Developed by: Lisa Johnson, Media Specialist
Cardinal Elementary,
This WebQuest
leads to a simulated town meeting where students discuss the movement of the
Audience, Content Area and Background Knowledge:
This lesson is designed for
use with 4th grade students, but could also be adapted for 8th
grade (who also study
Before beginning the WebQuest, students should already have some brief
background history about the state up until this time period. Teachers may
choose to read aloud one of the biographical or historical fiction titles
listed in the resources section found on this page to “set the scene” for
students. Students also need to have basic knowledge about economics concepts
(such as supply and demand), map reading skills, and persuasive writing. It is
also highly suggested that lessons on Internet
searching and note-taking would be taught prior or in conjunction with this WebQuest. Lastly, students can be coached ahead of time on
different learning styles they might have.
Curriculum Standards and Objectives:
The following standards
strands for Grade 4 are based on the Indiana Academic Standards. Each one may
be covered through the WebQuest experience.
Content Area: Social Studies
Subject: Standard 1 History
4.1.6 Explain how
key individuals and events influenced the early growth of the new state of
4.1.15 Use
primary source and secondary source materials, generate a question, seek answers,
and write brief comments about an event in
Subject: Standard 2 Civics and
Government
4.2.8. Use a
variety of information resources to research and write brief comments about a position
or course of action on a public issue relating to
Subject: Standard 3 Geography
4.3.8 Identify
ways in which settlers have changed the landscape in
4.3.9. Create
maps of
Subject: Standard 4 Economics
4.4.1 Give
examples of the kinds of goods and services produced in
4.4.3 Give
examples of how people in
Subject: Standard 5 Individuals,
Society, and Culture
4.5.6 Investigate
the contributions and challenges experienced by people from various cultural,
racial, and religious groups in Indiana during different historical periods by
reading biographies, historical accounts, stories, and electronic media, such
as CD-ROM’s and websites.
Content Area: Language Arts
Subject: Writing
4.4.7 Use
multiple reference materials and online information (the Internet) as aids to
writing.
4.5.6 Write for
different purposes and to a specific audience or person.
Subject: Listening
4.7.2 Summarize
major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken presentations…
4.7.9 Engage the
audience with appropriate words, facial expressions and gestures.
As a result of this WebQuest, students will also be identifying their learning
style, using higher level thinking skills, learning research skills, and
utilizing conflict management skills.
This multi-disciplinary WebQuest is designed to fill two weeks, with students
allowed to work on their tasks each day. Week one is set aside for students to
complete their research. Week 2 is for group discussion and creating the essay
presentation. This WebQuest allows students to choose
a role that meets their learning style or interests along with the option to
create an additional presentation prop that lends itself to the multiple
intelligences. The process for students is as follows:
Each person in your group will have a different role.
Choose a role and visit the suggested websites and resources listed. You may
also use resources from the Additional Resources section of the WebQuest. Although you are working with a group, you may
also work with other students that share the same role as you. You may research
and compare facts with these students, or you can research on your own. Take
notes on important information that helps you learn more about your role. Make
sure you record the source for each piece of information you use. You will have
one week to complete your research.
When you feel like you understand your role and have
answered the questions, it’s time to meet again with your group members.
Discuss the questions from the task and contribute your new knowledge on the
issue. It’s possible that your opinions may conflict with other members of your
group. Next, each group member will create an essay that will be presented at
the town meeting. Additional presentation props that support your role’s
opinion are also encouraged. If you have an idea for a creative presentation
prop, please see your teacher for prior approval.
Additional ideas could include:
A map detailing the area your role is studying
Statistics on population growth in the state or other statistical
information
Your character dressed in costume
A poster that you would hang up in town or bring to
the town meeting supporting your opinions
Drawings of how the community will be affected—cause
and effect
Singing a song that you wrote about your opinions or
that may have been sung in this time period
Create a special technology presentation in which
others can learn about
A journal of a week in the life of your character
You will have one week to create your essay
presentation. Your group will have a specified time to present at the town
meeting.
Your class can invite other 4th
grade classrooms to watch the town meeting presentations. After all groups have
presented at the town meeting, students will discuss a compromise to the issue
of moving the state capitol. The teacher can facilitate this discussion. As a
follow up activity, have students answer the thought-provoking questions in the
Conclusion section of the WebQuest. To learn more about
This WebQuest
has been designed to be taught collaboratively between the teacher and library
media specialist. The library media center resources should be utilized and
time should be scheduled for student research in the media center. Scheduling
time in a computer lab or reserving a wireless lab is also suggested. Below you
will find the resources suggested for teachers and a separate list suggested
for students. Each source is annotated so that teachers may identify which
resources will be most helpful.
Resources for Teachers
Indiana’s Academic
Standards Resource, Social Studies,
Grade 4. The Indiana Department of Education, 2003. This teacher’s guide
provides a list of all the standards along with ideas and blackline
masters. Some important websites and literature are listed. A necessary
resource for teachers planning their Indiana History units.
