The Food Market Project

Project Based Learning Silvia Wurzer

Key components of PBL in the project

• Real World Connection:Students are given a “authentic problem”: They have to become familiar with food and eating habits of a country/region. They learn how to explain and understand food menus and cook foreign food themselves. It prepares them for traveling or study abroad.

• Core to LearningStudents learn the content, while working on the project. They have to study information about a foreign cuisine, extract important vocabulary, be able to present orally what they learned and put it into praxis.

• Structured CollaborationStudents work in groups, each student has different responsibilities within the group. They have to upload their work by a certain deadline.

• Student DrivenTeacher works as a facilitator, she/he gives hints but not answers. Students are responsible for the project and the final outcome.

• Multifaceted AssessmentMany elements of the process can be assessed, for example teamwork, research techniques, time management, presentation of the findings etc.

What is The Food Market Project about?• Food is an essential part of our lives, most people

love to eat. Learning about a culture includes learning about their food and eating/drinking habits. Typical dishes not only vary within a country, but also within regions of a country. For example typical food in Andalucía and Galicia is very different.

• Therefore it is not enough, if our language learners know some food related vocabulary. Food vocabulary varies from country to country. For example judías are beans in Spain, while frijoles are beans in Central America.

Subject area and student age group

• This project is suitable for Spanish learners in their second or third year of language acquisition. Student age group could be any age in secondary education, depending on their level in Spanish. Preferably the school has a kitchen available that students are allowed to use.

Learning Goal• The learning goal of this project is to teach

students vocabulary, culture and use their knowledge in real life, having to buy typical ingredients and prepare meals. Furthermore, they will be proficient ordering food in several Spanish speaking countries, which is an important aspect when traveling or living abroad.

Duration• The duration of that project will be a month. The

students will have time during class and outside class. The project ends with a food market.

Outcome• Each group will write a general description of a

country’s culinary habits. What are the main ingredients, what grows in the region, at what time do they eat, what are typical drinks etc.

• They write a glossary with typical food and drink related vocabularies

• They choose four typical recipes, those can include desserts and have to be “cookable”

• They organize food stands with four different dishes

Procedure of Project:Theory Part

• Groups are formed, depending on class size 2-4 students per group

• Each group can choose a Spanish speaking country and/or region in that country and divide the assignments among group members

• They do research on their country’s food for one week

• Advance organizers: They present their first findings in class using a mind mapping tool and discuss the information they gathered with classmates and teacher

• After having received teacher’s and classmate’s feedback they can start writing their descriptions, glossaries and recipes

• The descriptions should be two pages long, the glossary should be no longer than one page

• They choose four recipes and describe them in cookbook style

• All information is collected in one document on google doc and formatted equally

• When all information was proofread by the teacher, each student gets a printed copy of the final product

• An online version of the file will be shared online or on the website of the school

Praxis Part• In the praxis part of this activity, a little food

market will be organized, in the afternoon. Each group has to prepare a stand, decorate it according to the country they chose.

• They will cook the food they described in their recipes, so the rest of the class can try little food samples(also parents or other classes could be invited, depending on size of the project).

• In order to cook the food, they will have to go to international food markets, Latin American shops or even order ingredients online and get familiar with original products.

• Sources: Edutopia (2014). Five Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning. What works in Education. George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/video/five-keys-rigorous-project-based-learning

Doehla D. (2011): Using Project-Based Learning to Teach World Languages. Edutopia. What works in Education. George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/world-language-project-based-learning-education-curriculum-don-doehla