the city of New York finishes at Times Square in Manhattan which is New York City's true crossroads. It is most famous for its digital billboards that light up the city day and night. Nearby you will find Broadway shows, restaurants and plenty of shops, as well as Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Times Square is also New York's media centre, with MTV, ABC and the New York Times all having offices there. Newyorkers welcome the New Year at Times Square. 

Eric Salard. Time Square (CC BY-SA)

At the end of the session, you will have:

visited Times Square in New York.

listened to a conversation about the city of New York.

reflected on all the different tasks you have worked on at the Learning Diary.

If you go to Times Square's official website, you will be able to visit all the sections it contains and get to know what is in the heart of New York at the moment.

Remember that Times Square must be part of the route at your Google Sites map.

Continue with your posts on Twitter (#taskbiography and #EDIAnewyork). Tweet Times Square telling it which section of the webpage do you find the most interesting and share the link. Meanwhile, visit Times Square's youtube channel, choose one of the videos and share it with a tweet using the hashtags of the project. The 'Rubric to assess a Tweet' can help you do a good job in this social network.

New York sports

Once we have visited all the main landmarks in New York, let's listen to Warren. He loves sports so he gets tourist tips for New York local teams.  

Pablo BM. NBA game (CC BY)

Listen to the conversation and answer the questions to check what you have understood. After that, you can also check it with the help of the transcript.

You can not leave this wonderful city without listening to one of the New York anthems sung by Frank Sinatra: New York, New York.

Frank Sinatra. Theme From New York New York - Frank Sinatra | Concert Collection (Licencia estándar de YouTube)

A classic song about the Big Apple!

Your challenge: New York at the Google Site

Challenge Step 6: List of all links and images you have used in your project.

To finish your Google Site project about New York, add a new page where you and your group have to add the complete list of links that you have used throughout your research.

You also have to add a complete gallery of all the images that you have used in your Google Site project about New York.

Learning diary

Learning Diary. Step 8: Posting your New York Site and every audio / video outcome that you have produced.

Remember to post the New York sites and the audio /videos you have recorded to your personal Learning Diary. That way, at the end of all the projects, you are going to have a wonderful portfolio of all the materials you will have produced individually, in pairs and collaboratively in groups.

Learning Diary. Final Step: Complete revision of the project 

At this moment, you have to reflect on all the different tasks you have gone through this project.

Writing ToolsPeter O'Shea. Writing Tools (CC BY)

Remember to share all the links of your posts through Twitter using the hashtags #EDIAnewyork  #taskbiography.

Your teacher can put together all the tweets produced throughout this project through the following tools:

Tagboard

List.ly

And now, answer the questions you can find below, at the Learning Diary.

Feedback

Have you participated actively in all the activities proposed at the unit?

Have all the members of your group worked collaboratively at the Google Site?

Have you investigated and discovered about New York and all the different places in the city?

Have you found all the activities proposed at the unit interesting? Why / Why not?

Have you enjoyed doing them? Why / Why not?

Your teacher, if you have fulfilled all the tasks satisfactorily, will award you with a badge as a reward for such an astonishing job after having accomplished the challenge of the project and that you will be able to publish it at your Learning Diary.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

- Didactic guidelines -

Didactic proposal

"New York " is part of the "English Speaking cities" projects. These projects can be done either following a pre-established order or without following it. There are activities to do individually, in pairs or in groups of 2 / 3 people.

Teamwork is really important in these series of projects because they have to work collaboratively to produce the challenge of each of the projects. If you wish to read a little bit more about the importance of teaching your students teamwork, click on the following link: importance of teamwork.

Download this Didactic proposal in editable or pdf format.

Each unit is student-centred and has several centres of interest:

In each project, students have to accomplish a task, which is different in each project. There is a visit to an English-speaking city in every project and each session of work is designed to happen in a famous landmark of the city.

There is also a challenge, where they have to collaboratively design Google Sites with information about each of the cities they are visiting. They are expected to actively work with information and communication technologies. They have to complete a Google Site with certain information about the city that students have to search on the Internet.

