WebQuest

Welcome to colonial times! What was it really like to live during colonial times? Well, your about to find out . . .

In this webquest you will assume the role of a unquie category of people that lived during colonial times. You will travel back in time to research what colonial life was all about. During your journey you will gather information about one famous person in your category and do an artful and creative presentation on what you find. For your presentation remember to BECOME that person in history. Try to illustrate exactly how they looked, talked and walked. You might even meet George Washington if you're lucky.

Students will research a category of people that lived during colonial times. Each category role will be researched using resources provided in the webquest. Students will need to research their category in-depth as well as one famous person within it. The three main research goals that you will need to accomplish are: researching background infomation on your category, their perspective of the revolutionary war and how they impacted it.

1. First, thoroughly research your category and use a concept map to organize your thoughts and ideas.

2. Assume the role of your category by dressing up in traditional colonial attire and present your findings to the class.

3. Find a creative way through art, music, food, sculpture, pictures, crafts, artifacts, etc. to physically represent one aspect of your category. Please try to be as creative as possibly and use any personal insights that you may have. This requirement is REALLY open-ended, so surprise me!

4. The final requirement is to write a newspaper article from a British journalistic's perspective on what life was like during colonial times of the Revolutionary War. Your newspaper article will be evaluated by the five writing traits and will need to be in final draft form. You will need to include 7 historical facts, one from each colonial category. Please try to be in-depth by bringing your own experiences into your message.

1. First, students will pick three categories that interest them the most. The teacher will then assign categories to groups based on student interest.

2. Once you've picked a role to play you will need to complete in-depth research of your character, using resources provided in the webquest.

4. Once you have compiled a wealth of information you will need to organize it on your concept map (this is not a requirement that you will be evaluated on, just a helpful tool).

5. Next, your group will need to start organizing thoughts and ideas into a classroom presentation. You will also need to brainstorm ideas on what materials you will need to find or make to represent your cultural attire.

6. Then, you will need to find a creative way to represent your category. In this part, I will expect your creativity to shine.

8. Finally, after your presentation is finished you will write a newspaper article from a British journalistic's perspective about what life was like during colonial and theRevolutionary War. Remember to write the article from a British perspective. Here is a flow chart to get you started. This will need to be edited and revised for the final draft and should include 7 historical facts, one from each colonial category.

The students will be evaluated on four requirements: group presenation with colonial attire, creative representation of category, newspaper article, and overall participation by yourself and by the teacher. The teacher will give a group score for the presenation and creative represenation. There will be a separate individual grade given for overall participation through self-assessment, group assessment and teacher assessment. There will also be an individual grade for the newspaper article. Your point total will be graded in the following format below:

Process Task	Does Not Meet Expectations 0-1 Pts	Meets Expectations 2-3 Pts	Exceeds Expectations 4-5 Pts	Point Score
Newspaper Article	Newspaper article is incomplete or contains only 1-2 historical details. Newspaper article is not factual. Article is not edited, no paragraph structure, many spelling errors.	Newspaper article is complete and contains only 3-4 historical facts Newspaper article is factual. Article is edited and contains appropriate paragraphs and few spelling errors.	Newspaper article is complete and contains 5-7 historical facts Newspaper article is factual. Article is edited, has appropriate paragraphs and no spelling errors.
Group presentation	Student is able to locate important information only with significant help from others. Student notes are disorganized or unrelated to topic areas.	Student is able to locate important information with little assistance. Student notes are on-target and appropriately organized in most topic areas.	Student is able to locate important information with little assistance and is able to help others. Student notes are on-target and appropriately organized in all topic areas.
Creative Representation of category	No object was used to represent revolutionary category	Student uses minimal creativity to represent category through printed photos	Student uses creatively through his/her category’s culture: food attire, music, dance, photos, art, etc.
Presentation	No colonial attire or even a drawing or photo representing what colonial people worn during that period Group only addresses 2-3 questions asked on research Student is not well-prepared to give presentation.	No colonial attire, but photo representing what colonial people wore. Group addresses 4-5 questions asked on research Student is prepared, but consistently has to look at his notes, which disrupts the flow of information	Colonial attire and/or drawings & photo representing clothing of the era Group addresses 6-7 questions asked on research Student is prepared, presentation is well organized and flows easily
Overall Participation	Student does not participate in classroom discussion related to this project. Student asks questions not related to tasks at hand.	Student participation in class discussion shows an appropriate understanding of the project and connections to other activities in this unit of study. Student asks appropriate questions related to this project.	Student participation in class shows an appropriate understanding of the project and connections to other activities in this unit of study. Student asks appropriate questions related to this project and makes original suggestions. Student is able to make meaningful connections, draw conclusions, generate original ideas from information gathered.
Total point score

Overall, I hope that you have enjoyed your journey through colonial times. I'm sure that all of you have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge and now have a deeper appreciation for that period in history. So I wonder what happens next. . .

I would like to thank Colonial Williamsburg for allowing me to use their photographs to supplement the aestetics of my webquest. I would also like to thank my husband, Fraser Horn in helping and revising.