WebQuest

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. Refer to Bloom's Taxonomy for an explanation of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. I have created a WebQuest using zunal.com titled Animals in Winter. media type="file" key="Laura Glessner Scaffolding Activity.mp3" width="259" height="52"
 * Description of WebQuest **
 * Audio description of WebQuest

Description of my WebQuest ** My web quest is titled Animals in Winter. Students will form groups of three, get their assigned group of animals, and pick one from that group to study independently. Each animal spends it's winter hibernating, migrating, or adapting. Once the student uses the websites provided to find out which one their animal does, they have a list of questions to answer at home with adult help. When they have answered the questions and learned about their animal, they will come back together with their group to create a poster with their three animals, a picture, and the word that tells how their animal spends winter. Link to my WebQuest page  []
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Process and Relevancy ** In our kindergarten class, we learn about seasons and the changes that occur each season. As part of that topic, we discuss what animals do in winter. This WebQuest is a fun way for students to learn about animals in winter, use technology, practice writing skills, and involve a home-school connection. My students always want to see photographs of animals when we learn about how different animals spend winter. The photos I found on the web were wonderful and I know that will be a huge motivating factor while they are completing the WebQuest.

I really enjoyed creating the WebQuest. It is a project I think students would really enjoy and learn from. The only downfall is that this may be more difficult for younger students because they would need adult help. Unfortunately, it is hard to guarantee that every student will receive the same home help as another student. Some students may not have access to a computer at home and our time to work with each student independently in the classroom is very limited. I really do think this is a great activity for students who can complete the work independently. Huge motivating factors are the great photos that students can view and the fact that they get to use a computer. Presenting this as an optional assignment and having students complete the project individually instead of as a group might even work better for my kindergarten students. As far as using zunal.com, it was fairly simple to create a WebQuest. I ran into a few glitches but learned how to work around them after some trial and error.
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