Teacher Process
Before Students Complete the WebQuest:
- Make sure the students will have an understanding of culture and the various ways it can be expressed. One possible lesson includes having the students create cultural identity circles:
Step 1: The students are given blank circles and asked to fill them in with all the
pieces that make up their cultures. Larger pieces signify items that have
stronger influences on the students' lives. The students complete these
individually.
Step 2: The students share their circles in small groups.
Step 3: The class comes together for a discussion of the cultural identity circles. It
is likely that some students will have very few items on their circles. That is
fine. The teacher and students engage in a discussion of the many things
that make up ones culture and the numerous ways culture can be
expressed. Ideas are listed on the board. As the students' concept of
culture grows through the discussion, the list will grow as well. This
discussion would be a good time to make sure students understand the
meaning of the word "contributions" which is used throughout this
WebQuest.
Step 4: The students create revised cultural identity circles.
- Make sure the students understand the terms "immigrate" and "emigrate."
- Provide the students with some experiences with museum exhibits. A field trip to a museum would be best. However, if this is not possible, the students could take a virtual tour of a museum. For example, the Field Museum offers virtual tours of some of the exhibits. One of these tours is of the Underground Adventure exhibit. Experiences with museum exhibits could also involve reading and discussing picture books about museums.
- Make sure students know appropriate legal, ethical, and safety issues associated with Internet usage. These issues include but are not limited to:
-Never sharing or posting personal information on the Internet
-The notion of intellectual property
-Copyright laws (related to the previous item)
-Only visiting websites approved by the teacher unless instructed otherwise
There are numerous ways to approach these issues. One excellent idea is to have
an acceptable use policy implemented at your school, and require students and
parents to read and sign it before the students are allowed to use the Internet on
school property. One way to approach the issue of copyright laws and intellectual
property would be to take a couple of papers or drawings handed in by students,
project them at the front of the class, and claim that they are wonderful examples
you created for the class. When the students' claim ownership of the material, insist
that it is yours. (Of course you will need to know your students well enough to be
certain the students will not be upset with you after the activity.) Once you give in to
the students complaints, hold a discussion about copyright laws and the importance
of giving credit to the owner or creator of material.
- Make sure students have appropriate information literacy skills, including the skill of evaluating websites. Students should know to mentally or physically check off items including but not limited to:
-The author's name and/or contact information is included
-Copyright information is included
-Links work and lead to good information
To help students practice evaluating websites and see the importance of doing so,
you could have them look at two real websites and a bogus website without telling
them which is the bogus website. They can use their current information literacy
skills (and a checklist if you wish to provide one) to attempt to discover the bogus
website. Three useful websites for this purpose are:
-50states.com
-BigRedHair.com/robots
-BestChildrensMusic.com
If you wish, try this out yourself before reading to the bottom of this page.
Depending on the level of experience your students have had with evaluating
Internet sources, it may be useful to post a more complete list in the room for
students to consult.
- Gather the necessary materials:
-Books (listed on the Teacher Introduction page)
-Poster board
-Markers or crayons
- Check the links included in the WebQuest. Currently, they all work, but websites can disappear or go under construction. Be prepared to replace a broken link if one should occur.
- Make sure you have gone over the students websites and will be able to answer questions.
- Introduce the WebQuest. Depending on the needs of your students, you may wish to go through the Introduction, Task, Process, and Evaluation pages with them before they begin.
While Students Complete the WebQuest:
- Do not expect the activity to run itself.
- Observe the students. This is a perfect opportunity to observe for appropriate habits of mind such as flexibility, critical thinking, and respect for evidence.
- Ask questions of the students to help them work through their thoughts.
After Students Complete the WebQuest:
- Discuss the results.
- If possible, it would be useful to have the students present their exhibit proposals to the class. They certainly will not have all found the same information, and this will allow them to learn more about the contributions of these groups. Moreover, the student teams will not have all chosen the same contributions as the most important. Therefore, this activity can be expanded into a question of perspectives or how we decide what material is worth presenting to the public through museums or the media.
- Evaluate the students according to the rubric, and collect their self-evaluations.
BigRedHair.com/robots is the bogus website.