The Four Seasons Webquest
While researching webquests online, I came across one that would be very useful to use in my second grade placement class. The webquest was titled The Four Seasons and can be found at http://questgarden.com/46/99/3/070221124247/index.htm. It was created by Kelli Minnick and was designed specifically for students in the second grade. The webquest aids students in researching information about the four seasons and leads them through the process of creating a travel brochure to share the information they learn. The webquest consists of a Student’s Page and a Teacher’s Page. The Student’s Page has several different pages outlining the entire project. The Teacher’s Page provides teachers with information such as the learners who can benefit from this webquest, the standards covered in the webquest, the teachers’ role in the process, and valuable resources the teacher may use while using this webquest in their classroom.
First, students are introduced to the project and the specific task at hand, including what information each group will be responsible for gathering and how the group must present that information. Next, students are guided through the process of researching information on the four seasons and provided with links to different websites where they may find that information, including the months, holidays, and weather found in each season, and also fun things to do in each season. Four students are assigned to each group, and each group member is responsible for researching a different season, either Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter. Students are responsible for gathering information on their season and answering all of the questions in the task, and then sharing what they find with their group. The group then works together to create the travel brochure to be presented to the class. Student are provided with a rubric so they may see what they are responsible for completing and how their work on the project will be evaluated. The final step in the process is presenting the travel brochure to the class.
This webquest is extremely useful for several reasons. First off, it can be used to teach a science lesson while integrating technology at the same time. The Teacher’s Page highlights the different standards covered in the webquest, giving teachers an idea of what standards they will cover by using this webquest and leaving room for teachers to integrate additional standards. The Teacher’s Page also provides links to sites the teacher may find useful for this webquest and a list of materials that will be needed to use the webquest in their classroom. It also outlines the teacher’s role in the process and anticipates when the students may need help or guidance such as in creating groups, accessing the Internet, and navigating the site. The Student’s Page is easy to navigate and the instructions are clear and to the point. Students are given a list of tasks to complete and provided with links to sites where they may find information on their particular season. The rubric that student’s find on the webquest is particularly useful because it provides students with an idea of what they should be accomplishing and where their research should take them.
All together the webquest would probably take about one hour class period to complete. If I were to use this webquest in my placement classroom I would need computers, Internet access, paper, and art supplies. I would consult my cooperating teacher to find out the appropriate time to use The Four Seasons webquest and where it might fit into the curriculum. I think this webquest would be a wonderful way to introduce students to the four seasons and build on the existing knowledge they have about the four seasons. It is also a fun, different way to approach learning about the four seasons and gives students the opportunity to be creative. Finally, it allows students to be investigators in the process of researching the four seasons and puts the responsibility of learning the material in their hands.
