WebQuests
WOW...I learned a ton about WebQuests today. I expored several Social Studies WebQuests during my first year of teaching, but only implemented one in class. I chose an activity pertaining to the Renaissance, in which my students had to write journal entries as though they were living during this time period. I did not fully comprehend the objectives of this WebQuest, nor any other I perused, and simply followed the step by step instructions listed in the process section. I also did not do a good job evaluating student progress from the already developed rubric.
I now know that it takes a great deal of planning and preparation to create an EFFECTIVE WebQuest. There must be an introduction, established task, process list (steps and resources), a conclusion, evaluation rubric, and a teacher page. The introduction should be several paragraphs long and be specific about the project. The task section should pertain to the content of the acticities. It is typically one concise sentence. The process section includes several options for students to choose a specific acticity. It should also list resources (links), and tools for organizing information. The Conclusion is self explanatory. The Teacher Page is, in essence, the lesson plan. It could include the target learners (age appropriateness), standards, notes for the unit, examples of student work, list of books or other materials used, etc. Finally, there should be an evaluation rubric so the students can see the difference between exemplary, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory levels.
I am excited that the final project for this class is actually applicable to my teaching practices. I will most definitely use the WebQuest I create in my classes next year, as well as attach them to our TeacherShare Drive, which all faculty can access. Although I have not given it enough thought yet, here are some possible ideas/topics I have for creating my own WebQuest: political Revolutions, the Civil War, Nationalism, Slavery. I am really hoping to eventually create a WebQuest for each of these areas (as they are major units of study in our 9th grade World & U.S. History Integrated curriculum). .....I am also thinking that since I am traveling to Dakar, Senegal, Africa in a few days that I will return with a plethora of materials pertaining to the institution of slavery. Dakar was one of the world's leading slave trading posts during the transatlantic Slave Trade Era.
I now know that it takes a great deal of planning and preparation to create an EFFECTIVE WebQuest. There must be an introduction, established task, process list (steps and resources), a conclusion, evaluation rubric, and a teacher page. The introduction should be several paragraphs long and be specific about the project. The task section should pertain to the content of the acticities. It is typically one concise sentence. The process section includes several options for students to choose a specific acticity. It should also list resources (links), and tools for organizing information. The Conclusion is self explanatory. The Teacher Page is, in essence, the lesson plan. It could include the target learners (age appropriateness), standards, notes for the unit, examples of student work, list of books or other materials used, etc. Finally, there should be an evaluation rubric so the students can see the difference between exemplary, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory levels.
I am excited that the final project for this class is actually applicable to my teaching practices. I will most definitely use the WebQuest I create in my classes next year, as well as attach them to our TeacherShare Drive, which all faculty can access. Although I have not given it enough thought yet, here are some possible ideas/topics I have for creating my own WebQuest: political Revolutions, the Civil War, Nationalism, Slavery. I am really hoping to eventually create a WebQuest for each of these areas (as they are major units of study in our 9th grade World & U.S. History Integrated curriculum). .....I am also thinking that since I am traveling to Dakar, Senegal, Africa in a few days that I will return with a plethora of materials pertaining to the institution of slavery. Dakar was one of the world's leading slave trading posts during the transatlantic Slave Trade Era.