You are moving to Japan!!
 

(Teacher Page)

A WebQuest for Intermediate students

Designed by

David Brockhurst
 
Introduction | Learners | IRP Outcomes | Process | Evaluation
  Extensions & Adaptations | Conclusion | Student Page

Introduction
This WebQuest was designed for an assignment for EDTE 611, 'Application of Educational Technology' course, taught at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in the Department of Education. 

It's purpose is to be used as part of an integrated unit on Japan. The focus is on developing good research and critical thinking skills while examining life in a foreign country, specifically, Japan.

Learners
The intended audience for this lesson are grade six students.  The intention is to meet many of the Social Studies and Language Arts Learning Outcomes for Grade 6 (please see IRPs).  This lesson could easily be adapted to meet the Learning Outcomes for other intermediate grades (please see adaptations and extensions).

IRP Outcomes - Prescribed Learning Outcomes  

Social Studies - Applications of Social Studies
It is expected that students will:

• identify and clarify a problem, issue, or inquiry 
• research information using print, non-print, and electronic sources 
• evaluate the credibility and reliability of various sources 
• organize information from a variety of sources into a structured presentation using more than one form of representation 

• assess the relationship between cultures and their environments 

• use questioning, predicting, summarizing, inferring, skimming or scanning, and graphic organizers to accomplish specific purposes for reading, viewing, and listening 
• use text and electronic media features, including indices, tables of contents, and keyword searches, to locate specific information or material

• describe what is known about topics or issues and check for gaps in the information available 
• locate, gather, select, and record information for specific purposes from various human, print, and electronic sources 

• locate, gather, select, and record information for specific purposes from various human, print,  and electronic sources 

• Critical thinking
• Creative production
• Problem-solving
• Categorization and Analysis
• Teamwork

Process
There are a number of assumptions made in the creation of this WebQuest.  It is assumed that students are somewhat computer literate and have access to a computer with internet capability on a consistent basis.  It is also assumed that the students have been taught the concepts of inference and making judgments.

The amount of time required to complete the WebQuest will depend on the students' familiarity with computers and the software and their reading level.  It would be anticipated that the students would require at least 4 computer lab periods to fully complete this project.

It is suggested that students show the teacher their criteria brainstorming sheets before moving on to the research.  This will enable the teacher to ensure that the groups have a good grasp on what they will be looking for.

(When dividing students into groups, it is important to consider the different reading levels. )

Evaluation
A rubric has been developed for the use of students and teachers. Students will use the rubric to self-assess the process and the final product.

Extensions and Adaptations
Extensions:

• Have the students do a similar exercise comparing other cities around the world to the three Japanese cities.  This could be the city where they live, the sister cities of the Japanese cities or perhaps American cities where Japanese baseball players now live... etc.
• Have students e-mail (with teacher supervision) representatives from the selected city websites and request specific information to add to their project.

• Students with reading difficulties could be  paired with capable students who could orally read the research pages.
• Students with writing difficulties could similarly be paired with students who could write down the verbally expressed ideas.

Conclusion
The aim of this WebQuest is to attempt to hook the students into a realistic problem-solving scenario that will help them perform research in order to solve a critical thinking activity.

top of page