Students also have to complete a learning diary, using a personal blog where they have to reflect on the different contents they are working on, they have to upload the different audios and videos they produce, the answer to the varied types of activities and they have to share the link to the Google Site of their project. 

Apart from this project-based approach, each unit is also focused on different vocabulary, grammar structures and text types. There are several tasks to work on the different skills: listening, writing, reading and speaking to satisfactorily achieve every goal from a linguistic point of view. Sometimes, it can be prepared in advance by students following the flipped classroom approach: students can watch some of the videos, listen to a recording, search some information at home and the tasks can be done in class with teachers and students discussing and solving questions.

To sum it up, they are going to work on all the contents of the syllabus of their level with a project-based learning orientation.

All the sections published in this guide for teachers are referred as to the "New York" project.

Curricular framework

Competencias clave

Competencia en comunicación lingüística (CCL) 

Competencia Plurilingüe (CP)

Competencia en conciencia y expresiones culturales (CCEC) 

Competencia digital (CD) 

Competencia personal, social y de aprender a aprender (CPSAA) 

Competencia ciudadana (CC) 

Competencias específicas y criterios de evaluación

Competencia específica 1: Comprender e interpretar el sentido general y los detalles más relevantes de textos expresados de forma clara y en la lengua estándar, buscando fuentes fiables y haciendo uso de estrategias como la inferencia de significados, para responder a necesidades comunicativas concretas.

Criterios de evaluación

1.1. Extraer y analizar el sentido global y las ideas principales, y seleccionar información pertinente de textos orales, escritos y multimodales sobre temas cotidianos, de relevancia personal o de interés público próximos a la experiencia del alumnado, expresados de forma clara y en la lengua estándar a través de diversos soportes.

1.2. Interpretar y valorar el contenido y los rasgos discursivos de textos progresivamente más complejos propios de los ámbitos de las relaciones interpersonales, de los medios de comunicación social y del aprendizaje, así como de textos literarios adecuados al nivel de madurez del alumnado.

1.3. Seleccionar, organizar y aplicar las estrategias y conocimientos más adecuados en cada situación comunicativa para comprender el sentido general, la información esencial y los detalles más relevantes de los textos; inferir significados e interpretar elementos no verbales; y buscar, seleccionar y gestionar información veraz.

Competencia específica 2: Producir textos originales, de extensión media, sencillos y con una organización clara, usando estrategias tales como la planificación, la compensación o la autorreparación, para expresar de forma creativa, adecuada y coherente mensajes relevantes y responder a propósitos comunicativos concretos.

Criterios de evaluación

2.1. Expresar oralmente textos sencillos, estructurados, comprensibles, coherentes y adecuados a la situación comunicativa sobre asuntos cotidianos, de relevancia personal o de interés público próximo a la experiencia del alumnado, con el fin de describir, narrar, argumentar e informar, en diferentes soportes, utilizando recursos verbales y no verbales, así como estrategias de planificación, control, compensación y cooperación.

2.2. Redactar y difundir textos de extensión media con aceptable claridad, coherencia, cohesión, corrección y adecuación a la situación comunicativa propuesta, a la tipología textual y a las herramientas analógicas y digitales utilizadas sobre asuntos cotidianos, de relevancia personal o de interés público próximos a la experiencia del alumnado, respetando la propiedad intelectual y evitando el plagio.

2.3. Seleccionar, organizar y aplicar conocimientos y estrategias para planificar, producir, revisar y cooperar en la elaboración de textos coherentes, cohesionados y adecuados a las intenciones comunicativas, las características contextuales, los aspectos socioculturales y la tipología textual, usando los recursos físicos o digitales más adecuados en función de la tarea y de las necesidades del interlocutor o interlocutora potencial a quien se dirige el texto.

Competencia específica 3: Interactuar con otras personas con creciente autonomía, usando estrategias de cooperación y empleando recursos analógicos y digitales, para responder a propósitos comunicativos concretos en intercambios respetuosos con las normas de cortesía.

