WebQuest

The Road to Independence

Teacher Page

A WebQuest for 5th Grade (The People and Events of the American Revolution)

MacKenzie Ooley

oole8861@pacificu.edu

Paul Revere

Introduction

This webquest was developed as part of a unit about the events and people of the American Revolution. After an introduction to the American Revolution and some of the important events and people, students will complete this project and present to the class the information they have gathered.

This webquest is about some of the key events that took place during the time of the Revolution. By completing the timeline students will get a better idea of the time of the Revolution as well as some of the events. The lesson is also to learn more about the people that were involved in the Revolution.

Learners

This webquest is designed as a part of a fifth grade social studies unit on the American Revolution. The lessons could be modified to apply to lower grades or lower instructional levels.

The students will have been introduced to the American Revolution and have some background knowledge of the Revolution and it's events. This webquest would ideally be a group of lessons completed half way through or toward the end of the unit so children can build and expand on their previous knowledge of the Revolution.

Curriculum Standards

Objectives:

· By the end of this webquest students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of nature of events going on during the time of the American Revolution by successfully creating their timelines with all of the appropriate information included.

· By the end of this webquest students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of some of the events that took place during the American Revolution by having an informal class discussion that builds on their previous knowledge at the end of the lesson.

· By the end of this webquest students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of cause and effect relationships by talking about the events on their timelines.

· By the end of this webquest students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of some of the key people of the American Revolution by completing their obituaries.

· By the end of this webquest students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of using websites to locate the information they are looking for by successfully completing their timeline and obituary.

Benchmarks: Oregon Social Studies Standards Addressed:

SS.05.HS.01 Interpret data and chronological relationships presented in timelines and narratives.
SS.05.HS.02 Identify cause and effect relationships in a sequence of events.
SS.05.HS.05 Understand how individuals, issues, and events changed or significantly influenced the course of U.S. history from pre-history through the period of the American Revolution.
SS.05.HS.05.03 Understand the impact of individuals through the period of the American Revolution, on ideas, ways of life, or the course of events in U.S. History.
SS.05.HS.05.04 Understand the colonial experience and how it led to the American Revolution.
SS.05.HS.05.05 Identify and understand the causes, course, and impact of the American Revolution, including the roles of George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Thomas

Process

1. You first task is to decide whether you would like to work alone or with another student, and figure out who your relative of the American Revolution will be.

2. You need to create a timeline of at least 8 important events that took place during the American Revolution. These events need to include: The date, what the event was, and the effects the event had on the colonies or the Revolution. Here is an example of a TIMELINE with the expected information. You may also want to think of a creative or colorful way to present your timeline for display.

3. Here are some helpful websites to find information for your timeline:

The American Revolution: Experience the Revolution

http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/timeline_of_events.html

American Revolution: Timeline

http://www.kidport.com/REFLIB/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm#Timeline

The American Revolutionary War: A timeline of major events

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/revolutionarywartimeline.htm

Timeline of the American Revolution

http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/tline.asp

4. You then need to do some investigating so you can write an obituary for your relative and share him or her with our class. Some of the information that must be included in your obituary includes: When your relative was born, when and how they died, what your relative thought of the Revolution, 3 major achievements or events that your relative was involved in and the effect of each, and any other accomplishments or interesting things that you want to share with us about your relative.

5. There is a Notes Sheet that you can use as a guide while gathering information for your relatives obituary. You can turn this notes sheet in with your obituary, at the end of the project. There is also a cause and effect CHART you can use if it will be helpful to you.

6. Once you have gathered all of the information about your relative you need to write an obituary for them. The information that needs to be included in the obituary is listed in step #4 above as well as on the notes sheet that you will fill out.

