WebQuest Teacher

This lesson was developed as an assignment for the educational technology class in the MAT fifth year program at Pacific University. Our assignment involved picking a social studies topic of our choice and designing a WebQuest for a specific grade. My third grade students will study American symbols in the spring, and I thought I would choose something they might actually be able to do. I'm hoping to incorporate this WebQuest into my lessons during my student teaching.

This lesson allows students to work both individually and cooperativley with teammates. Students will be divided into five groups, because there are five symbols. Each person will individually research their group's symbol, and then group members will work together to create a presentation for the class. Each group is becoming an "expert" on their symbol. After presentations, each individual student will create and write an explaination of a new school symbol.

This WebQuest is designed as a social studies lesson for third grade students, because of the Oregon State benchmarks. However, it could be applicable to fourth and fifth grade students as well. Not only will students learn, analyze and think critically about social studies content, but this lesson also incorporates reading, writing, art, technology and public speaking. Throughout their quest, students will inevitabley work on their social skills. Being on a team involves cooperation, positive communication and compromise.

Learners will need to have some prior knowledge and skills before beginning this lesson. These include:

This WebQuest addresses many standards. However, there may be instances where the entire standard is not addressed, but rather a certain part is the focus.

* Read written directions, signs, captions, warning labels and informational books.

* Use titles, table of contents, chapter headings, illustrations, captions, glossaries, and indexes to locate information in text.

* Summarize major points from informational text.

* Create a single paragraph with a topic sentence, simple supporting facts and details, and a concluding sentence.

* Understand the structure and organization of various reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedia, CD-ROM, and online sources).

* With guidance, organize ideas sequentially or around major points of information.

Step 1: The first step is to assign teams. There are five different symbols in this WebQuest so there should be only five groups. You can do this however you would like. Students can choose their own groups, you can number them off, or you can pre-group them ahead of time.

Step 2: Next, each group will send one team member to pick a symbol card out of a hat. You'll need to have the five symbols printed on five separate cards: the American flag, the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Great Seal of the United States. Whatever card that student draws becomes their team's symbol.

Step 3: Now that each group has their symbol, they can begin researching using the links provided on the student page. Each person in the group will use this symbol graphic organizer to keep track of the information they find individually. You'll need to print it out and make copies for the students. The questions on the graphic organizer will give the students a place to start, but they should find more information. Students are becoming the "expert" on their symbol and will be presenting it to the class with their group. This researching process won't be completed in one day. I'm estimating two class periods of 45-60 minutes each if all students can work on a computer at once. It might be best to reserve the computer lab ahead of time so this is possible.

Step 4: Once students have gathered enough information individually, they will meet with their group members to discuss what they've found. They will be discussing whether or not their information is the same or different. They will talk about what they found most interesting or if there was anything they found that was surprising. Since the first two days of this WebQuest are used for researching, these group meetings might work best for the first 10 to 15 minutes on the third day.

Step 5: After teams have met and discussed their information, they will decide, as a group, which information they think is most important for their classmates to learn about. They can then choose to deliver their presentation in any way they want, but it must be acceptable to you. Presentation requirements include:

* They must inform the class HOW and WHEN it became a symbol, WHY it is a symbol and WHAT it symbolizes.

Their presentation to the class could be a poster, a skit, a story, a slide show, a video (created by them), a puppet show or any other ideas they come up with.

Step 6: Students must check with you, the teacher, to make sure their presentation method is acceptable in class. Then, they can get started with their team!

Depending on how creative and ellaborate students are getting with their presentations, I would think one class period of 45-60 minutes would be sufficient time to put it together. However, depending on your students, two class periods might be needed. You be the judge.

Step 7: Presentations! Students should keep their presentations to around five minutes. When they are not presenting, students can use this presentation graphic organizer from you to keep track of the other four symbols. You'll need to print it out and make copies for the students. They should take good notes about the important information, because they are becoming experts on all of them. Presentations shouldn't take more than one day if the class period is 45-60 minutes and students keep their presentations to around five minutes.

Step 8: Once all groups have presented, students will have a good understanding of many American symbols, what they represent and why they were created. Students should now think about their school's mascot, because that's the school's symbol, and their final step is to create a new SCHOOL symbol. They should think about what they would create and why. This is an individual task, because group work ended after the presentations. I am estimating that one class period of 45-60 minutes would be sufficient time for this.

