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Un juego para aprender:
Hispanic Heritage


A WebQuest for Grades 9-12
 

Introduction
Task
Process
Resources
Evaluation
Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Bess Sellers, the marketing manager at Teach Me Toys.com recently informed the company's president that, based on the 2000 census, 35.3 million Hispanics live in the United States. According to Ms. Sellers, Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of the U.S. population and 17 percent of the nation's public school enrollment. She believes that TMT would increase its sales if it produced toys and games about Hispanic heritage. LaToya Maker, the company president, agreed. She has invited several teams of independent designers to create a game that would teach U.S. kids about Hispanic countries, culture, and people. The team that creates the most educational -- and the most fun -- game will receive 10 percent of the profits from the game's sales.

TASK

You and four of your classmates have been asked to form a design team and create a game to teach kids in grades 5-8 about the heritage of Hispanic residents of the United States.

PROCESS

Each team member will:

  • Step 1: Choose or draw the names of four of the following Hispanic countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Also included is Puerto Rico, a self-governing commonwealth associated with the U.S.
  • Step 2: Use appropriate online resources as well as library resources, if available, to research the history, geography, climate, economy, culture, and people of each of the assigned countries.
  • Step 3: Write ten facts about each of the countries researched; at least two of the facts should relate to Hispanic culture, two should relate to the history or geography of the Hispanic countries, and two should be about famous Hispanic people.
  • Document the source of each fact. (Several formats for documenting online resources can be found at OWL, the Purdue Online Writing Lab.)

When the individual research is complete, you and your team members will work together to:

  • Step 4: Decide the kind of game you will create. Keep in mind the Hispanic Heritage topic and determine which game format will work best with the facts you have collected..
  • Step 5: Design the game. Create a storyboard or a Word document illustrating or describing how the game will be played. Type a separate document explaining the rules of the game.
  • Step 6: Decide how many questions will be needed for the game, and create the questions using as many of the 200 facts your team has collected as necessary. Choose the facts that will most interest middle school students.
  • Step 7: Create an actual game using whatever materials are required.
  • Step 8: Field test the game at a nearby middle school, or ask a team of your classmates to test the game for you.
  • Step 9: Make changes to your game based on the results of the testing.
  • Step 10: Turn in to your teacher the final version of the game. Include all necessary materials and documentation.

RESOURCES

Country Information

Food and Holidays

Art and Culture

Notable Hispanics

Game Resources

EVALUATION

You grade will reflect:

  • the accuracy of your research as demonstrated by your notes. (20 percent)
  • your research documentation. (5 percent)
  • the creativity and appropriateness of your team's design. (25 percent)
  • the quality of your team's game (20 percent)
  • the clarity and completeness of the game documentation (10 percent)
  • your individual contribution to the group process. (20 percent)

CONCLUSION

Now that you've created your game, how will you market it? Using any medium you like (print, art, video, Web based, software based, and so on), create an ad campaign for your game.

Click here for the Un juego para aprender: The Learning Game Teacher Page.

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 2004 Education World

Originally published 09/17/2003
Links last updated 09/02/2004