7. Some helpful places to find information about your relative are listed below:

The American Revolution: Important People

http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/ipeople.asp

Revolutionary Figures

http://www.picadome.fayette.k12.ky.us/lab/currl/amer_rev/figures.htm

American Revolution: Biographies

http://www.historycentral.com/bio/RevoltBIOS/INDEX.html

From Revolution to Reconstruction: Biographies

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/index.htm

8. Now that you have gathered all of your information and found out so much about your relative you need to prepare to present him or her to the class. Your presentation can be in the form of an interview, powerpoint, newspaper or magazine you have created, or any other creative way you want to present.

9. Your presentation must include but not be limited to your obituary being presented in some way as well as some sort of visual. Your visual must be easily visable from the back of the room.

10. When you have decided how you want to present, please check with me.

11. You should look at the CHECKLIST of everything you should have done before preparing for you presentation.

This webquest will take place over several classes. It will be composed into four lessons and a project at the end. In all the lesson will take a total of three weeks. It is a multidisciplinary project which will include social studies, technology and some language arts.

Students have the option of working in pairs or working individually. They will be allowed to chose their pairs but I reserve the rights to change or seperate the pairs at any time during the process. The students will more than likely end up working on their own if they are off task.

I am a little concerned that when the students are all using the internet at the same time the computers will be slow. Sometimes they are while other times they are not. I will have other resources there, such as books, for the children to refer to in case the computers are not cooperating. I will also plan one or two extra days with not a lot going on in case the lessons run over. Also we will try and get into the computer lab.

It will help a teacher to know their class well and their abilities. This webquest may be done in groups or in pairs, it is ultimately up to the teacher to make this decision based on their class.

Variations

You could see how the laptops are working in the classroom and if you decide to you could move to the computer lab.

Resources Needed

The following resources will be needed during the webquest:

· Packets for each student (timeline, notes sheet, checklist)

· Laptops or the computer lab reserved for several days

· Books for resources

This would only require the classroom teacher for children to work on. Be sure to let children know ahead of time how much computer time they will be given. If they are going to be expected to do some research at home, it may be beneficial to send a note home to parents letting them know. A teacher creating a timeline and monitoring and adjusting throughout the project is going to be essential to help keep the kids on track. This is a large project depending a lot on technology and other activities going well.

Evaluation

Evaluation Rubric:

*If you chose to do the assignment individually, you will receive an individual grade for the work you completed. If you chose to work in pairs, you will receive grades based on the work that you completed together.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Obituary	Obituary is not complete and missing most of the information	Obituary has some information	Obituary includes most of the required information but is missing one or two things	Obituary includes all required information and is written nicely
Timeline	Incomplete or Inaccurate Timeline	Fewer than 8 events with the appropriate explanation, not completely in chronological order	8 events most having the appropriate explanations, in chronological order	8 or more events with correct dates and explanations, in chronological order
Presentation	Individual/Group's presentation was missing information and did not have a visual. They were not prepared.	Individual/Group's presentation had some required information and maybe a visual. They were not very prepared.	Individual/Group's presentation included most required information and a visual. They seemed mostly prepared.	Individual/Group's presentation included a creative presentation included all required information and a visual. They were prepared in with the information they were presenting.
Historical Accuracy	Historical facts are not correct	There are very few historical facts	Most of the information is historically accurate	All information is historically accurate
Ability to stay on task during assignment and preparation	Individual/Group was off task and had to be constantly reminded to stay on task	Individual/Group had to be reminded often to stay on task	Individual/Group had to be occasionally reminded to stay on task	Individual/Group did not have to be reminded to stay on task and worked diligently on assignment

Conclusion

This webquest is designed to engage students in the events and people of the American Revolution. They are required to present their obituary and there are several pieces that must be included in their obituaries. Students will be free to take notes during the presentations if they would like. The lesson following this webquest will be a game of Jeopardy and the only thing allowed on student's desks will be any notes that they have taken during the presentations. There will not be anything in the Jeopardy game that was not presented to the students. This way many types of learning areas are being covered for those students who need a little more.

Credits & References

Picture of Paul Revere:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/altopower/179334224/

Introduction: