|
Teacher Page A WebQuest for 4th Grade Social Sudies Designed by Gretchen Cook
Introduction
| Learners
| Standards
| Process
| Resources
| Evaluation
| Conclusion
| Credits
| Student
Page
This lesson was designed to fit into the Oregon Trail Unit studied by 4th graders. This lesson works with the information found in 3 previous lessons. The lesson was designed for students to take a deeper look at what it was like for pioneers to travel along the Oregon Trail. Students will use what they have learned about traveling the Oregon Trail as well as the new information found during computer research time to create a final project to share with the class. Students will have an opportunity to do research on the internet to help support their ideas. The final project should depict what they know and what they have learned about the trials and tribulations on the Oregon Trail. This lesson is anchored for fourth grade social studies and involves reading, reasearch, and writing as well as giving a presentation. The lesson was designed for a 4th grade unit but could be used during any pioneer unit in 5th or 6h grade. Students should be familiar with what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail. They will be using this as a base for which they will build more knowledge on the subject through reasearch. Students will also need to be familiar with a computer, ie: keyboard, mouse, monitor. Curriculum Standards Oregon Social Studies Standards Addressed:
Students will be working in pairs athe computer and will be expected to work cooperatively by taking turns and being respectful. Students will also be working on communication skills as well as processing skills. They will use critical thinking to organize and create a final project. They will also be builing on their note taking skills and will learn, on the most basic level, how to site documents. The Following steps are given to the students: Step One: You will need to look over your chart from yesterday and choose 5 Oregon Trail travel points. Step Two: You will use the books I have provided as well as your reading group books to help you decide which type of documentation you will be making about traveling on the Oregon Trail.
Step
Three: You will be working with a partner to use the links I have
provided to do further research on
what it was like to travel along the Oregon Trail. Once you click on a
link, the website will come up. Find the "search" bar and type in key
words such as
"Oregon Trail" or "Pioneers." Please make sure that you take turns
using the key board and mouse. You will need to find 4 sources to cite
at the end of the final project. Remember to write down the links you
use to help you remember them when putting your project together. http://www.yahooligans.com Step Four:
You will create your own document of what it was like traveling along
the Oregon Trail. You may choose from the following list. Please keep
in mind you will be presenting this to your classmates. You will want to put these together and write them as if you were a pioneer traveling along the Oregon Trail. It is your job to find how these types of things were used on the original Oregon Trail so that your final project looks as much like it did back then. You will also find several examples of projects from past years to help give you some ideas. Note to teachers: This lesson will take more than one Social Studies block. Take about 5 minutes to breifly describe to the students what they are about to do. You will need to schedule at least 45 minutes to an hour in the computer lab for students to do their actual research. Once this is done and students have gathered their information give them about 20-30 minutes to get brainstorm and get organized. This should be enough time to fill up the first block. In my classroom we have about an hour and a half for social studies up to 3 times per week, depending on the units that are being studied. You will also need to allow 20-30 minutes per social studies block for the next 2-3 blocks for students to work on their final projects. You will need to allow students to take this project home as homework to finish and to have them prepare for their presentations at home as well.
Some students maybe overwhelmed when it comes to doing reasearch on the internet. Be aware of this when observing the students during this time. Assist students who may need some help getting started. This lesson is intended to teach students about using the internet for research and learning new information. Before going to the computer lab the teacher needs to make sure the internet connection is working as well as all the computers. The teacher needs to have basic knowledge of technology and be familiar with the rules of the lab. Variations This lesson could be done in the classroom with pre-printed out materials found by the teacher. Students could perform the research by looking through packets instead of searching in pairson the computer.
For this lesson you will need to gather some resources for the students and set up time in the computer lab:
The following websites will be used by the students during research: http://www.yahooligans.com The instuctor should be able to conduct this lesson alone. However, it is always helpful if there are aides, parent helpers, or assistants present. If there are students in the class that require some extra help having an aide may be necessary. The assessment of this lesson follows the rubric below. The students will be assessed on how well they work in the computer lab, showing adequate research, appropriate research that supports their ideas and finally on their presentations. You may also want to conduct a more informal assessment when looking over each students final project.
This lesson was designed to give students a better understanding of what it was like traveling along the Oregon Trail so many years ago. It will also help students understand that the way we travel today is much different than the way children traveled back then. The resources were different and traveling options were not as flexible. Students will learn about the types of resources used and means of travel for pioneers. ~Pictures at top were found at www.furtrapper.com and www.univie.ac.at Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page |
