Typically, in order to prepare for finals, students study all week, or focus hard on a some sort of final project. However, Mrs. Jean Weber’s seventh block Spanish 4 class decided to mix up their typical final assignment.
The original assignment was to make a game, video, or any other creative project that would last ten minutes with a partner. This project would be based on a book the class read at the end of the semester, “Sangre en el Umbral.” However, this group took the video idea to a new level.
“I told Mrs. Weber that it would be a great thing to make a class movie,” said Chris Dlugos (12). “So we did it and it went well.”
The entire class agreed on making a movie of the book, in their own words, of course. According to Weber, this had never been done before, but the class did not let their lack of example or experience stop them.
“The when and where was difficult,” said Dlugos, “but other than that everything was great. We made a great movie that explained the story that we read.”
Each student was responsible for contributing in some aspect to the movie, whether it be acting, costume designing, advertising, set designing, filming and editing, or directing. The class had specific work days set aside for the project, so during these days the class would divide into their groups to do their part of the project. They even filmed during these days sometimes.
“It was really neat to see how everyone interacted and see the roles they each chose,” said Weber.
Even more impressively, because of the snow days, they worked on the movie over break, and the “big premiere” was held in the library (due to Weber’s technical issues) on the first B- day of the semester, Monday, Jan. 13.
After the project was over, Weber had the students fill out a reflection of how they felt and what the students got out of the experience. She said that ultimately, they liked working together as a group the most, and that they “felt as a group that it was a bonding experience.”
Weber added that she thought it was a success, and that she felt the students really enjoyed themselves.
“I could see them trying to do something again in the future,” said Weber.