Classroom Integration Ideas – Social Studies K – 6

Description:  Our Integration Series offers you a hands-on tour of the best Web resources for your type of classroom.  More than a guided tour, this class offers lesson planning tips, unit ideas, student project suggestions and other practical guidance.

Objectives:  In this session, participants will:

1. Discuss the considerations for integrating the Internet into the social studies curriculum.
2. Become familiar with the basic components of a WebQuest.
3. View and discuss sample activities, programs, and WebQuests.
4. Critically analyze a number of webquest examples and discuss them from multiple perspectives.

1.     Considerations for Internet Integration (from “Guidelines for Designing Internet Activities” by Doug Prouty of Contra Costa County of Education, http://intergate.cccoe.k12.ca.us/online/guidelines/)

·        Based on inquiry-oriented design

·        Small group activity with student role playing

·        Is a doable, engaging project-based task

·        Built around single discipline or interdisciplinary

·        Has predefined resources from the Web, CDs, library, etc.

·        Can be short (1 week) or long term (4 - 6 week)

2.     WebQuests

·       Definition – A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web.  WebQuests are designed to use learners’ time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners’ thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

·       Components

Ø     Introduction – Explain the topic and background information

Ø     Task – Engage the students’ interest and give clear directions

Ø     Activities (Process) – Relevant, challenging, multiple learning styles, H.O.T.S.

Ø     Resources – 3-7 Internet sites plus texts, books, magazines, etc.

Ø     Evaluation – Clearly state criteria for grading

Ø     Conclusion – Have the students “sum it all up”

Ø     Extension – Can they take it a step further and relate what they have learned to their lives or involve the family in the project?

·       Building Blocks of a WebQuest –

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/webquest/BuildingBlocks.html

·       Sample – A WebQuest about WebQuests –

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquestwebquest-es.html

·       Task - By the end of this lesson, you and your group will answer these questions:

1.     Which two example WebQuests listed below are the best ones? Why?

2.     Which two are the worst? Why?

3.     What do best and worst mean to you?

·       Resources - Here are the sites you'll be analyzing:

·        In the Time of the Old Ones - Explore the art and environment of the Navajo

·        Is There Water on the Moon? - And if so, what could we do with it?

·        Journey Back in Time - Portray colonial life from one of many points of view

·        North Carolina Zoo Breakout - What would happen if they got out?

·        Ancient Egypt WebQuest - Decode a message from Tut's tomb

·       Activities (Process) –

1.     First, each participant will have a hard copy of the worksheet. To answer the questions given above, you'll break into groups of four.

2.     Individually, you'll examine each of the sites on the list of resources and use the worksheet to jot down some notes of your opinions of each from the perspective of your role. You'll need to examine each site fairly quickly. Don't spend more than 10 minutes on any one site.

3.     When everyone in the group has seen all the sites, it's time to get together to answer the questions. One way to proceed would be to go around and poll each team member for the best two and worst two from their perspective. Pay attention to each of the other perspectives, even if at first you think you might disagree with them.

4.     There will probably not be unanimous agreement, so the next step is to talk together to hammer out a compromise consensus about your team's nominations for best and worst. Pool your perspectives and see if you can agree on what's best for the learner.

5.     One person in each group should open up SimpleText or Inspiration to record the group's thoughts.

6.     When debriefing time is called, use this file to speak from as you report your results to the whole class. Do you think the other groups will agree with your conclusions?

WebQuest about WebQuests Worksheet

Print this page out and use it to jot down notes while you examine each site. Remember to stay in character as you examine the sites and don't compare notes until you get back with your four-person group.

Your Role

Your Impressions

Put the Title of the Lesson Here

A WebQuest for xth Grade (Put Subject Here)

Designed by

Put Your Name Here
Put Your E-mail Address Here

 Put some interesting graphic representing the content here

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Teacher Page

Introduction

This document should be written with the student as the intended audience. Write a short paragraph here to introduce the activity or lesson to the students. If there is a role or scenario involved (e.g., "You are a detective trying to identify the mysterious poet.") then here is where you'll set the stage. If there's no motivational intro like that, use this section to provide a short advance organizer or overview. Remember that the purpose of this section is to both prepare and hook the reader.

It is also in this section that you'll communicate the Big Question (Essential Question, Guiding Question) that the whole WebQuest is centered around.

The Task

Describe crisply and clearly what the end result of the learners' activities will be. The task could be a:

• problem or mystery to be solved;
• position to be formulated and defended;
• product to be designed;
• complexity to be analyzed;
• personal insight to be articulated;
• summary to be created;
• persuasive message or journalistic account to be crafted;
• a creative work, or
• anything that requires the learners to process and transform the information they've gathered.

If the final product involves using some tool (e.g., HyperStudio, the Web, video), mention it here.

Don't list the steps that students will go through to get to the end point. That belongs in the Process section.

The Process

 To accomplish the task, what steps should the learners go through? Use the numbered list format in your web editor to automatically number the steps in the procedure. Describing this section well will help other teachers to see how your lesson flows and how they might adapt it for their own use, so the more detail and care you put into this, the better. Remember that this whole document is addressed to the student, however, so describe the steps using the second person.

