Don't know that I'll have any visitors this week, but the WebQuest is done! Or at least it is published...
I'm including the link as I would really appreciate any comments or suggetions that anyone wants to make.
http://questgarden.com/125/07/9/110423174439/
Thanks in advance!
Sheri
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Week Twelve
I finally started building the actual website for my WebQuest, things were coming together fairly well; however, after talking to several classmates who were using the questgarden.org website template to build their WQ I decided to take a look. There are definitely some benefits to using the preset templates from questgarden instead of using a google site, so last night I started to move my data over from the google site to the questgarden site. I've put together several of the worksheets that will be available for the students to use. A form to organize the resources they have used and a form to allow them to keep the information they gather from each site.
I chose the Battle of Yorktown, the final key battle of the war, as the focus of the WQ. I felt that the students would be able to look back, if they choose to, and include information on events that directly supported the US in this battle. Other than inserting the information into the template, the only other task I still need to complete is to review the websites I am offering to the students as a resource to ensure that each has an adequate amount of information about the events that took place at Yorktown. I'm hopeful that I'll have the final touches on by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I'm excited to see the final version!
I chose the Battle of Yorktown, the final key battle of the war, as the focus of the WQ. I felt that the students would be able to look back, if they choose to, and include information on events that directly supported the US in this battle. Other than inserting the information into the template, the only other task I still need to complete is to review the websites I am offering to the students as a resource to ensure that each has an adequate amount of information about the events that took place at Yorktown. I'm hopeful that I'll have the final touches on by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I'm excited to see the final version!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Week Eleven
This week wasn't as productive as I had hoped it would be. I decided to back-up a little bit and take a look at the Social Studies text book that our school uses to see if there were any particular events that occured during the American Revolution that were particularly rich in content and meaning and that would be a good topic for my WQ. One of the reasons I selected social studies and the American Revolution in particular was that it is not an area of the curriculum that I know very much about. I was looking forward to learning as I go. While this was a noble idea, it really gets in the way of knowing what I'm doing. I've done some reading and gone back to review a number of the websites I had found a week ago, just looking for those sites that line up the best with information on various battles that I'm considering for the focus event of the WQ. Hopefully I'll have the event selected very soon.
In the meantime, I've started to build the Google website. Regardless of what the exact topic of the WQ is, the format of the website will be the same. Website development is going well. I've got the navigation bar complete and all of the pages to go along with the tabs have been created. I've got my "Introduction" page and "Teacher Page" completed and I'm working on the "Process" tab at the moment.
As I look at what I've accomplished and what I have still in front of me, I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty good place. This feeling has me a bit worried, as I'm afraid I'm overlooking something, but I think I'll just enjoy the sense of calm for the moment. Hopefully I'll have great things to report in my next posting!
In the meantime, I've started to build the Google website. Regardless of what the exact topic of the WQ is, the format of the website will be the same. Website development is going well. I've got the navigation bar complete and all of the pages to go along with the tabs have been created. I've got my "Introduction" page and "Teacher Page" completed and I'm working on the "Process" tab at the moment.
As I look at what I've accomplished and what I have still in front of me, I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty good place. This feeling has me a bit worried, as I'm afraid I'm overlooking something, but I think I'll just enjoy the sense of calm for the moment. Hopefully I'll have great things to report in my next posting!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Week Ten
This has been an interesting week. I really started to dig in on the WebQuest. There are plenty of websites that address content related to the American Revolution, but I wanted to find something a bit different. I found about six sites that I really liked. The content from these sites seems to be presented from a neutral position and were from reliable sources. I spent some time trying to dig a little bit deeper. I found that the National Archives have a digital library with copies of documents from the American Revolution. I'm not sure that the documents I found will necessairly tie into the WQ, but there is something unique and special about seeing and even reading the actual documents from the AR. I'll know by the end of this week if I can find a way to use this resource. If not, I'll need to come up with a few more websites, but I'm well on my way.
I spent some time this week trying to determine how to select what event or angle of the American Revolution I want to make the focus of my WebQuest. I toyed with the idea of presenting enough events to allow each team to select an independent event to focus on. After exchanging a few e-mails with my professor, I've decided that for now, I'm going to stick to one event and have each team do the exact same assignment. There were a couple of reasons I made this decision. First, creating 7 events for the 7 teams to focus on would require that each team have equal resources, which could be very time consuming for me. I hadn't considered that it would be close to the amount of work that would be required to create 7 individual WebQuests. The second reason was that I think grading 7 different teams on different events would be difficult. So for now, I'll stick to one topic and once I've had a chance to teach and grade the WQ, I can decide if it would be appropriate to expand it to include the other topics for future years.
Now that I know a bit more about how I'm going to proceed, I've started developing the guidelines for the articles that will be part of the WQ. How many sentences, how many resources they must use, and what types of pictures will be used. I've started to work on graphic organizers for each article style. I received a suggestion to include advertisements or classified ads to the list of articles I was considering and I am going to do just that. I like that it will require students to take the information that they've learned and use it in a fun and creative way. I've also decided to use a google website as the platform for the project. I found the google sites to be easy to use and I think I can do everything I want to do with this type of site.
