Freak the Mighty Webquest (4th Block)

Introduction

Welcome: Delving Deeper into Freak the Mighty 
Description: This is a webquest created as a culminating activity for students who have read Freak the Mighty in collaborative groups. It was designed as a tool for students to show their knowledge and understanding of the themes and topics covered within the novel. 
Grade Level: 6-8 
Curriculum: English / Language Arts 
Keywords: Freak the Mighty, Morquio's Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Bullying, Coat of Arms, Chivalry, collaborative groups
Author(s): Trinie Laplander & Ann Windsor

Task

You, like Max and Kevin as Freak the Mighty, are going on a quest. Remember a quest is a search or a pursuit made in order to obtain something. Knights from the King Arthur legends went on many heroic quests.

 

You will be assigned one of five quests in this assignment. Each quest will take you through a new adventure. There are several important issues and themes discussed in this novel. Each of you will research one of these themes and learn more about it. You will share your findings through a poster session on the last day of the unit.

 

Your quest choices are:

  • researching the code of chivalry
  • researching the coat of arms
  • research Morquio's Syndrome
  • research learning disabilities
  • research bullying

Process

Code of Chivalry:

Activity 1: Kevin showed a great interest in King Arthur. Go to the website below and learn more about him. When you have finished, write a summary of King Arthur, who he was, and what he did. 
http://www.caerleon.net/history/arthur/page2.htm
Paste this on your poster board! 


Activity 2: Go to this website and learn about the Code of Chivalry. Write a second paragraph explaining what it is to help your classmates understand it. 
http://landsofridian.com/knights.html
Put this on your poster board too!


Activity 3: Read about the virtues listed in the Code of Chivalry at the website below. What is a virtue? Define it, then pick five virtues from the list and give an example from the book where these virtues were displayed. 
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/knights-code-of-chivalry.htm
You guessed it--paste this on your poster board!


Activity 4: After learning more about the Code of Chivalry, make a list of at least 4-5 people besides Kevin who would be at Kevin’s round table and why. 
http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/default.asp
Once again, paste this onto your poster board!


Activity 5: The knights were said to wear an emblem. Learn about the emblem at the website below; then, draw an emblem for Kevin and the knights of his round table. Explain what each piece of the emblem represents.
http://www.kingarthursknights.com/knights/default.asp
Paste this on your poster board! 

Activity 6: Use Easybib.com to create a Bibliography or Works Cited page.  Paste this on your poster board.



Coat of Arms:

Activity 1: Visit the website below and learn about what a coat of arms is. Write a paragraph explaining what it is and what it stands for.
http://www.historicalnames.com/origins.htm
Paste this on your poster board! 


Activity 2: You have started to learn about the coat of arms. Visit the websites below and then write a second paragraph discussing the importance of the colors on a coat of arms and what some of the colors stand for. 
http://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm
Put this on your poster board too!


Activity 3: Visit the website below and learn more about the symbols found on different coats of arms. Choose ten symbols; then, list them and what they stand for. 
http://www.4crests.com/coatofarsym.html
You guessed it--paste this on your poster board!


Activity 4: Now that you have learned about some of the symbols, pick five symbols that you might represent your school the best. Say what they stand for and why they would represent your school in a well-developed paragraph. 
http://www.4crests.com/coatofarsym.html
Once again, paste this onto your poster board!


Activity 5: Now that you have learned more about what a coat of arms is you get to put your knowledge to work. Create a coat of arms for Kevin. Show us what Kevin is about and what he represents. Make sure that you write at least a paragraph explaining what you included and why.  Paste this on your poster board! 

Activity 6: Use Easybib.com to create a Bibliography or Works Cited page.  Paste this on your poster board.

Morquio’s Syndrome

Activity 1: One of the recurring themes from the novel Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, is how people can overcome challenges. Freak, has a physical disability, Morquio’s Syndrome, but lives his life to the fullest. What is Morquio’s Syndrome? Take a look at the following websites and videos and make a list of symptoms and complications for this syndrome. 