1. First you'll be assigned to a team of 3 students...
2. Once you've picked a role to play....
3. ... and so on.

Learners will access the on-line resources that you've identified as they go through the Process. You may have a set of links that everyone looks at as a way of developing background information, or not. If you break learners into groups, embed the links that each group will look at within the description of that stage of the process. (Note, this is a change from the older WebQuest templates which included a separate Resources section. It's now clear that the resources belong in the Process section rather than alone.)

In the Process block, you might also provide some guidance on how to organize the information gathered. This advice could suggestions to use flowcharts, summary tables, concept maps, or other organizing structures. The advice could also take the form of a checklist of questions to analyze the information with, or things to notice or think about. If you have identified or prepared guide documents on the Web that cover specific skills needed for this lesson (e.g. how to brainstorm, how to prepare to interview an expert), link them to this section.

Evaluation

 Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

Conclusion

 Put a couple of sentences here that summarize what they will have accomplished or learned by completing this activity or lesson. You might also include some rhetorical questions or additional links to encourage them to extend their thinking into other content beyond this lesson.

Credits & References

List here the sources of any images, music or text that you're using. Provide links back to the original source. Say thanks to anyone who provided resources or help.

List any books and other analog media that you used as information sources as well.

3.  Sample Activities

·       Decisions, Decisions-Online – To be used during a classroom discussion period.  Students, as a class, will get to register a vote online if teacher is a registered user.  You can also view how other schools voted.  Designed for students grade 5-10. Includes ready made handouts, quizzes, discussion questions, small and large group activities, follow-up activities, and more.  Topic changes each month.  Back issues are available. -
http://www.teachtsp2.com/ddonline/

·       An Educational Virtual Museum for Primary Students -  The virtual museums on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are designed for primary students and classroom use.  Students will enjoy browsing through the respective museums individually, with a partner or as a part of a group.  Teachers will find a number of President's Day Activities, Literature Recommendations and a Bibliography to assist them with their studies of Lincoln and Washington.  In addition, interested teachers are encouraged to e-mail the author for PowerPoint Presentations on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.   These presentations can be shown whole class, utilized in a computer lab or viewed on individual computers.   - http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/presidentsday/index.html

·       Community Atlas, The Project – Welcome to ESRI's U.S. Community Atlas, a project in which teachers and students across the country define the nature of "their community" and post descriptions and maps about it. These presentations are combined on the web server and can be searched by characteristic and explored for similarities and differences. -               
http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/atlas/index.html

·       Egyptian Scavenger Hunt – Written by Bernie Dodge.  A quick and easy Internet activity while studying Ancient Egypt. - http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/egypt/hunt/EgyptHunt.html

·       Travel Buddies - Travel buddies are soft toys or puppets that travel the world as representatives of your class. They may go on a cultural exchange with a single school or travel widely on a path chosen by those who forward him to friends and relatives in other places. They go instead of sending the children, an expensive and unrealistic proposition for most schools. -
http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/projects/travel-buddies/

·       EPals,  Classroom Exchange - The World's Largest K-12 Online Classroom and electronic penpal network - Connecting 1.5 million students and teachers in 22,042 registered classrooms from 115 countries. -
http://www.epals.com/index.html

·       Where on the Globe is Roger? – Elementary and middle school students are invited to learn about history, culture, and geography, while they electronically travel along with Roger Williams, as he drives his truck Bubba from continent to continent around the world. -
 http://www.gsn.org/roger/index.html

·       Geo Game - The Global SchoolNet Foundation has supported GeoGame since 1991 with email sessions offered in the Fall, Winter and Spring of each school year. This excellent project was developed by Tom Clauset, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was described in an article, "Keys to Successful Networking" in the May, 1990 issue of the Computing Teacher Magazine. -
http://www.globalschoolhouse.com/project/gg/index.cfm

·       Children’s Express - Children's Express (CE) is an international news service reported and edited by kids ages 8 to 18 for adult print, broadcast, and online media.  A nonprofit journalism and leadership organization, CE's mission is to give children a significant voice in the world. -
http://www.cenews.org/index.htm

4.  Internet Sources

·       S.C.O.R.E. History-Social Science Resources - http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/

·       Social Studies School Service – http://www.socialstudies.com

·       Social Studies – Outline Maps - http://www.sbgschool.com/teacher_activities/social_studies/outlinemaps.html

·       History-Social Studies for K-12 Teachers - http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/boals.html

·       Ed’s Oasis – History Resources for Teachers - http://www.edsoasis.org/Treasure/treasH2.html

·       Mr. Donns Pages – Lesson Plans, Activities and Resources - http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/SiteIndex.html

·       The Pilgrim Life Adventure -
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/kimbrough/pilgrimlife/

·       The World of Puppets -
http://www.itdc.sbcss.k12.ca.us/curriculum/puppetry.html

·       Board Games of the Ancient World -
http://students.itec.sfsu.edu/edt628/dstorz/index1.html

·       Culture Quest -
http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/stennille/ST3/webquest.html

·       Where Did We Come From? -
http://www.richmond.edu/~ed344/webquests/creationstories/creation.htm

·       My History is America’s History –
http://www.myhistory.org/