A WebQuest is a student-centered, project-based, inquiry-related, web-based activity that usually includes critical thinking, creativity, questioning and cooperative learning. A good webquest is hard to find, because many of them are lacking a few or many of the aforementioned components. Well, in my search, I have found one that I feel is chocked full of everything needed to make it a great project for the upper elementary or high school classroom. The webquest entitled "The Perfect Society" can be found at http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.student.htm. The webquest is created as a curriculum expansion of the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. The students are charged with the task of investigating and reporting back to the elders, why Jonas chose to leave the community. Students work in groups, write interview questions and reports, make observations, create and deliver a presentation of their findings.
The task and process are clearly stated in a way that is easy for students to follow. The teacher has attached various resources for students to use in order to scaffold the learning process and differentiate instruction. The teacher also supplies students with the rubrics that will be used for grading of various activities/artifacts. The teacher also includes a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the project.
This particular webquest was located via the webquest.org site. This site gives you the ability to search for webquests by subject area and title keywords.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
What a WebQuest!
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"The Perfect Society" WebQuest was very impressive. Of the WebQuests I have reviewed and evaluated over time this is absolutely one of the best. Thanks for sharing it. With so many WebQuests out there it can be hard to find really good ones, the kind that I would want to emulate. Features that stood out for me were that Ms. Muller, the author, had notes from the book in her "Resources" section, to assist those students who may not have finished the book or needed a refresher. I also liked the student reflection and evaluation of success sections because they were on-line forms. Thanks again for sharing such a good resource.
ReplyDeleteStella
Paulette, The Perfect Society WebQuest is an excellent resource. Like all good teachers, I am more than happy to use the wheels that have been invented rather than reinvneting it. The 6th grade teachers use The Giver in their reading program. One of them will be overjoyed to use this site. Thanks, also, for the video. I ahve just started on the WebQuest activity and this video and the related videos will help me a great deal. We tend to share resources during our class sessions and assignments, but why don't we share them on a more regular basis? This will make reading the 40 site with annotations lists much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteEd
Hi Paulette. LOVE the video from YouTube on Webquests. We need to work on getting this unblocked from CPS’ network. It was a great introduction for your blog. The example you list “The Perfect Society” is excellent. I like how it is based on a novel, which helps to tie together a bit of technology with a great piece of literature. I found the webquest presented in a neat, clean format. Too many pages are filled with graphics, noises, etc. that distracts and takes away from the actual purpose: the webquest. I liked that at the top of the page there were instructions (in PowerPoint) and “pre” activities to the webquest (including the very obvious ‘read the book’). I also liked how the creator listed the menu for the webquest after each section as opposed to the standard “back to top” anchor. Although the author lists a URL for the students to send in feedback, an even stronger addition to this section would be a page to house responses from students completing this task around the world. Again, excellent resource. We should consider starting a general blog for the group that adds in links to excellent webquests/resources tied to literature. In each of our schools I’m sure there are teachers using novels. Imagine the type of resources we could provide if we all put our heads together!
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion about collaborating on a blog of resources. Let's figure out how to make that happen.
ReplyDeleteWow, Paulette, the video is a nice touch. This is a great WebQuest. I like the connection it is making with Language Arts. It's fullfilling the components of critical thinking, with students determining from the readings of "why" something happened, cooperative learning by students having different tasks to complete a goal, creativity by determining how the information and results will be presented. Students were required to write questions and create reports. The steps and procedures are pretty transparent for students to follow. The teacher set the expectations by providing a rubric and incorporated technology with a powerpoint. I'm wondering if the teacher provided too much information with the extra resources, instead of encouraging students to find additional reosurces. Great WebQuest!
ReplyDelete