Lindsey Foster

EDTECH 541

Technology-Enhanced Thematic Unit: A Trip through Latin America

Description: Students will be planning an imaginary trip through Latin America. In order to plan the trip, students will be
analyzing and considering every aspect involved in planning an actual trip.

Students will determine what they will need to do and purchase before the first day of the trip, such as airplane tickets
and guide books. Students will create a trip budget that has an individual limit of $3ooo for the entire trip. The budget
will describe and take into account the cost of transportation, accommodations, entertainment & tourism, food, and
souvenirs.

Students will also complete a trip itinerary in order to plan the daily details and destinations for each day of the journey.
Students are encouraged to make plans to travel together; however, students are also allowed to plan their trips
individually. Students are also encouraged to think creatively and be imaginative, since they are planning their dream
trip through Latin America.

Students will be completing interactive spreadsheets online, through Google Spreadsheets, in order to complete their
trip itinerary and budget plan. Students will use the Internet and website resources in order to research their
destinations, accommodations, costs, and other miscellaneous information that is needed in order to plan their trip.

At the conclusion of this unit, students will share their plans with the class through a final presentation.

Student Demographics
• Classes and Schedule: Three Spanish Level I classes & three Spanish Level II classes, 20-25 students per class.
• Gender: Both male and female students are in all classes, with almost equal amount of each gender.
• Age: Ages consist of 14-18 years old (high school age). All classes consist of mainly freshman and sophomore
students, with a few juniors and seniors. About 40% freshman, 30% sophomores, 20% juniors, 10% seniors.
• Ethnicity: About 97% of students are white, about 2% are black, and about 1% of students are of mixed races.
• Income Level: Students have a variety of SES backgrounds. Most students are of average to below average
SES backgrounds, with a few students who are from above average SES backgrounds.
• Special Needs: About 3-4 students in each class have an IEP, SAT plan, 504 plan, or other special needs. One
ESL student, one student with visual impairments, and one student that must use a netbook in order to
complete his work. Other special needs students require extra time for their assignments, extra help and
guidance during classroom instruction, and other basic adaptations depending on individual needs.

Essential Questions
1. How is Spanish similar to English?
2. How can one travel through Latin America?
3. What expenses are necessary for traveling through Latin America?
4. What geographic locations would be interesting?

Guided Questions
1. Where will you go?
2. What will you do?
3. How will you get there?
4. How much will it cost?
5. How long will it take?
Content Standards
• Spanish
o (FL.S.1) Students will communicate using both spoken and written forms of the target language to
demonstrate a wide range of skills including:
 Interpersonal-interacting with others to provide and obtain information;
 Interpretative-understanding and interpreting what one reads, hears or views (not translation);
 Presentational-delivering information in spoken and written forms.
o (FL.S.2) Students will demonstrate knowledge, understanding and appreciation of other cultures and of the
relationship among the following:
 Perspectives – ideas, meanings, attitudes, values and beliefs:
 Practices – patterns of social interactions; and
 Contributions – literature, art, music, foods, exports, and leisure activities.
o (FL.S.3) Students will acquire information from and make connections to other disciplines and recognize the
distinctive viewpoints that are available only through a language and its culture(s).
o (FL.S.4) Students will develop insights into the complex nature and interaction of language by comparing
native and target languages, and they will develop insights into the complex nature and interaction of
culture by comparing native and target cultures.
• Language Arts
o (RLA. S.9.1) Students will apply reading skills and strategies to inform, to perform a task and to read for
literacy experience by selecting a wide variety of literature and diverse media to develop independence.
o (RLA.S.9.2) Students will apply writing skills and strategies to communicate effectively for different purposes
by using the writing process, applying grammatical and mechanical properties in writing, and selecting and
evaluating information for research purposes.
• Mathematics
o (M.S.A1.2) Through communication, representation, reasoning and proof, problem solving, and making
connections within and beyond the field of mathematics, students will demonstrate understanding of
patterns, relations and functions.
• Science
o (SC.S.9.3) Students will demonstrate an understanding of the utilization of technology to gather data and
communicate designs, results and conclusions.
• Social Studies
o (SS.S.09.04) Students will interpret, and choose maps, globes and other geographic tools to categorize and
organize information about personal directions, people, places, environments (The World in Spatial Terms).
• Physical Education
o (PE.S.3) Students will exhibit a physically active lifestyle that provides the opportunity for enjoyment,
challenge, self-expression, and social interaction.
o (PE.S.5) Students will identify and apply responsible, personal & social behaviors in physical activity settings.