This webpage is wonderful for
teachers to find more ways to integrate early settler/pioneer history into
their
Resources for Students
Websites
Conner Prairie: History
Online: http://www.connerprairie.org/HistoryOnline/index.asp
Conner Prairie is a local
living history museum in the
This is an online interactive
statewide presentation featuring
Early Days in
Although this webpage does
not focus on either county the students are researching, it does give 3
historical accounts of what life was like in the early to mid 1800’s in
First
American West: The
This
webpage is sponsored by the American Memory Project. Students can search for
Jonathan Jennings and see actual letters he wrote in the early 1800’s.
A History of Corydon: http://historic.shcsc.k12.in.us/CORYDON/HISTORY.HTM
A short document that gives
interesting information about Corydon during the years it was the state
capitol, including alluding to the failing of a bank and a plague. Interesting
things for students to ponder and research more.
Jonathan
Jennings: http://www.countyhistory.com/doc.gov/004.htm
This
is a webpage that provides brief biographical information on Jonathan Jennings.
Jonathan
Jennings: Biographical Information: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000097
This
is a website sponsored by the United States Congress. It gives students a basic
biography of
The
In the digital images
collection, students can access early maps of
The
This is a small magazine that
is designed for students studying Indiana History. There are several issues of
the magazine that will be useful for this WebQuest.
The topics include: “Search for a new capitol”, “
The
This is a “self-guided tour”
that students can read and extract information about the development of the
state house (capitol). It is fairly long, but students would probably only need
the first two pages for their needs.
The
This webpage of the state
museum provides a fact page for the history and significance of Corydon. It
also includes a photo gallery of the old state house, which is now a historical
site that you can tour. Students can see photos here that they may not see
otherwise.
The State Capitol Act: http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/resources/docstcap.html
Another webpage of the
Indiana Historical Bureau, this page contains the entire act to make Corydon
the capitol in 1813. An example of a primary document. Students can read this
to learn why Corydon was chosen at the time.
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis%2C_Indiana
These articles are great
because they give current statistics on how many people are living in these
cities right now. Students can make inferences about the reasons the population
has changed. It gives historical information about the cities with links all
the way throughout the articles. The links take you to other linked
encyclopedia articles that are wonderful!
Print Resources
A Clearing in the
My Indiana Home, textbook by Houghton Mifflin, 1991. While this
textbook mostly describes every aspect of
A Home in the Woods:
Pioneer Life in Indiana, Oliver Johnson’s Reminiscences of Early Childhood as Related by Howard Johnson, 1978. This book would
qualify as a primary source document. Students could read parts of it, or the
teacher could read it to the class. It tells the true story of Oliver Johnson,
who grew up in the
Historic Communities Series by Bobbie Kalman,
1990’s. This series covers all aspects of life for American settlers. While
these books are not written just for
A Child’s History of
Indianapolis by Ann Mallett, 1971. Students could easily read this book on
their own and take notes on the history of the city. The book starts with
painting a picture of a dense forest and explains the growth of the small log
cabin village to the development as the state capitol. It even mentions names
of businessmen who moved from Corydon to
H is for Hoosier: An
Indiana Alphabet by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds,
2001. This is a picture book that provides information about a variety of
topics including
Teachers can refer to the
evaluation information for students including the rubric for grading and the
essay criteria by referring to the Rubric page. This
rubric has been designed for 4th grade students and is simple in its
design. The rubric may be altered to include more criteria for use with 8th
grade or high school students. Teachers may also have the students evaluate
themselves according to the rubric for reflection and self-evaluation.
Extensions and Remediation:
There are many options for
either remediation or extending this WebQuest for
gifted students.
For students needing extra
help, they may be provided with a graphic organizer to help them gather their
thoughts (templates can be found in the Inspiration software package). A mentor
student or adult can help them chose a role that they are best suited for.
These students can be instructed on creating a double column worksheet for
taking notes. Essentially this is two columns on a sheet of paper; one column
is for what a resource says exactly
and the other column is for the students to paraphrase that information into
their own words. It also can list the source information so that citations get
recorded properly. If your school has a resource room for remedial assistance,
you can supply them with a copy of the essay criteria, a link to the WebQuest on the Internet, and due dates for assignments to
keep students on track.
Gifted students should be
encouraged to submit an additional presentation prop that challenges them. Many
options are listed that utilize the multiple intelligences including musical
(write a song), mathematical (graph statistics), linguistic (create a journal),
etc. Gifted students can also go behind the scenes to:
Mentor a student
that needs assistance
Promote the town
meeting presentations on a wider scale than just to other 4th grade
students (parents, administrators, other schools)
Videotape the
presentations and edit the video
Create webpages detailing their activities or post students’
character journals online
Organize with a
teacher or technology leader to locate a school interested in watching the
presentations via distance learning
Write an article
for the school or corporation newsletter about the WebQuest
experience
"We all
benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other
educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise
modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is
retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest.
On the line after the original author's name, you may add 'Modified by (your
name) on (date)'. If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new
URL."
Created by Lisa Johnson
Last Updated August 2005