Websites
http://www.jacobrandallfoundation.com
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001414/ 
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001206.htm

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piUnCJLActg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XCaJo049Aw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13uWQEvfCjo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ2a2XRyXuo


Paste this on your poster board! 

 

Activity 2: Morquio’s Syndrome eventually stole Kevin’s life. What are the causes of Morquio’s Syndrome? Is there a way to avoid transferring the disease from parent to child? Write at least one well-developed paragraph about your findings. 
http://diseasespictures.com/morquio-syndrome/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001206.htm
Put this on your poster board too!

 


Activity 3: Kevin did his best to overcome the crippling effects of the disease. What types of things did Kevin do to overcome the disease? Why did he do these things? Take a look at this website for children with chronic illnesses and the types of things they do to overcome what they’ve been through. 
http://www.morquio.com/mariasKitchen.htm 
http://www.morquio.com/nancySalzer.htm 
http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/faculty/jfleitas/bandaides/ 
How would you feel if you were in their shoes? Write two-four paragraphs about your findings. The first two paragraphs should be about Kevin and how he overcame his illness. The second paragraphs should be about other children and how they’ve overcome/dealt with their illnesses. Make connections between these children and yourself. You guessed it--paste this on your poster board!

 


Activity 4: Throughout the book, Kevin goes into the medical research building for treatment. What types of treatments are there for children with Morquio’s Syndrome? (MPS IV) How long do the treatments last? Check out these websites for some answers. 
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/morquio-syndrome/overview.html

http://umm.edu/health/medical/ency/articles/morquio-syndrome

http://byebyedoctor.com/morquio-syndrome/

www.chop.edu/.../morquio-syndrome

Make a list of treatments and how long each treatment lasts. Once again, paste this onto your poster board!




Activity 5: At the end of the story, Max is pretty upset Kevin. What types of support systems are out there for families who have children with Morquio’s Syndrome. What types of things do these support systems do? Make a list of support systems and what each support system does. 


http://www.webmd.com/children/morquio-syndrome

http://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/morquio-syndrome/

Paste this on your poster board! 

Activity 6: Use Easybib.com to create a Bibliography or Works Cited page.  Paste this on your poster board.

Learning disabilities 

Activity 1: One of the recurring themes from the novel Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, is how people can overcome challenges. The main character, Max, has a learning disability, but writes his own novel. What exactly is a learning disability? 
http://www.ldanatl.org/
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/learningdis.html#What%20is 
Paste this on your poster board! 

 

Activity 2: Everyone knows it’s wrong to tease another because of his/her race, religion or culture. So, why is it ok to call someone “retarded” or make fun of the way a person moves? Visit the following sites to learn about how some students feel about having a learning disability. 
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/learningdis.html 
http://www.ldonline.org/kidzone/8891 
http://www.ldonline.org/kidzone/15710 
http://www.ldonline.org/kidzone/21883 
http://www.ldonline.org/kidzone/8946 
What did you learn by visiting these web pages? Write two well-developed paragraphs about your findings. The first one should answer the questions at the beginning of the activity, the second one should be a reflection of what you learned. Put this on your poster board too!

 

Activity 3: People with learning disabilities often need some assistance. Explain the different types of learning disabilities and how they affected Max and others in his life. 
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/learningdis.html#What%20are 
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/whatisld/a/whatissld.htm 
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/learningdisabilitybasics/u/TypesofLearningDisabilities.htm 
http://www.ldanatl.org/ 
Write two-three well-developed paragraphs about the different types of learning disabilities. You guessed it--paste this on your poster board!

 

Activity 4: Explain what can be done to compensate for any of these disabilities. 

http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/learning/learning_disabilities.html

https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/treatment/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/questions/ld


How would Max’s life have been different if he had outside intervention? Once again, paste this onto your poster board!

 

Activity 5: Pretend you are a fourth grade teacher teaching your students how to write a short story. What would your directions be for the majority of the class? How would you modify them for a student with a learning disability? Why would you change these parts of the directions? Share both your original lesson and your modified lesson so others can see the modifications. Paste this on your poster board!

