In week six we learned about an online teaching tool called WebQuests. A WebQuest, according to WebQuest.org, is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. A WebQuest format usually consists of seven parts; introduction, task, process, evaluation, conclusion, credits and a teacher page.
As part of our lesson we were required to create our own WebQuest; this seemed overwhelming and a little bit scary at first! Just looking at examples of WebQuests online gave me the impression that creating one of my own would be a daunting task. However, with the help of two websites http://questgarden.com and http://angelfire.com I was able to create a WebQuest that I am proud of. Questgarden.com provided a template for the WebQuest along with hints and ideas for some of the sections. Angelfire.com is a site where you can create website that are free as long as they stay under a certain size. I used Angelfire.com in conjunction with Questgarden.com in order to have my WebQuest a little bit better organized than what the options from Questgarden.com provided by themselves. The most helpful thing for me was to create an outline before I started any actual work on the WebQuest itself.
My WebQuest, A Friend for Rocketman, is based on the assumption that I will take my pet turtle to my classroom when I start teaching but it could be easily modified for “Rocketman” to just be a fictional character. My WebQuest, geared toward early elementary students, starts out by explaining that Rocketman is lonely and in need of a friend, it is the students’ job to research specific questions about turtles and to decide which kind of turtle would make the best possible friend for Rocketman.
My WebQuest process is divided into six questions; (1) About how many different species of turtles are there? (2) What are the two major groups of turtles? (3) What do turtles eat? (4) Are there any species of turtles that are endangered species? (5) Where do turtles live? And (6) How do turtles keep warm or cool? Under each question I provided a link to a reputable online resource that is geared towards kids in order to help them answer whichever question they are on at the time. In order to incorporate subjects other than just science I included worksheets on questions 2-5 that addressed the subject areas of math, writing, reading and to a lesser extent art. Part of question six requires students to write a letter to Rocketman explaining their choice of friend for him; this obviously incorporates writing into the lesson.
My main issues centered on finding graphics that I felt were fitting and struggling with whether or not I was adding in assignments and questions that were grade/age appropriate. Overall, I feel that I worked through the issues that I did have and was able to complete a thorough, interesting WebQuest that elementary age children could enjoy and learn from.
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