Creating Your Own

New World Colony

A WebQuest for 5th Grade Social Studies
Designed by
KaSi Turner
turner39@nsuok.edu

Introduction

Greetings! Congratulations on your decision to sail across the pond to

discover a New World! Your team has been chosen to create the colony when
you arrive and all of the different details that that involves. You will be
responsible for designing your government, including governing documents,
resources for trade, and types of currency. This is your New World, it can be
run in whatever manner you would like to have it run. How will you make
sure that your colony succeeds?

The Task

Once your team has created their colony, each team member will write a
reflection including the government description (documents, resources,
currency, etc.), the team as a whole will present either a PowerPoint or a
Prezi including all of the details of their colony to the class. They will all be
expected to speak during the presentation. The presentation must include
the following information:

 Name of Colony
Location of Colony
Form of Government
Governing Documents
Resources for Trade
Types of Currency
Each Team Members contribution to the colony
These things need to be included in both the Reflection as well as the
presentation.

The Process

1. Your team is assigned by the teacher, each team will include 5 students.
2. Each team will create a name for their colony and decide its location.
3. Each team will go to the following site and decide which form of
government they would like their colony to run under.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/forms-government
4. Each team will use the following document as a kind of template for their
own colonys governing documents. The students will be in charge of editing
the documents to fulfill their own colonys agenda.
http://www.ulm.edu/staffsenate/documents/roberts-rules-of-order.pdf
5. Based upon where the students decide to locate their colonies, they will
be responsible for finding what resources are found in that area (resource
map is below) and how they will perform and maintain trade within their
colony.
http://www.slideshare.net/ClaireJames5/map-lesson-65026659
6. Students will research different types of currency throughout the world.
They can either use someone elses form of currency or they can create their
own.
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/currency.htm
7. Students will then put together a PowerPoint or Prezi that expresses all of
this information. As well as writing a reflection that expresses what each
student, individually, learned from this experience.
I will be available to answer questions about anything that might come up. I
will offer constructive criticism to anyone who asks for it.

Evaluation
This is the rubric for the presentation portion. This will be an 40 points of individual grade and
20 points of group grade.
CATEGORY

Highly Effective 8Highly Ineffective 010

Effective 5-7 Ineffective 2-4 1

Content Accuracy

All content throughout

the presentation is
accurate. There are no
factual errors.

Most of the
content is
accurate but
there is one piece
of information that
might be
inaccurate.

The content is
generally accurate,
but one piece of
information is
clearly flawed or
inaccurate.

Text - Font
Choice &
Formatting

Font formats (e.g.,

color, bold, italic) have
been carefully planned
to enhance readability
and content.

Font formats
have been
carefully planned
to enhance
readability.

Font formatting has Font formatting makes it

been carefully
very difficult to read the
planned to
material.
complement the
content. It may be
a little hard to read.

Content is typically
confusing or contains
more than one factual
error.

Sequencing of Information is organized Most information Some information There is no clear plan for
in a clear, logical way. It is organized in a is logically
the organization of
Information
is easy to anticipate the
type of material that
might be on the next
card.

clear, logical way.

One card or item
of information
seems out of
place.

sequenced. An
information.
occasional card or
item of information
seems out of
place.

Effectiveness:
Group Portion
(10 points)

Project includes all

material needed to gain
a comfortable
understanding of the
topic. It is a highly
effective study guide.

Project includes
most material
needed to gain a
comfortable
understanding of
the material but is
lacking one or
two key elements.
It is an adequate
study guide.

Project is missing
more than two key
elements. It would
make an
incomplete study
guide.

Project is lacking several

key elements and has
inaccuracies that make it
a poor study guide.

Cooperation:
Group Portion
ONLY

Group delegates tasks

and shares
responsibility effectively
all of the time.

Group delegates
tasks and shares
responsibility
effectively most of
the time.

Group delegates
tasks and shares
responsibility
effectively some of
the time.

Group often is not

effective in delegating
tasks and/or sharing
responsibility.

Total Points: 60 points

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have officially settled a colony! You have had the
opportunity to not only create a colony but create a government with
governing documents, trade resources, and currency! You all contributed to
the settlement in your own way and learned the importance of teamwork!
Its important to remember that its okay to ask for help and that we cannot
do it all on our own. Your colony wasnt built in a day and you didnt build it
on your own!

Teacher Section
Standards
List your standards here:
Standard 3: The student will examine the growth and development of colonial America.
1. Describe early European settlements in colonial America (e.g., Jamestown, Plymouth
Plantations, Massachusetts Bay, and New Amsterdam), and identify reasons people came
to the Americas (e.g., economic opportunity, slavery, escape from religious persecution,
military adventure, and release from prison).
Standard 7: The student will review and strengthen geographic skills.
3. Analyze the physical characteristics of historical places in various regions and the role
they played (e.g., Jamestown for the English, St. Augustine for the Spanish, New Orleans
for the French, and the Cherokee lands in the Carolinas and Georgia) by using a variety
of visual materials and data sources at different scales (e.g., photographs, satellite and
shuttle images, pictures, tables, charts, topographic and historical maps, and primary
documents).
Standard 3: Group Interaction - The student will use effective communication strategies in pairs
and small group context.
1. Show respect and consideration for others in verbal and physical communication.
2. Demonstrate thinking skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. For example,
students are expected to gather information, organize and analyze it, and generate a
written or oral report that conveys ideas clearly and relates to the background and interest
of the audience.
Standard 1: Writing Process. The student will use the writing process to write coherently.
2. Understand and demonstrate familiartiy with the writing process and format (beginning,
middle, and ending) and structure of main idea, exposition, body, and conclusion).

3. Use common organizational structures for providing information in writing, such as

chronological/sequential order, cause and effect, or similarity and difference, and posing
and answering questions.
Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to
construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for
themselves and others.
3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other
resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a
variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate
to their goals.
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences.
Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving
and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
1b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that
support the learning process.
Adjustments/Adaptations
Modifications I will make for students identified as IEP, 504, and ELL, is dependent upon each
of the individual students. IEP and 504 students will have their own specialized plans that I will
follow with the help of the special education teacher. For ELL students, I will allow them to
work with students that are fluent in both languages to help students understand and be able to
better participate in the work. These modifications will improve student progress by giving them
the opportunities to succeed in the world around them.
Strategies to Meet Students Learning Styles
Auditory and Visual Learners will benefit from the PowerPoint/Prezi
presentations that the students will give to the class. Tactile Learners will
benefit from being able to use their fine motor skills on the computer
researching information. Kinesthetic Learners will benefit from being able to
present and stand at the front of the room.
Resources and Materials
The students will need access to a computer with PowerPoint or with a Prezi
account, which requires an email and internet access. The student should be
able to complete this on their own, without help from a teacher

Credits & References

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/socialstudies/scos/organizers/k12-social.pdf

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/forms-government
http://www.slideshare.net/ClaireJames5/map-lesson-65026659
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/currency.htm

Last updated on July 31, 2012. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page

Adapted by Northeastern State University course instructors for Technology in Education Jan. 7, 2009 for Competency #4 of the COE ePortfolio.