Introduction

This lesson was developed as a dual project for two MAT courses: Technology Across the Curriculum, and Social Studies Methods.

Learners

This lesson is anchored in fifth grade social studies and involves language arts and computer applications to a lesser extent. It can easily be extended to fourth grade or middle school as well, by modifying the writing assignment and evaluation rubric. In addition, this WebQuest lends itself well to alternate activities, explained in more detail in the Process section below.

Students should be somewhat comfortable navigating websites before undertaking this WebQuest. They should also have some background knowledge in note-taking for a project or report. A mini-lesson on printing pictures from the internet may be necessary.

Curriculum Standards

Social Studies Standards Addressed

• Understand the spatial concepts of location, region.
• Compare physical characteristics of places and regions.
• This lesson can also serve as creating a foundation for the standard of 
• recognizing relationships between landforms and culture.

• Use a variety of strategies to prepare for writing, including taking notes.
• Write for different purposes and to a specific audience.
• Speaking: ask relevant questions that see, information not already discussed.
  

Process

The teacher should be familiar with printing pictures from the internet. Students may have trouble determining whether photos will print within a reasonable size, and with recognizing whether a photo is from a site that is copyrighted.

This lesson is multidisciplinary and will span the course of several days. Suggested timeline is that the first two sessions will be in the computer lab, with students researching the webpages, taking notes, and printing photos. The second session would give students the opportunity to return to favorite sites for more detailed notes and to print photos. This process will go more smoothly with an aide and perhaps a parent volunteer or two to help with printing photos. 

The second phase is the writing process. Students will select their favorite place from each of the five regions to feature in their brochures. They will write a sloppy copy and go through the editing process, then transfer their polished copy to the brochure. You could have them print on the brochure, write on notebook paper cut to size and paste in the brochure, or word-process their pieces, depending upon your preference and their skill. 

The WebQuest itself is divided by regions, each opening in a new window, and has a number of links to sites to visit in each of those regions. A variety of sites are included to meet different interests, but it is not expected that students will read every one of them. The instructions explain to students to choose the sites that look most interesting to them. They choose their favorite site from each region to include in their travel brochure. More advanced students may include more than one.

To complete this task students will need notebook paper, notecards, or a spiral for note-taking, and a pencil.  I suggest that they use notebook paper for note-taking when they initially explore the sites, then use index cards for detailed note-taking on the places they have selected to include in their brochures. 

They will also need the template for the brochure, along with the instructions for completing it. After completing the trek they will write write a short article about each of the five places they choose to feature - one from each region - and print a photo from the internet for each entry. They will then paste those materials in the areas provided on the template, following your special instructions.

At the end of the project students will present their brochures to the class. I suggest that the class be divided into groups, with one group at a time positioned to show their brochures and answer questions as the other groups navigate the room and see what other students have featured and why. You may wish to provide a worksheet for students to take notes about other students' featured places, making this an opportunity to reinforce learning about Oregon's geography.

Variations

This WebQuest lends itself well to projects other than the brochure described here, such as in internet treasure hunt where students find answers to questions by reading the featured websites, map reading, written and oral reports, jigsaws, or poster presentations. Middle or high school students could design and format the brochure in a computer application rather than than the method of cutting and pasting on a template as described here.

Resources Needed

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated individually on the thoroughness of investigation, careful note-taking, the quality of finished project, and class presentation.

Scoring Rubric

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Research	Looked briefly at a few webpages or pictures.	Made an effort to visit at least one website from each region. Read little more than captions.	Visited 2-3 websites from each region and took time to skim them before moving on. Checked back to verify favorites.	Looked at several or all websites for each region.  Looked them over carefully, skimming for important and interesting facts.
Research Notes	Notes were sloppy, disorganized, and/or lacked references to the sites	Took a few notes at each page visited, but they may have been inadequate for writing a paragraph. May give incomplete citations or lack them altogether.	Took adequate notes at each page of interest.  Cited the names of the websites. Notes may be disorganized or lack neatness.	Took organized, detailed notes on sites of interest.  Cited names of websites. Included interesting facts, sidenotes, personal observations.
Brochure Content	Brochure may be incomplete; conventions are poor. Paragraphs lack detail, entries lack citations and/or photos.	Has an entry for most or all regions. May be lacking some photos or citations. Writing may lack interest.	Includes at least one entry from each region, with an accompanying picture. Makes use of some adjectives and adverbs. Conventions are good.	Includes at least one entry from each region, with pictures and citations. Supports decision for inclusion of each place. (Why is it good for kids?) Conventions are excellent with few mistakes, and writing is lively and interesting.
Quality of Brochure	Brochure is sloppy.	Has made an attempt at neatness and following instructions, but layout is careless.	Layout is neat and follows brochure instructions. May lack creativity.	Layout is outstanding. Shows use of creativity. Eye-catching.
Presentation to Class	Does not explain why locations were chosen, lacks detail, is not well-prepared to talk about the brochure.	Gives a very brief description of places featured in the brochure. Does not share interesting details.	Supports decision to include some places; shares some interesting details about 2-3 places.	Speech is clear and smooth.  Supports decision to include each place and includes interesting details about each. Obviously knows about the places chosen.

Conclusion

This lesson will introduce students to the beauty and geographical diversity of Oregon. At the same time it gives students the opportunity to practice writing skills in a way that is creative, authentic, and takes individual interests into consideration. Students reinforce their computer skills as well.

Credits & References