This should be a very productive week as the pieces begin to come together!
I spent some time this week trying to determine how to select what event or angle of the American Revolution I want to make the focus of my WebQuest. I toyed with the idea of presenting enough events to allow each team to select an independent event to focus on. After exchanging a few e-mails with my professor, I've decided that for now, I'm going to stick to one event and have each team do the exact same assignment. There were a couple of reasons I made this decision. First, creating 7 events for the 7 teams to focus on would require that each team have equal resources, which could be very time consuming for me. I hadn't considered that it would be close to the amount of work that would be required to create 7 individual WebQuests. The second reason was that I think grading 7 different teams on different events would be difficult. So for now, I'll stick to one topic and once I've had a chance to teach and grade the WQ, I can decide if it would be appropriate to expand it to include the other topics for future years.
Now that I know a bit more about how I'm going to proceed, I've started developing the guidelines for the articles that will be part of the WQ. How many sentences, how many resources they must use, and what types of pictures will be used. I've started to work on graphic organizers for each article style. I received a suggestion to include advertisements or classified ads to the list of articles I was considering and I am going to do just that. I like that it will require students to take the information that they've learned and use it in a fun and creative way. I've also decided to use a google website as the platform for the project. I found the google sites to be easy to use and I think I can do everything I want to do with this type of site.
This should be a very productive week as the pieces begin to come together!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Week Nine
It's been interesting to look through some existing WebQuests and get a better idea of what it will take to create an effective quest. I evaluated a WebQuest that was designed for 5th grade American Revolution and it was a valuable experience. The pieces needed to create a WebQuest were there in name only. There was no real opportunity for higher level evaluation on the part of students. I've found that I tend to learn as much from learning what not to do as I do from seeing something done well.
The task will be for each student to complete a pre-determined newspaper article, complete with an image (not cut and pasted from the www). The five articles will be combined to create a newspaper.
I need to do some reading and see if there is a particular event that I would like the students to focus on for this assignment. A key battle or event that will serve to make them do some deep thinking. I would like them to have a Current Event type article, a Headline article, Across the Colonies, Dear Abby type help column and an Editorial.
I've started to put together some of the resources. I found a British based site on the WebQuest I evaluated, which outlined the American Revolution from the British standpoint and I will include this along with the many US based sites on the revolution. I'm still working on the steps and angles that will insure higher level thinking. Some columns may be broader in scope than others which will allow the teacher to distribute the articles based on student strengths. More to come as I move forward!
I'm moving forward with my plan to build a WebQuest for 5th grade American Revolution. I have been working on the introduction and I think it will look something like this:
You and four friends are playing in your front yard when you hear a loud crashing noise come from your neighbors garage. Smoke begins to trickle from around the garage door as it opens and you see your neighbor, Mr. Brown, a bit singed but looking quite excited. You all run to see what has happened and Mr. Brown tells you that he has finally been successful in creating a time machine. You all step inside the garage to see the machine, but you get too close and the machine backfires, the next thing you know you're in Boston and the year is 1775. You're just looking around when a man runs out of a store and drags you inside. He thinks the five of you are the new newspaper reporters he's been waiting for. Before you can explain he's given you your assignments.
The task will be for each student to complete a pre-determined newspaper article, complete with an image (not cut and pasted from the www). The five articles will be combined to create a newspaper.
I need to do some reading and see if there is a particular event that I would like the students to focus on for this assignment. A key battle or event that will serve to make them do some deep thinking. I would like them to have a Current Event type article, a Headline article, Across the Colonies, Dear Abby type help column and an Editorial.
I've started to put together some of the resources. I found a British based site on the WebQuest I evaluated, which outlined the American Revolution from the British standpoint and I will include this along with the many US based sites on the revolution. I'm still working on the steps and angles that will insure higher level thinking. Some columns may be broader in scope than others which will allow the teacher to distribute the articles based on student strengths. More to come as I move forward!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Week Eight
I read through the WebQuest materials this week and I learned a bit more about WQs. I learned that a WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity where students interact with internet sources in order to gather information that is then used to solve a problem of some sort. The WQ has six components, which include an introduction to set the stage, a task that the student is to complete, informational resources which are largely available on the world wide web, though other computer based activities such as video conferencing and e-mail can be used as well. The fourth component is the process, which is broken into attainable steps for students to follow in order to complete the task and the fifth component is a tool that will provide guidance, such as a graphic organizer or a series of questions crafted to guide the development of the activity. The sixth is the conclusion, an opportunity for students to recap what has been learned and consider further exploration of the subject matter. WQs are often collaborative and may be designed to address a single content focus or they can be designed across multiple content areas.
I'm still wanting to address 5th grade social studies content. I said last week that I am leaning toward the American Revolution. I was looking to this content area for two reasons, first because the fifth grade teachers at my school had expressed an interest in using the WQ, and second, because I don't have a lot of personal knowledge in this area. The lack of personal knowledge is giving me some cause to pause. I don't want to get in over my head trying to learn as I design, but I'm hanging with my original decision for now.
