Since the fall of 2000, eighth grade Spanish C Honors students have exchanged letters with a class of high school students at I.E.S. CerdeF1o in Oviedo, Spain. As an extension of their letter writing project, the students will participate in the production of a collaborative newspaper (Periódico cooperativo). The students on both sides of the Atlantic will write articles, serve as writing editors, gather graphics, and lay out the articles to create the finished product.

The project was divided into two phases: first, a writing and editing phase, and second, a layout phase to publish the newspaper on the Internet. Each student contributed to the writing and editing of the articles and to the inclusion of graphics, photos, or other images. Germantown Academy students complete the layouts of the pages since Germantown Academy had more technological capabilities than the school in Spain. The teachers from the respective schools made the writing and editing assignments for each student.

The publication of a collaborative newspaper was initiated as an outgrowth of a keypal exchange that the eighth grade students at Germantown Academy had with Oviedo, Spain during the '00-'01 school year.

The newspaper would consist of 4 sections. They included the following topics:
1. Daily Life
2. Festivales
3. Our towns/cities
4. Sports

The process will consist of two phases: (1) a writing and editing phase and (2) a layout phase.

I. Writing and editing phase:

1. American students will serve as the writing editors of the odd-numbered topics and Spanish students will serve as the editors of the even-numbered topics. Two students will serve as co-editors of a topic. A matrix of editors is included.
2. Each student will be assigned to write four articles (three in the native language and one in the foreign language). A matrix of the writing assignments is included created.
3. Students will e-mail their articles as Microsoft Word attachments to the appropriate set of editors. Articles being sent to Spanish editors will be saved for Word6/95. Documents will be named as follows: town by ryan.doc, holiday food by ryan.doc, etc.
4. Students will also look for and send appropriate graphics. All images will be saved as .jpeg or .gif in an icon folder.
5. Carbon copies of all articles will be sent to your teacher.
6. The editors will select four or five articles for inclusion in a section . They will correct the articles and will use graphics that are sent with the articles, or they will look for appropriate graphics.
7. Writing editors will send their corrected selections and graphics to layout editors. A matrix of layout editors is included.

II. Layout phase:

1. The layouts will be created by the American students because the Spanish students are not able to make web pages at this time.
2. Layout editors will design pages for their assigned sections using Macromedia Dreamweaver . They will enhance their section page with a title made using Fireworks and complement articles with graphics submitted by article writers or selcted by them.
3. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in three weeks.

Articles (Writing Process)

_____met deadlines

Technology

_____saved in Microsoft Word 6/95

_____titled topic by fulano.doc

_____e-mailed as attachments

Content

_____length of articles

_____qualilty of writing

_____spelling

_____ punctuation

_____Graphics

_____number

_____quality/appropriate to article

_____permission (if needed) to use graphic

Articles (Editing process)

_____met deadlines

_____edited carefully with attention to details like spelling, vocabulary, and punctuation

_____forwarded in appropriate format

By participating in this project students will hone their reading and writing skills in both English and Spanish. They will develop cultural insights as they learn about the celebration of various holidays, foods, the news in Spain and the United States,etc. They will develop awareness of points of view other than their own. They will work extensively with e-mail and attachements as they exchange and edite articles. They will learn how to create web pages and link them to the school website on the Internet. They will learn how to place graphics on their web pages.

In addition to creating a cooperative newspaper students have acquired the following technology skills as described in the back of your plan book: file management and application management, use of the germantown academy server, use of word processiong, use of E-Mial, Web page Production, and creating graphics . When students conclude this project please take a few monents to assess your skills using the self-assessment evaluation document at the back of your plan book.

This project initiated and implemented by Debbie Mersky, Spanish teacher for the students of Germantown Academy Middle School. Technical assistance and web page design furnished by Carol Siwinski,Curricular Technology Specialist.

February, 2004