Developing an infographics project

I’d like to have my Spanish 4 students complete a research project this semester in which they use Spanish-language resources to extract data and create an infographic.  I’d love some feedback from other teachers!

Students will choose an issue or topic which is personally interesting to explore further in this long-term project.  Suggestions: a historical event, a social issue, an ecological or environmental issue, a cultural event or tradition, art or artists, sports, music, etc.

Students will research the topic using Spanish-language sources ONLY.  ALL sources must be listed on a works cited page.  Lingro.com may be used to assist with reading, and word reference.com may be used.  Translators are strictly FORBIDDEN.  Your final grade will be docked a minimum of 10% for each incident of translator use.

The topic chosen will be presented to the class and you will be peer-critiqued as well as critiqued by lower-level Spanish students and by me.  Students will be graded on the thoroughness of coverage of the topic, use of Spanish, the comprehensibility of the project, and the use of visuals to convey a message and relay statistical information.

Elements that might be incorporated:

• A word cloud (like wordle)
• At least one graph/chart (pie, bar, etc) which creatively shows some kind of numbers.  Help with charts: http://www.juiceanalytics.com/chart-chooser/
• A photograph which evokes emotion.
• A map to quickly show something geographical.
• A visual guide to key vocabulary.
• A timeline which includes both words AND images.
• A process of some kind depicted with words AND pictures.
• Compare the unfamiliar with the familiar.  For example, Mao Zedong killed a lot of people, but when we think of genocidal dictators, we think of Hitler first.  This infographic shows clearly who the bigger murderer is.  It compares the familiar (Hitler) with the unfamiliar (Mao). http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/s.php?f=052011&p=which_dictator_killed_the_most_people.jpg

Some awesome examples! http://www.instantshift.com/2009/06/07/infographic-designs-overview-examples-and-best-practices/
And some more…http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Use-Infographics.jpg