The Reflective Statement

Shortly after the completion of the interactive orals, students must write a reflective
statement about what was learned from the presentations. The reflective statement must
be between 300-400 words in length (approximately 2-3 paragraphs), typed, in proper
MLA format, and handed in to the teacher and kept on file until the unit essay is
completed, at which point the appropriate reflective statement will be attached to the
essay for submission to the examiner. If the 400 word limit is exceeded, one mark will
be deducted. You must include the word count at the end of the statement.

The IB curriculum has a specific rubric that is used for the reflective statement. You
will also receive a CHS grade for the reflective statement. The scoring rubric can be
found on the back of this handout. The basis for the assignment is to determine Criterion
A below:

Criterion A: Fulfilling the requirements of the reflective statement

To what extent does the student show how his or her understanding of cultural and
contextual elements was developed through the interactive oral?

The reflective statement is intended to insure that all students are encouraged to
construct their own synthesis of reading and background, or to clarify uncertainties and
confusions about the culture of the work with which they may have struggled.

In combination, the interactive oral and the reflective statement are the groundwork for
sensible and sensitive appreciation of the otherness that students are likely to
encounter in works in translation.

The Prompt:

How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of

the work developed through the interactive oral?
Metacognition = thinking about thinking. Explaining your thought processes,
decisions, and actions in order to make what was learned and how it was learned
visible in writing.
1. For this reflective statement you will type thoughtful, reflective paragraphs.
2. The paragraphs will be thorough.
3. The paragraphs will contain apt, specific, and relevant support for their topic
sentences.
4. Within the paragraphs you must use specific support methods: listing,
paraphrasing, or quoting.
5. Quote format will also be usedeven when paraphrasing examples, you must put
the example in context, and interpret/explain the relevance of the example.
6. The paragraph must discuss learning that has occurred during the interactive
orals and how that learning has impacted your understanding of cultural and
contextual elements.

Reflective Statement Rubric: (50 pointsminor grade)

Organization:
Strong, unified paragraphs
Clear and meaningful topic sentences
Clear conclusion sentences
Effective internal transitions between paragraphs, examples and when introducing
examples
Quote Format elements used effectively for quoted examples
Word count between 300-400 wordsactual word count must be typed on page.
Development:
Clearly addresses how the interactive orals have impacted your understanding
of cultural and contextual elements
Uses apt, specific, relevant supporting evidenceexamples can be quoted,
paraphrased, or listed
Explanations are developed with specific phrasing and diction
Interpretation is insightful, explaining learning clearly
Does not summarize work, but analyzes and evaluates learning
Style/Voice:
Compelling, sincere voice; professional tone
Appropriate, high-level diction and vocabulary
Absolutely no abbreviations, contractions, or email type language
uses specific terminology learned from presentations

Grammar/Mechanics:
Spelling, punctuation, capitalization do matter!
Shows evidence of basic editing
Typed, double spacedMLA format adhered to
Grammatical errors are minimal and do not hinder the reader