America in 1787-1792; America Today
I created this WebQuest to serve as the culminating activity for a unit on the US Constitution. The unit is designed for a 7th grade Humanities (Social Studies/Language Arts combination) class.
The WebQuest serves not only as the culminating activity, but also as the major assessment piece of the unit. The student introductory page describes how this project is designed to support both individual and group work, although group work is featured, including and especially two different kinds of jigsaw structures. In the first, members of a team of four work independently to complete their section of the assignment, then share their finding with their group as they design a final product. In the second, each team posts its final product to a wiki as well as shares its overall finding with the whole class.
The assignment is designed to shed light on the following essential question:
What aspects of American life 220 years ago still speak strongly to us today? How can we lead a richer, more rewarding life today by understanding the United States at the time it ratified the Constitution?
In addition, each specific assignment asks the students to respond to a variety of questions, any number of which meets the criteria of essential. Most of the questions have the added benefit of requiring original thinking from the students. None of them can be answered by merely cutting and pasting from the web sites indicated, although students can quote from the material in supporting their arguments.
The assignment is designed to appeal to a number of intelligences and learning styles. Students can select from questions concerning history, art, music, mathematics, science, and literature. Students can approach the same assignment through multiple media. For example, student can read the Rip Van Winkle story from a library book, read it online with illustrations, or listen to it with musical background. Choice assignments extend to within the specific questions and include role plays, debates, and raps. Primary sources are evident in many areas, including the Federalist Papers, documents from Eli Whitney and Phyllis Wheatley, artworks from the time, and others.
Technology is present in many areas of this assignment, primarily in the WebQuest itself and the need to access the Internet. The end product is publication on a class wiki. The internet sites include in many cases primary source documents with their original look-and-feel. The art assignment includes reproductions where the student will learn more by mousing over figures in the artwork.
While I know this assignment addresses Massachusetts science, art, music, and math standards, I consider that a fortuitous accident. The specific standards I address are in Language Arts and History and include:
LA 1.3 Apply understanding of agreed-upon rules and individual roles in order to make decisions
LA 3.11 Use appropriate techniques for oral presentation.
LA 8.27 Identify evidence used to support an argument
LA 9.4 Relate a literary work to information about its setting
LA 19.22 Write and justify a personal interpretation of literary, informational, or expository reading that includes a topic sentence, supporting details from the literature, and a conclusion
LA 24.3/24.4 Apply steps for obtaining information from a variety of sources, organizing information, documenting sources, and presenting research in individual and group projects
LA 27.3 Create a media production using effective images, text, music, sound effects, or graphics
USI.7 Explain the roles of the various founders at the Constitutional Convention.
USI.8 Describe the debate over the ratification of the Convention between Federalists and Anti-Federalists and explain the key ideas contained in the Federalist Papers…
USI.21 Describe how decisions are made in a democracy, including the role of legislatures, courts, executives, and the public
USI.29 Describe the rapid growth of slavery in the South after 1800 and analyze slave life and resistance on plantations and farms across the South, as well as the impact of the cotton gin on the economics of slavery and Southern agriculture
In addition, the unit addresses any number of Massachusetts standards relating to the use of instructional technology relating to searching the Web, evaluating Web sites, organizing information found online, and communicating results via technology.
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