by Yoko Penniman, Instructor Of Japanese, Wells College
Students design an itinerary to go to Kyoto, Japan for three days. By approaching this WebQuest as three different roles (a Father, a Mother, a Teenager), students as a group make a family trip plan which will satisfy all family members' interests.
Teacher Introduction
This webquest project was created due to one of the assignments from EDU 285 course at Wells College, Aurora, NY. The idea of this lesson plan was originated from my experience back in middle school in Japan. When I was a 9th grader, my middle school conducted a school field trip to Kyoto for three nights. Except for breakfast, dinner, and the hotel where we stayed over, the rest of the days were mostly free. We (middle school students) were assigned a job as a group of 4-5 students to make a travel plan at school before the trip, and we spent three days as we planned under our teachers supervisions. Through making three days-travel plans with the group members, we learned cooperation, trust, and confidence, as well as the history and locations of the sightseeing spots. I remember that after the trip was over, we were so glad to see our travel plans successfully having worked out. Through my field trip experience, I thought that this experience could be shared and used on the webquest project. Originally back in my middle school years (long time ago), we approached this travel plan project by using guidebooks and history books since there was no internet system, but in this modern era, I believe we would not have any problems finding information of any cities in any foreign countries.