Lesson #1
September 13, 2003
Benchmark II Workshop Title: WebQuest: A Strategy for Higher Level Learning
Instructors: Patricia Daniels and Jo Johnson
Date of Workshop: June 23 � 27, 2003
Purpose: Demonstrate mastery of the workshop goals by incorporating them into
curriculum instruction.
Workshop goal (s): Create a WebQuest to engage students in a meaningful real world
task which extends their thinking and offers challenging,
collaborative and creative work opportunities to every student.
Lesson Plan Title: Introduce WebQuest / Assess Prior Knowledge
Teacher(s): Sandra Harris and Audrey Bunch Subject: Social Studies
Grade Level: 5
Student Population: regular classroom
Social Studies/Reading
Block 1 Block 2
ages 10-12 ages 10-12
AIG students - 8 AIG students - 5
LD written expression - 2 LD written expression - 2
ADHD - 2 ADHD - 1
State the goal and objective of the lesson along with the Standard Course of Study
Number: English/Language Arts:
1.03 Increase reading and writing vocabulary
1.04 Use word reference materials to identify and comprehend unknown
words.
Time Needed: 60 minutes
Materials/Resources Needed:
Preassessment (handout)
Dictionaries
Technology Resources Needed:
Computer, Projector, WebQuest Online @
www.geocities.com/scharris2003/
Pre-Activities:
* Students given a 20 question preassessment.
* Teacher models navigating the website using the projector.
* Students explore WebQuest project.
Activities:
* Students use dictionary to define ranger roles: geologist (geology),
botanist (botany), zoologist (zoology) and historian (history)
* Teacher gives students a list of 20 words on the overhead projector. Their job is to place each word into the correct Ranger Job Category
* Discuss where the terms were placed and if and why they may need to be in more than one category (justification).
Assessment: Teacher Observation
Pre-Assessment
Supplemental resources/information for teachers:
*America�s National Parks: The spectacular forces that shaped our treasured lands by Paul Schullery
Part II�To be completed after you teach the lesson
Describe the student behaviors as the lesson was carried out. Include the approximate time spent on each section.
Frustrations for Students: Students seemed frustrated because they couldn't open some of the links because microsoft word was not loaded on the computers in our lab at school. Also, 4 computers wouldn't log on to the internet successfully because they were old & needed updates. Students did not know the majority of the pre-assessment questions. They left the majority of them blank.
Encouraging for students: Students were encouraged to have choices and being able to explore. They enjoyed using the lab and the internet to begin & complete this project. They also seem excited to have the museum for the parents after completing the project.
Include materials such as handouts, directions, or other items given to students that are appropriate for the lesson objectives.
4 column data table
word bank
pre-assessment
List the technologies used by the teacher and those used by the student to complete this lesson.
Teacher technology : Microsoft Word, Internet, Geocities Web Page, Overhead projector
Student technology: Internet
Part III � Evaluation
Describe student outcomes including what they learned and what they found difficult.
Difficult: the pre-assessment
Learning: the roles of geologist, zoologist, botanist, historian
Describe the students� feelings and concerns about the activities. (both positive and negative)
Positive: Students are excited about using the internet for this project as well as being park rangers at the museum as the culminating project to share with parents and the school community.
Negative: Students that don't have internet at home. Computers in the lab at school are old and are not able to do some things needed at certain websites.
Teacher Reflection � Explain how you felt about the lesson. What worked well, what needed improvement, what would you do differently next time? I thought the lesson went well. The majority of students seemed to have success. The computer lab definately needs improvement. Next time, I will know exactly how many computers have internet, microsoft word, etc.. and make sure they are booted up and ready to go. Some last minute changes were that I had to send some students to my room to use some computers & have some students work with partners.
Students have since learned what the jobs of geologist, zoologist, botanist, historian are.
Students have learned the meaning of flora & fauna
Students have not complained about any of the guidelines & activities thus far for this WebQuest project.
They all seemed happy with their park choices and their team members. One frustration for them was choosing ranger jobs.
We had to flip coins for 4 national park groups because 2 students wanted to have the same job. I've had 3 parents tell me their child was excited about this project.
I felt that the students enjoyed the classifying roles for the ranger jobs activity. They debated and justified some of their answers and were successful in stating their case. I feel like all students now know more about their individual ranger roles as well as othe roles of the other ranger members in their ranger team.