In English, the project was called Panama Canal: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Students acted as investigative journalists of The New York Times, tasked to research and publish about the history and updates of the controversial Panama Canal and its current and future impacts on people and the world. The journalists investigated and gathered information about the Panama Canal from various sources (Social Studies -- history and social impacts of the Canal, Science -- water elements and buoyancy to figure out the boats allowed to pass through the canal, Math -- dimensions of the canal and goods volumes and costs, etc.). Before they were approved for publishing, the journalists were tasked to consult with their international partners as consultants and present their investigative reports to their co-staff journalists for feedback. The presentation of their investigative reports, integrating ideas from their international learning partners as consultants, was the project's finale.
To provide them with background knowledge of the canal's update, students, in their English class, read and analyzed a nonfiction story about the Panama Canal Expansion using SOAPSTone strategy integrating season-based arts. The class called the strategy as SOAPSTone Turkey. Students traced their hands on a colored paper as the turkey's wings and their feet as the body of the turkey. They wrote on the wings the title and author, the components of SOAPSTone (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Person, Speaker, and Tone), and three big facts from the nonfiction text. On the body, students wrote either a summary or a reflection.
After analyzing the nonfiction story, students responded to a Padlet activity about whether they favored the Panama Canal Expansion. International partners as consultants also participated in the Padlet activity. They researched how the Panama Canal impacted their own country before they responded to the Padlet activity. All students were expected to comment on others’ responses.
