Introduction
It is time to embrace your sense of adventure and explore the hidden wonders of Miami and Miami Beach. From mural-painted streets and Art Deco scenes to heritage-rich neighborhoods that abound with culture, make memories last a lifetime. Miami is one of South Florida's premier vacation destinations, with beaches, great weather, history, culture, sports, and entertainment. Miami city's nickname, the "Magic City," came from its rapid growth, spectacular sunsets, balmy breezes, warm waters, and beautiful places to visit. You will find out more about the "Magic City" as you proceed on your quest. You have four weeks to familiarize yourself with Miami. Enjoy your trip!
Task
What a great way to improve your conversational skills practicing from WebQuest journey to Miami. Let’s start! You are a group of Brazilian tourists who will experience the city of Miami to the fullest. Then after learning and exploring fantastic places, you will be able to design your presentation to inform other students how incredible and fun is the “Magic City.” To create your PowerPoint and oral presentation, you will work in groups and do the following:
Process
You will work in a team of 4 people to develop a group presentation. Almost all of your information will be collected from the Internet. Remember, you will be doing a presentation. Be sure to organize pictures as you make your journey through the Internet.
Step 1:
Go to http://archive.miamigov.com/home/history.html#:~:text=The%20City%20was%….
Then on the city of Miami History, answer the following questions:
1 – In which US state is the city of Miami?
2 – In which county is the city of Miami?
3 – What cities are in Miami County?
4 – How many languages are spoken in Miami? Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0aTcWSpal4 for more information.
Go to https://www.miamigov.com/Transportation-Roadways/Trolley-Information/Get-Trolley-Information-Schedules-and-Maps and answer the following questions:
1 - Does the city of Miami Trolley go to Miami Beach?
2 – Is the Trolley free and accessible to all?
Observe the top 10 Things to Do in Miami video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQCBAaJg1LE.
Each place has something extraordinary to offer, so enjoy your journey and choose four places to go. (10. South Beach, 9. Calle Ocho, Little Havana, 8. Key Biscayne, 7. Wynwood Walls, 6. Museums, 5. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 4. Bayside Marketplace in Downtown Miami, 3. Little Haiti, 2. Coconut Grove, and 1. Everglades National Park). Please answer the following questions to help you organize your presentation materials.
1 - Is Miami, Florida a beautiful city?
2 - What is it like to live in Miami?
4 - What kind of people live in Miami?
5 - What is the best thing about The City of Miami?
6 - What makes Miami different from the rest of the US?
All the students must watch the videos to be informed about the topic and answer all the questions. However, each team member will be responsible for a different portion of the presentation to the class. Your group will use a multimedia application such as PowerPoint to help deliver the oral presentation. Thus, each student is to specialize in one of the following areas:
Miami History expert student – This person is responsible for summarizing all the information collected from the group about the city’s history. Language is an essential issue in Miami explains more about that.
The top 4 Things to Do in Miami expert student – This person is responsible for choosing the top 4 places to visit in Miami according to the group’s opinion and collecting information about the places explaining why these places are the top priority.
Location expert student - This person is responsible for finding out the location and characteristics of the places chosen. One of your jobs is to collect maps and other images which illustrate the site or features.
Trolley Transportation expert student - This person is responsible for finding out the information on the city of Miami Trolley routes. A unique part of your job is gathering information, and images, about places you can go with using Trolley.
Step 2:
Congratulations! You are almost there! Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvxSZH3ipfg to help you with your oral presentation. Remember, an oral presentation is not an essay!
Evaluation
You will receive several grades for this project. The most important will be your individual presentation, and the following rubric will be used:
|
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Posture and Eye Contact |
Stands up straight, looks relaxed and confident. Establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the presentation. |
Stands up straight and establishes eye contact with everyone in the room during the presentation. |
Sometimes stands up straight and establishes eye contact. |
Slouches and/or does not look at people during the presentation. |
|
Preparedness |
Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed. |
Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals. |
The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking. |
Student does not seem at all prepared to present. |
|
Speaks Clearly |
Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, and mispronounces no words. |
Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-95%) the time, but mispronounces one word. |
Speaks clearly and distinctly most ( 94-85%) of the time. Mispronounces no more than one word. |
Often mumbles or can not be understood OR mispronounces more than one word. |
|
Vocabulary |
Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Extends audience vocabulary by defining words that might be new to most of the audience. |
Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Includes 1-2 words that might be new to most of the audience, but does not define them. |
Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Does not include any vocabulary that might be new to the audience. |
Uses several (5 or more) words or phrases that are not understood by the audience. |
|
Uses Complete Sentences |
Always (99-100% of time) speaks in complete sentences. |
Mostly (80-98%) speaks in complete sentences. |
Sometimes (70-80%) speaks in complete sentences. |
Rarely speaks in complete sentences. |
|
Stays on Topic |
Stays on topic all (100%) of the time. |
Stays on topic most (99-90%) of the time. |
Stays on topic some (89%-75%) of the time. |
It was hard to tell what the topic was. |
|
Content |
Shows a full understanding of the topic. |
Shows a good understanding of the topic. |
Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic. |
Does not seem to understand the topic very well. |
|
Comprehension |
Student is able to accurately answer almost all questions posed by classmates about the topic. |
Student is able to accurately answer most questions posed by classmates about the topic. |
Student is able to accurately answer a few questions posed by classmates about the topic. |
Student is unable to accurately answer questions posed by classmates about the topic. |
Conclusion
Virtual Traveling empowers students to get out of their comfort zone and gain cultural and oral fluency. We sometimes think that all other countries on the earth are similar to those we are familiar with. This WebQuest brings some more fun practice to EFL students’ oral skills. After this activity, you should have a different view of at least some places in Miami. Cultural differences are a significant factor in how EFL students are used to learning from academic books; however, we often expect the differences to be more important than they are.
Thanks for participating in this Quest, and I hope you realize that virtual trips can help practice oral proficiency.
Enjoy the music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwBS6QGsH_4