by Donna Sharer, Philadelphia, PA
Write on Rights web quest is designed for a 5th grade bilingual class (Spanish/English) in the United States. In bilingual, heterogeneously grouped teams, students examine the history of rights, briefly view a variety of rights documents, and then focus on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Each group will (1) be responsible for reading, understanding and interpreting rights from the CRC document, (2) present their findings to their classmate and advocate for or against the U.S. ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child and (3) send a letter to a U.S. Senator regarding ratification. There is also a lessons which incorporates interpreting data. After completing the web quest, teams will follow current rights related topics at bilingual web sites designed for children. They will also generate stories on rights through conversations with family, friends, and personal observations. They will select a topic/issue and add their ideas to a wiki/blog. This will enable students to continue the discussion of rights virtually and face-to-face while creating an on-line document.
Teacher Introduction
Background:
This web quest is designed for a 5th grade, bilingual class at a Philadelphia charter school. Before 5th grade, students in K-4 have either been in an English program and take Spanish one period per day or a Spanish program and take English 3 - 5 periods per week. 5th grade is the first time the two groups of students are in the same class for English/Social Studies. (Math/science are taught in either Spanish or English). Therefore, I wanted to design a project which requires the students to work in teams for social integration and academic support while also providing some opportunities for students to read and write in Spanish. I hope there is reciprocal teaching: students who are comfortable in reading and writing in Spanish will be able to support students who are more comfortable reading and writing in English and vice versa.
Theoretical approach:
The web quest is interdisciplinary - literacy, technology, social studies and math. (Environmental and biological science could be integrated by considering issues/topic related to individual, group and community rights.) It meets and exceeds national U.S. standards by requiring analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information. It also empowers students to create information and publish their ideas - they become knowledge builders.