Criterios de evaluación

3.1. Planificar, participar y colaborar activamente, a través de diversos soportes, en situaciones interactivas sobre temas cotidianos, de relevancia personal o de interés público cercanos a la experiencia del alumnado, mostrando iniciativa, empatía y respeto por la cortesía lingüística y la etiqueta digital, así como por las diferentes necesidades, ideas, inquietudes, iniciativas y motivaciones de los interlocutores e interlocutoras.

3.2. Seleccionar, organizar y utilizar estrategias adecuadas para iniciar, mantener y terminar la comunicación, tomar y ceder la palabra, solicitar y formular aclaraciones y explicaciones, reformular, comparar y contrastar, resumir, colaborar, debatir, resolver problemas y gestionar situaciones comprometidas.

Competencia específica 5: Ampliar y usar los repertorios lingüísticos personales entre distintas lenguas, reflexionando de forma crítica sobre su funcionamiento y tomando conciencia de las estrategias y conocimientos propios, para mejorar la respuesta a necesidades comunicativas concretas.

Criterios de evaluación

5.1. Comparar y argumentar las semejanzas y diferencias entre distintas lenguas reflexionando de manera progresivamente autónoma sobre su funcionamiento.

5.2. Utilizar de forma creativa estrategias y conocimientos de mejora de la capacidad de comunicar y de aprender la lengua extranjera con apoyo de otros participantes y de soportes analógicos y digitales.

5.3. Registrar y analizar los progresos y dificultades de aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera seleccionando las estrategias más eficaces para superar esas dificultades y consolidar el aprendizaje, realizando actividades de planificación del propio aprendizaje, autoevaluación y coevaluación, como las propuestas en el Portfolio Europeo de las Lenguas (PEL) o en un diario de aprendizaje, haciendo esos progresos y dificultades explícitos y compartiéndolos.

Competencia específica 6: Valorar críticamente y adecuarse a la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística a partir de la lengua extranjera, identificando y compartiendo las semejanzas y las diferencias entre lenguas y culturas, para actuar de forma empática y respetuosa en situaciones interculturales.

Criterios de evaluación

6.1. Actuar de forma adecuada, empática y respetuosa en situaciones interculturales construyendo vínculos entre las diferentes lenguas y culturas, rechazando cualquier tipo de discriminación, prejuicio y estereotipo en contextos comunicativos cotidianos y proponiendo vías de solución a aquellos factores socioculturales que dificulten la comunicación.

6.2. Valorar críticamente en relación con los derechos humanos y adecuarse a la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística propia de países donde se habla la lengua extranjera, favoreciendo el desarrollo de una cultura compartida y una ciudadanía comprometida con la sostenibilidad y los valores democráticos.

6.3. Aplicar estrategias para defender y apreciar la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística atendiendo a valores ecosociales y democráticos y respetando los principios de justicia, equidad e igualdad.

Saberes básicos

A. Comunicación

Autoconfianza e iniciativa. El error como parte integrante del proceso de aprendizaje.

Estrategias de uso común para la planificación, ejecución, control y reparación de la comprensión, la producción y la coproducción de textos orales, escritos y multimodales.

Funciones comunicativas de uso común adecuadas al ámbito y al contexto comunicativo:  describir personas, objetos, lugares, fenómenos y acontecimientos; situar eventos en el tiempo; situar objetos, personas y lugares en el espacio; pedir e intercambiar información sobre cuestiones cotidianas; dar y pedir consejos, proposiciones o sugerencias; expresar parcialmente el gusto o el interés y las emociones; narrar acontecimientos pasados (experiencias), describir situaciones presentes; expresar la opinión, la posibilidad; expresar argumentaciones sencillas; reformular y resumir.

Modelos contextuales y géneros discursivos de uso común en la comprensión, producción y co-producción de textos orales, escritos y multimodales, breves y sencillos: características y reconocimiento del contexto (participantes y situación), expectativas generadas por el contexto; organización y estructuración según el género y la función textual.