* Students will write a brief description of their symbol. They need to include what it represents, why it's important and why they chose it. In their writing, students need to use complete sentences. After they have written a rough draft of this, they may hand write it or type it on the computer.

* Their symbols and writing will not be presented, but they will be hung on the wall for everyone to see and read!

This WebQuest will take approximately 6 days if students spend about 60 minutes per day working on it. Steps 1-3 will take two class periods. Steps 4-6 will take two class periods. Steps 7 and 8 will each take one class period.

Most of the time, students will be working independently or in groups. As the teacher, you will need to monitor their progress and help them with any technology questions. The hardest part could be having the students work on computers all at once in order to research. This is why reserving the computer lab ahead of time for 1-2 days would be necessary. It all depends on the make-up of the students in the class if this WebQuest could be completed in six days. Some students might want to make their presentations more elaborate. Some might want to spend more time working on their school symbol. I tried over-estimating the time it would take for students, but it still might turn out to be not enough time, or even too much. You'll have to adapt and modify the time limits for your own class, but I think the students will have a fun time learning about American symbols, as well as creating a new one for their school!

If your school does not have a computer lab, or one is not available, you'll need to do the research in your classroom on however many computers you have. This will increase the amount of time researching takes. You might be able to have a few students throughout the day do some research, perhaps during D.E.A.R. time or if there is a time when students work on missing assignments or work independently. You could also encourage students to do research at home, if possible, to speed up the process in the classroom.

As the teacher, you could monitor students in the lab, but aids or parent helpers would definitely be a benefit, especially for those students who have limited computer/Internet or note-taking experience.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4
Collaboration with Teammates	Usually argued with teammates. Never allowed anyone else to speak. Usually wanted to have things their way. Always relied on others to do the work.	Sometimes argued with teammates. Rarely allowed others to speak. Often sided with friends instead of considering all views. Needed reminding to do work.	Rarely argued with teammates. Listened, but shared ideas/opinions too. Usually considered all teammates views. Rarely needed reminding to do work.	Never argued with teammates. Listened well and shared ideas/opinions. Always helped team to reach a fair decision/compromise. Always did work without having to be reminded.
Followed Directions, On Task, Timeliness	Didn't follow directions. Put in little effort and was off task during class. Didn't finish work at all or on time.	Followed some directions. Put in some effort and was on task somewhat during class. Finished some of the work, but not on time.	Followed most directions. Put in effort and was on task most of the time. Finished most work on time.	Followed all directions. Put in extreme amount of effort and was on task 100% of the time. Finished all work on time.
Research of Symbol	Showed little interest and/or effort in researching symbol. Did not collect any information that related to the symbol.	Showed some interest and effort in researching. Collected very little information and only some related to the symbol. Lacked organization.	Showed interest and effort in researching. Worked hard each day to collect basic information which mostly related to the symbol. Kept information organized.	Showed great interest and effort in researching. Worked diligently each day to collect extensive, useful, and interesting information all related to the symbol. Kept information extremely organized.
Group Presentation of Symbol	Not everyone in the group presented. The visual lacked effort, or there was no visual. The presentation was missing more than two required parts: the How, When, Why and/or What of the symbol.	Not everyone in the group presented. The visual wasn't complete. Included only two of the four required parts in the presentation: the How, When, Why and/or What of the symbol.	Everyone in the group participated . There was a visual. Included at least three of the four required parts in the presentation: the How, When, Why and/or What of the symbol.	Everyone in the group participated. There was a well designed, creative visual. All required parts were included: the How, When, Why and What of the symbol.
Creation of Own School Symbol	Showed no interest or effort in creating own symbol or description. Neither one was complete.	Creation of symbol wasn't complete and/or description wasn't complete. No final copy and/or lacked color.	Symbol rough draft and final were complete. A brief description was typed and included all required parts.	Symbol rough draft and final were complete, colorful and creative. A brief description was typed, and not only included all required parts, but expanded on ideas.

This WebQuest, although time consuming, will be a fun way to learn about American symbols. Not only will students be excited about using technology, but they will gain experience note-taking, collaborating with peers, and speaking publicly. By exploring, investigating and researching on their own, students will become very knowledgeable about their symbol. The presentations will be a great way for students to present what they know and teach their classmates!

Permission: We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is granted for others to use and modify this WebQuest for educational, non-commercial purposes as long as the original authorship is credited. The modified WebQuest may be shared only under the same conditions.