After some thought provoking questions from my professor, I am looking to develop a WQ that integrates multiple subject areas. I haven't had time to really look at very many existing WQs yet, but my original thought was that I would have students create a period newspaper with the information they collect through the WebQuest. I was somewhat put off of this idea when I saw that there was an existing WebQuest that used this format. I'll try to look more closely at the existing WQ this week to see how much it has in common with my vision. I have no desire to recreate the wheel, but if I can add something or present a different focus, I may go ahead with this idea for the project. I like the idea of integrating both writing and possibly art. I want to avoid students cutting and pasting pictures from the www, though I would be agreeable to drawing pictures or trying to create photos that appear to fit with the events and time period of the project. It's still in the very early stages, but I'm excited to complete my WQ Evaluation and really get going on the creation of my very first WebQuest. More thoughts and ponderings to come. ~Sheri
I'm still wanting to address 5th grade social studies content. I said last week that I am leaning toward the American Revolution. I was looking to this content area for two reasons, first because the fifth grade teachers at my school had expressed an interest in using the WQ, and second, because I don't have a lot of personal knowledge in this area. The lack of personal knowledge is giving me some cause to pause. I don't want to get in over my head trying to learn as I design, but I'm hanging with my original decision for now.
After some thought provoking questions from my professor, I am looking to develop a WQ that integrates multiple subject areas. I haven't had time to really look at very many existing WQs yet, but my original thought was that I would have students create a period newspaper with the information they collect through the WebQuest. I was somewhat put off of this idea when I saw that there was an existing WebQuest that used this format. I'll try to look more closely at the existing WQ this week to see how much it has in common with my vision. I have no desire to recreate the wheel, but if I can add something or present a different focus, I may go ahead with this idea for the project. I like the idea of integrating both writing and possibly art. I want to avoid students cutting and pasting pictures from the www, though I would be agreeable to drawing pictures or trying to create photos that appear to fit with the events and time period of the project. It's still in the very early stages, but I'm excited to complete my WQ Evaluation and really get going on the creation of my very first WebQuest. More thoughts and ponderings to come. ~Sheri
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Week 7
This week I am supposed to determine what subect I want use for the WebQuest I'll be designing. It's been an interesting decision. Because I'm not teaching this year, I'm not tied to any particular grade level or topic, so I've been all over the board trying to make a choice. I thought seriously about using 4th grade life science, because it's the topic of my thesis project, which is also technology based. I thought the WebQuest would be a nice companion piece, but after reading Jennifer Diaz's blog, I decided that she made a good point. Even though a WebQuest would be interesting and informative for the students, I would rather use my time in science with hands on inquiry. I also gave it some thought and I don't think many of my teacher friends would have time to add a WebQuest to their science unit, considering how limited they are on time and the limited access to computers, so while I haven't given up on the idea entirely, I started looking at other possibilities for this assignment.
Something that's important to me is that the WebQuest I construct is put into use. With that in mind I went to ask the fifth grade teachers at my school if there was a WebQuest they would want to use in their classrooms and there was a strong agreement that they would like to have a WebQuest for social studies. I haven't spent a lot of time with social studies and I'm kind of excited to create a project in an academic area that will let me learn new information as I go. I read through the content standards this morning and I think I'll focus on the causes, course and consequences of the American Revolution. It should be interesting! I'll let you know how it's going as I get things started. ~Sheri
Something that's important to me is that the WebQuest I construct is put into use. With that in mind I went to ask the fifth grade teachers at my school if there was a WebQuest they would want to use in their classrooms and there was a strong agreement that they would like to have a WebQuest for social studies. I haven't spent a lot of time with social studies and I'm kind of excited to create a project in an academic area that will let me learn new information as I go. I read through the content standards this morning and I think I'll focus on the causes, course and consequences of the American Revolution. It should be interesting! I'll let you know how it's going as I get things started. ~Sheri
Monday, February 28, 2011
Week Six
I've been working on my website and I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. Even though I'm not teaching this year, I've added everything that I'd want my site to have. Hope I get to use it some day soon! It is nice to get the push to try out some of this technology. I'm not sure I would have taken the time to build a website right now, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had imagined. If anybody wants to take a look and let me know what you think I'd love the feedback.
https://sites.google.com/site/mrssmithteaches/
Take Care!
Sheri
https://sites.google.com/site/mrssmithteaches/
Take Care!
Sheri
Monday, February 21, 2011
February 21, 2011
Well, here is my first blog. It was far simpler to set up than I thought it would be. I have several blogs that I've followed off and on over the years, and I've occasionally thought that it would be fun to set up a blog that would allow my family and friends to follow me on vacation or for exciting events. I love the idea of communicating with my students this way. Or even better, getting to watch as my students share thoughts with each other.
Thought as long as I was at it, I'd try to add a photo, just for fun!
Thanks for visiting! ~ Sheri
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