Unidades lingüísticas de uso común y significados asociados a dichas unidades tales como la expresión de la entidad y sus propiedades, cantidad y cualidad, el espacio y las relaciones espaciales, el tiempo y las relaciones temporales, la afirmación, la negación, la interrogación y la exclamación, relaciones lógicas habituales.

Léxico de uso común y de interés para el alumnado relativo a identificación personal, relaciones interpersonales, lugares y entornos, ocio y tiempo libre, vida cotidiana, entorno natural, tecnologías de la información y la comunicación.

Patrones sonoros, acentuales, rítmicos y de entonación de uso común, y significados e intenciones comunicativas generales asociadas a dichos patrones.

Convenciones ortográficas de uso común y significados e intenciones comunicativas asociados a los formatos, patrones y elementos gráficos.

Recursos para el aprendizaje y estrategias de uso común de búsqueda y selección de información: diccionarios, libros de consulta, bibliotecas, recursos digitales e informáticos, etc.

Respeto de la propiedad intelectual y derechos de autor sobre las fuentes consultadas y contenidos utilizados.

Herramientas analógicas y digitales de uso común para la comprensión, producción y coproducción oral, escrita y multimodal; y plataformas virtuales de interacción, cooperación y colaboración educativa (aulas virtuales, videoconferencias, herramientas digitales colaborativas, etc.) para el aprendizaje, la comunicación y el desarrollo de proyectos con hablantes o estudiantes de la lengua extranjera.

B. Plurilinguismo

Estrategias de uso común para identificar, organizar, retener, recuperar y utilizar creativamente unidades lingüísticas (léxico, morfosintaxis, patrones sonoros, etc.) a partir de la comparación de las lenguas y variedades que conforman el repertorio lingüístico personal.

Estrategias y herramientas de uso común para la autoevaluación, la coevaluación y la autorreparación, analógicas y digitales, individuales y cooperativas.

Expresiones y léxico específico de uso común para intercambiar ideas sobre la comunicación, la lengua, el aprendizaje y las herramientas de comunicación y aprendizaje (metalenguaje).

Comparación entre lenguas a partir de elementos de la lengua extranjera y otras lenguas: origen y parentescos.

C. Interculturalidad

La lengua extranjera como medio de comunicación interpersonal e internacional, como fuente de información y como herramienta de participación social y de enriquecimiento personal.

Aspectos socioculturales y sociolingüísticos de uso común relativos a la vida cotidiana, las condiciones de vida y las relaciones interpersonales; convenciones sociales de uso común; lenguaje no verbal, cortesía lingüística y etiqueta digital; cultura, normas, actitudes, costumbres y valores propios de países donde se habla la lengua extranjera.

Estrategias de uso común para entender y apreciar la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística, atendiendo a valores ecosociales y democráticos.

Estrategias de uso común de detección y actuación ante usos discriminatorios del lenguaje verbal y no verbal.

The Empire State Building
The Statue of Liberty
Staten Island Ferry
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Central Park
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Chrysler Building
Grand Central Terminal
9/11 Memorial
Times Square

CCL
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

CP
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

STEM

CD
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

CPSAA
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

CC
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

CE

CCEC
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Competencia en comunicación lingüística (CCL), Competencia plurilingüe (CP), Competencia matemática, ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería (STEM), Competencia digital (CD), Competencia personal, social y de aprender a aprender (CPSAA), Competencia ciudadana(CC), Competencia emprendedora (CE), Competencia en conciencia y expresión culturales (CCEC)

Learning Path

Stages

Goals

Sessions

The Empire State Building

To be introduced to New York, one of the most important cities in the world.

To know all the outcomes they have to produce in this project.

To start thinking about which five things they are going to include in the infographic about their own life.

2 sessions

The Statue of Liberty

To learn a lot of details about The Statue of Liberty.

To learn about the differences between past simple and present perfect. 

To start their collaborative Google Site in groups about the city of New York. 

2 sessions

Staten Island Ferry

To read and answer some activities about the Staten Island Ferry. 

To start doing some research on their Google Site project.

To open their Learning Diary and start writing their first post of this project. 