Activity 6: Use Easybib.com to create a Bibliography or Works Cited page.  Paste this on your poster board.


Bullying 

Activity 1: Bullying is a major issue that is tackled within this novel. What is your definition of bullying? List four examples of bullying from the novel. List at least four ways that Max and Kevin dealt with bullying. Paste all of this on your poster board!



Activity 2: Go to the following websites on bullying. Tell me in a well-developed paragraph what bullying is, why kids bully others, and signs that you may be a bully. 
http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/bullies.html 
http://www.education.com/reference/article/why-do-kids-bully/ 
Put this on your poster board too!



Activity 3: Freak handled bullies in his own unique way, but not everybody is good at handling bullies. What are the consequences of bullying? Write two well-developed paragraph on the consequences of bullying. Focus the one paragraph on the bully and the other paragraph on the victim. 
http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/

https://www.crisisprevention.com/Blog/April-2012/Bullying-in-School-The-Traumatic-Effects-of-Bullyi

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ752857.pdf

You guessed it--paste this on your poster board!

 

Activity 4:We are all victims of bullying at one point or another. What you can do if you are bullied or if you witness bullying? Go to the following website to find the answers. Tell me at least 10 things you can do to stop bullying. 

http://www.stopbullying.gov/respond/support-kids-involved/

http://girlshealth.gov/bullying/stopping/seeing.html

http://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/information-and-resources/parents-page/tip-sheet-bullying-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/


Once again, paste this onto your poster board!



Activity 5: Now that you have researched bullying, looked at how it affects others, and learned ways to handle it, pretend that you are a Guidance Counselor and create an informational flyer about it. Your flyer needs to contain the following information: 
~~~the definition of bullying
~~~effects of bullying 
~~~ways to handle bullying
~~~at lease three websites with short descriptions on why the sites are worth visiting
~~~appropriate graphics 
Paste this on your poster board! 


Activity 6: Use Easybib.com to create a Bibliography or Works Cited page.  Paste this on your poster board.

Evaluation

 
Evaluation Rubric
  Advanced 4 Proficient 3 Basic 2 Minimal 1 Score
Independent WebQuest Research All areas of the quest were addressed and handled with a high degree of sophistication. The quest demonstrated a great deal of thought. Most areas of the quest were addressed and demonstrated a great deal of thought. Only one area of the quest was addressed with minimum effort in the development of the task. The quest is incomplete and/or it is apparent that little effort went into the development of the task. %25
Connection to Novel Student is able to make a connection between the topic being studied and the novel read. Connection between the novel and the research is apparent and the student points out more than one area within the book that deals with his/her topic. Some connections were made, and they were explained well. A few connections were made, but they were not in depth. There were no connections between the novel and the poster board. %25
Poster board Creation 25% Poster board addressed the issue that was being researched completely. Poster board had headings and results were easy to understand. Poster board was organized in a neat and creative manner. Poster board addressed the issues being researched. It was organized and was easy to read. There were some grammatical errors in usage, spelling, and/or punctuation. Poster board was created. Headings were used, but items were missing. The correct use of spell/grammar check would have been helpful. Poster board was created. There was no organization - papers were just stapled to in in a haphazard manner. Utilizing the grammar/spell check feature would have assisted in clarity. %25
Individual Bibliography All parts of bibliography completed with a great deal of effort. Most of the bibliography completed appropriately. Most sources or bibliography missing. No bibliography completed. %25
Total Score: %100
 

Conclusion

After completing this webquest you should be able to explain what it was like living in Kevin's world. You should be able to explain what chivalry is. You will also be able to create and explain the different parts of a coat of arms. Thirdly, you should be able to explain what Morquio’s Syndrome is. Besides all of these areas, you will be able to understand what students who have learning disabilities deal with on a daily basis. Lastly, your group will investigate bullying, its causes, and ways to stop it from happening.

 

Hopefully you have enjoyed the experience of working collaboratively with your peers and learning from them.