Introduction
For today's WebQuest, you won't have to ACTIVE read an article or complete the Student Self-Assessment form. Instead, you're going to create an "About" page that introduces the most interesting information and insights about your topic.
Directions for how to complete the WebQuest and the WebQuest assignment are on the “Process” tab. You will write your answers on the WebQuest assignment sheets, which are due by the end of the class period on Wednesday October 15th. We will have opportunities to complete this WebQuest in class.
The “About” page for your Genius Hour topic is due on your student blog by Friday, October 17th at 11:59pm. The questions for the "About" page are on the "Task" tab.
This WebQuest is intended to not only teach you how to use technology efficiently and responsibly, but also how to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. (W.9-10.6)During Genius Hour, students conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. (W.9-10.7)
For today's Genius Hour, you'll complete a WebQuest that will ultimately show you how to research efficiently for information that is most valuable to you and your topic. Researching entails more skills than just typing a couple words into Google and clicking "search." Students will learned how to effectively utilize a Boolean Web Search and evaluate the credibility of sources by assessing the usefulness of each source (W.9-10.8)
Imagine that you're about to walk into an interview in hopes that the Dean will accept you into the university. The Dean and you sift through the usual information, such as your GPA and ACT scores plus extracurricular activities. Finally, the Dean asks you what creative and innovative endeavors prove that you are unlike any of the other hundred students that he has to interview. The Dean asks the ultimate question: "What makes you different?"
Task
At the university interview, the Dean asks you what creative and innovative endeavors prove that you are unlike any of the other hundred students that he has to interview. The Dean has asked you, "What makes you different?"
In your "About" page on your student blog, explain how you would answer the Dean's question. Utilize your Genius Hour Topic and what you've learned thus far about your topic to help you answer questions:
- What subject area or interest you are passionate about
- Why that subject / interest is intriguing and insightful
- What different perspectives and/or driving questions you offer to the field
- What you would like to see change or evolve in the field
- What further information you would like to learn.
(W.9-10.7)
The "About Page" will be posted on your Student Blog. If you go to the Dashboard of your student blog, you will see the column that says, "Next Steps" in the middle of the page. If you go down the list, there is an option that says, "Add an About Page." That will bring you to the new web page that allows you to complete the assignment.
Process
To effectively articulate your answer to the Dean's question, you will visit the following websites in this WebQuest to not only help you find your answer but also generate your individual thoughts about your interest. Each of these resources gives you information that will continue to help you throughout all of the Genius Hour Project and into college.
While visiting each of the Websites, complete the handout given at the beginning of class to organize your thoughts and collect your information. At the end of the period, you will turn in the completed handout.
- Purdue Owl: Searching with a Search Engine -- Complete the organizer on the handout. First, indentify the various Boolean search terms and summarize how each search term affects your search. Then, apply the Boolean search to your Genius Hour topic to create your own, personal examples per Boolean search term. (W.9-10.8)
- Evaluating Web Pages: UC Berkeley -- List the five key questions that you need to ask when you encounter a web page that is not familiar to you. Because the Internet is so vast and easily manipulated, there is an abundance of misinformation on the world wide web. Therefore, you need to protect your integrity by questioning other's integrity, i.e. the web pages where you grab information. (W.9-10.8)
- Young People are the Geniuses who Change the World -- Make a connection to the statistics Maiers states in the beginning of her blog post. Then, identify which one of the young people mentioned in the article had the most interesting story and briefly explain why.
- TED Talks -- [if you have headphones] On the TED homepage, move your cursor over the menu bar and hover over the word "WATCH." Then, select "Topic" and browse through the videos. Every student in our class should be able to find a TED Talk that relates to his or her topic. While watching the video, write down three (3) Eureka! moments or Emotional responses that you had during the TED Talk. (W.9-10.7)
HowStuffWorks -- [if you do not have headphones] This website contains so much valuable information about various topics written in a student friendly language. Almost all student topics are covered on this site. Once you find an article, write down three (3) Eureka! moments or Emotional responses that you had while reading the HSW articles. (W.9-10.7) - Google Images -- Using your Boolean Search terms that you learned earlier, find an image that you will insert on to your "About" page. When you find the image, right-click on the image and select "Save As..." Save the image to your student H: drive. When you go to create your "About" page, you'll be able to insert the image into your blog post. (W.9-10.6)
When you are done, return to your Student Blog and, while using the information you've gathered the past few weeks and today, create an "About" page for your Student Blog. For this task, you'll select to create a page instead of the usual post. Title the page "About" and write your answer in the text field. (W.9-10.6)
Let me know if you need help inserting the picture into the post.
Evaluation
|
| CATEGORY | Exemplary | Satisfactory | Developing | Unacceptable |
| \"What you would like to see change or evolve in the field\" | Establishes a purpose early on and maintains a clear focus throughout. | Establishes a purpose early on and maintains focus for most of the presentation. | There are a few lapses in focus, but the purpose is fairly clear. | It is difficult to figure out the purpose of the presentation. |
| \"What subject area or interest you are passionate about\" | The letter contains at least 5 facts about the topic. | The letter contains 3-4 facts about the topic. | The letter contains 1-2 facts about the topic. | The letter contains no facts about the topic. |
| \"What subject area or interest you are passionate about.\" | Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the letter was about. | Ideas were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organization could have been better. | Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the letter was about. | The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was very difficult to figure out what the letter was about. |
| \"What further information you would like to learn.\" | Students have developed a clear plan for organizing the information as it is gathered and in the final research product. All students can independently explain the planned organization of the research findings. | Students have developed a clear plan for organizing the information in the final research product. All students can independently explain this plan. | Students have developed a clear plan for organizing the information as it is gathered. All students can independently explain most of this plan. | Students have no clear plan for organizing the information AND/OR students in the group cannot explain their organizational plan. |
| \"What different perspectives and/or driving questions you offer to the field.\" | Independently identify at least 4 reasonable, insightful, creative ideas/questions to pursue when doing the research. | Independently identify at least 4 reasonable ideas/questions to pursue when doing the research. | Identify, with some adult help, at least 4 reasonable ideas/questions to pursue when doing the research. | Identify, with considerable adult help, 4 reasonable ideas/questions to pursue when doing the research. |
Conclusion
After finishing this WebQuest, you will have some extra tools to help you research effectively and evaluate valid information that will be conducive to your Genius Hour Project.
Utilizing these skills will help you gain the insight that you want when planning for your Genius Hour Project, and it will be essential to your future life as a student. Once you narrow down your essential questions for Genius Hour to one narrow question, the skills gained from this WebQuest are meant to develop your digital responsibilites, researching strategies, and critical thinking skills while authentically creating a project that speaks to your innovative thinking and creativity.
So, after this WebQuest, how would you respond to the Dean's question?
Teacher Page
Anchor Standards - English Language Arts, Grade 9
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
Common Core - English Language Arts, Grade 9
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.8
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.