2 sessions

Metropolitan Museum of Art

To visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York virtually.

To listen to two people talking about famous American people.

To think about what to include in their infographic about their biography.

3 sessions

Central Park

To visit Central Park in New York.

To know the difference in pronunciation between /e/ and /ei/.

To draw the route of different landmarks at the New York google map.

2 sessions

The Brooklyn Bridge

To use a thinking routine about the Brooklyn Bridge.

To revise and practise present perfect tense with "yet" and "already".

2 sessions

The Chrysler Building

To read about the Chrysler Building.

To organize information about New York at the Google site.

To read and listen to online safety tips.

3 sessions 

Grand Central Terminal

To read and answer some questions about the Grand Central Terminal using its official website.

To learn about  the use of "for" and "since" with present perfect.

To design the final version of their infographic.

3 sessions

9/11 Memorial

To visit the 9/11 Memorial. 

To have fun singing one of the most famous songs by the New Yorker singer "Lady Gaga".

To share their infographic through different means.

 2 sessions 

Times Square

To visit Times Square in New York.

To listen to a conversation about the city of New York.

To reflect on all the different tasks they have worked on at the Learning Diary.

  2 sessions

Assessment

For the assessment different instruments will be used by teachers and students depending on the aim of the task and in different moments of the learning process:

Initial evaluation

Teachers will carry out different activities to activate students´ prior knowledge and foster motivation as well as showing the rubric for the evaluation of the whole project.

Formative assessment

The rubrics value the degree of achievement of the indicators that serve to demonstrate the adequate performance of each product. There is a main rubric that assesses the whole project and each task has its own rubric. The rubrics that have been designed to assess the different tasks are:

Rubric to assess a tweet.

Rubric to assess a video assignment in pairs in the classroom.

Rubric to assess a podcast.

Rubric to assess a digital poster.

Rubric to assess the project, New York. 

Rubric to assess the design of a digital site.

Peer evaluation will be carried out after different production tasks so as to provide feedback to improve the tasks.

The Learning diary is a self-assessment tool in which the student reflects on his achievements and difficulties during the learning process. It is also useful for the teacher to control the students´ learning process. 

The Portfolio is a self-assessment instrument in which the student keeps a record of his tasks and describes the creation process. 

Final assessment

The teacher will evaluate the challenge and the Google Site Project following the rubric.

The partners will carry out peer assessment on the Google Site Project work and grade about how their teamwork has worked. The students can generate the different criteria or items to be assessed.

Students will self-assess the final task using the rubric. 

There will be another assessment for all the in-between activities (oral activities, monologues, short texts, videos & audios) and all the activities that have to be done in the learning diary. They all can be assessed with the rubrics next to each activity.

The final assessment will also include a teacher's evaluation on how the students have been involved in the project or tackled the different activities.

Both teachers and students are suggested to use the available rubrics to assess both the process and the outcomes.

Extra Resources

There is a list of resources that both teachers and students can use in order to know more about how to use ICT for the different tasks in this unit.

How to...?

Start a project at Google Sites

Open a blog at Blogger

Open a blog at Wordpress

Open a blog at Edublogs

10 ways to use your Edublog - Student Blogs

Use Lino.it

Use WeVideo.com

Use Twitter hashtags

Use Google Maps to plan a route in a city

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- Credits and download -

Title | New York | English Speaking Cities
Coordination | Centro Nacional de Desarrollo Curricular en Sistemas no Propietarios (Cedec)
Authorship | Leonardo Boix Tàpia 
License | Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0

This content was created with eXeLearning, your free and open source editor to create educational resources.

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Information on licensing and use

This open educational resource has got a CC BY-SA license and therefore it can be used, downloaded, modified and adapted, as long as the name of the creator is provided, and in case of being transformed and publishing a new version, it must be done under the same CC BY-SA license as the original.

The following text can be used to acknowledge authorship in case of modification of the resource:

This material is an adaptation of the original resource "English Speaking Cities: New York from Cedec's  EDIA project.

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 4.0

Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)