True Explorers!

The goal of this WebQuest is to allow students to work directly with primary
resources to make their own discoveries.



This webquest is intended for fourth and fifth grade students who are learning about primary sources. When students have the opportunity to be a part of the research for their learning, they enjoy it a lot more! This WebQuest allows students to find, discover, and analyze primary sources of their choice. At the end, the students can share what they have found with the class. To personalize this WebQuest, consider having your students search for a subject-specific primary source such as "Primary sources from the American Revolution". This will still allow them to complete the WebQuest, but will limit their search range to be relevant to your topic.

Have fun!!

Standards

Technology Standard 3: Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize,
and ethically use information from a variety of
sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital
tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks

Social Studies State Standard 5.2: Students trace the routes of early explorers and describe the early exploration of the Americas.
2. Explain the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of the explorers, sponsors, and
leaders of key European expeditions and the reasons Europeans chose to explore and
colonize the world (e.g., the Spanish Reconquista, the Protestant Reformation, the
Counter Reformation).

Credits

I would like to thank Professor Hijar for inspiring me to give primary resources a chance. Without her course, I would not have an appreciation for primary resources that I would like to share with my students.

Other

Teaching Process Suggestions:
To introduce this webquest, open up with a question: How do we know what happened in the past?
Possible answers/guided answers: Stories, newspapers, someone wrote it down, etc.
Lead the students through a discussion on primary resources. Consider writing the term �Primary Resources� on a bulletin board to add an extension to this webquest. As an introductory lesson, work with different kinds of resources to discover if they are primary or secondary. Which is better? Why?
This discussion will be necessary before completing the webquest. Once students are familiarized with primary documents, they can open the webquest. Initially, this is an individual project but it opens up to a group project at the end of the webquest. If your students are not allowed to keep online journals (blogs), consider allowing them to make their own explorers journal out of construction paper and lined paper. (These could ultimately be displayed on the primary resources bulletin board!)

Resources Needed:
Computers or iPads will be necessary for this webquest.
Students will also need log-in information for an online blog.
Teachers should be the monitor for the online blog and will also need an account.
Depending on which group activity the students choose, other resources such as iMovie, projectors, or various non-electronic supplies may be necessary.