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By Courtney Carver
Analysis
Learner Analysis
This WebQuest was designed for 1st grade students at a STEM Certified
Elementary school. Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science is
a Title I school, with 67% of their student population receiving free and/or
reduced meals. Students in first grade at MTA are 5 7 years old and
have reading scores on the Developmental Reading Assessment that range
between a level A and a level 28. Out of the 107 students enrolled in 1st
grade at MTA, 12% of these students receive ESOL services, 4% are
identified as Gifted, and 3% receive special education services. Every
classroom at MTA is equipped with a 1:1 ratio of Google Chromebooks.
Classroom teachers at MTA are expected to use a blended learning
philosophy in their classrooms to have students utilizing devices daily.
MTA is also a STEM school, so students are very familiar with project-
based learning and utilizing the Engineering Design Process to solve
problems creatively.
Context Analysis
Task Analysis
Learning Objectives
Essential Questions:
What are the four resources a plant needs to survive and
thrive?
What happens if a plant does not have access to these 4
resources?
How does technology help me to solve a problem?
How does the design step of the EDP help me solve a
problem?
Dispositional Objectives:
How does working in a group help support my learning?
How does working with a group help improve my ability to
solve a problem?
Design
Overview
Details
The Plant Packaging WebQuest was designed with a mutual interdependence
component. Students will take on a role and complete their research
independently, but their success on the task depends on the research of all their
other task members. This ensures that every students participation is critical.
The final scoring rubric is based on each individual students understanding of the
standards. The teacher has the option to have students complete the design and
construction of the packages individually or in teams. If students construct their
packages in teams, the teacher should call up students independently to ask
students to articulate their mastery of the standards. The teacher may prefer to
have students work in teams due to lack of materials, or because she wants
students to work on collaboration skills.
The multi-media elements included in this WebQuest are designed to support
student learning and mastery of the standards. I have included a personally
created video on the introduction and conclusion pages. I included a digital book
on the process pages, as well as audio links that read the flash card text. Finally, I
embedded videos on the process pages to engage students in the research process.
This WebQuest was designed for equal access by learners at all entry levels.
Although the resources on each role page look similar, the depth of vocabulary
knowledge for each resource is different. The resources may be the same, but the
facts the student are looking and listening for vary in depth of skill. When
considering grouping and roles for individual students, the roles are differentiated
and the following students were kept in mind when planning for each role based on
the skills needed to understand the concept: Water - Teir III or IV students, Light -
ESOL students, Nutrients - Tier I or II students, Air - Gifted/Advanced students. The
resources for the roles above were created with those students in mind, but they don't
have to be exclusively used by those students. All roles can be accessed by all
students. Some students may need more support for research gathering, such as
providing them with a graphic organizer. The product for the WebQuest is naturally
differentiated, as each group or individual will come up with their own plan and
design for their plant package.
This WebQuest also adheres to the principles of Universal Design. I made sure to
provide multiple means of representation by including various ways to gather
information including text, audio, and video. I made sure to include closed caption
and a transcript with my videos for students with sensory disabilities. I also included
a link to Read Naturally on the home page for students with learning disabilities to
have all the text on the WebQuest read aloud to them. I made sure that all my
important images included alternate text for any students who may use a program to
read the webpage for them. I also made sure to provide multiple mans of action and
expression on the rubric by including the ability for student to show mastery verbally
as well as on their paper. This project lends itself to multiple means of expression
since the students are coming up with the final product on their own. There are very
limited constraints on their final design, only asking that it meet the four needs of the
plant. Students are able to choose the materials, size, shape, etc. Finally, I made sure
to provide multiple means of engagement by allowing the flexibility for students to
work individually or in groups and still be able to show mastery.
Development
The development of this WebQuest required that I learn a couple of new skills. I
spent time attempting to locate a digital book that gave me right to embed on my
website, with no luck. I then came across a website called StoryJumper where I
could create my own digital books. I spent a couple of hours on this site learning
how to navigate the site and creating my own digital book. I was then able to
embed this book onto my WebQuest for my students to access. Although this was
time I wasnt planning on spending, it was very valuable time that taught me a
new skill that I can use for future lessons, as well as use with my students.
I spent over 10 hours developing this WebQuest. The majority of my time was
spent upfront in the planning process. I spent a large amount of time looking for
resources as well. I wanted to make sure that each resource was valuable for my
students learning before putting it on my site. I have created websites in Weebly
before, so I was comfortable with the platform, and this made the technical part of
creating the WebQuest go much quicker.
Implementation
This project is designed with implementation flexibility. Ideally, this would be
implemented in a classroom with 1:1 devices for all students, but could also be
completed in small group rotations, as well as whole group using a projection
system. If 1:1 devices are not available, use of a computer lab or mobile laptop
cart would be the most effective implementation of this WebQuest. This would
allow the teacher to rotate around the room as a facilitator while these young
students worked.
The teacher can allow students to choose groups of four, place them in groups of
four. The teacher can allow students to choose roles, or you can assign them roles
based on the differentiation embedded in the roles. The final scoring rubric is
based on each individual students understanding of the standards. The teacher
has the option to have students complete the design and construction of the
packages individually or in teams. If students construct their packages in teams,
she should call up students independently to ask students to articulate their
mastery of the standards. The teacher may prefer to have students work in teams
due to lack of materials, or because she want students to work on collaboration
skills. This WebQuest can be even more authentic by bringing in (or going on a
field trip) a local plant expert to help students with research, give them feedback
on their package designs, and/or assess the final packages for accuracy. (ie.
Master Gardeners, local nursery, retired high school/college biology teacher, etc.)
A teacher should plan to spend 4 5 days of science instructional time to allow
students the opportunity to complete the full engineering design process. To
shorten the amount of class time needed to complete this project, the teacher
could ask students to build their plant packages at home with their parents. They
could return them to school for the testing phase, and then complete the improve
phase at home. This would also allow the parents to be partners in the
engineering design process.
It is very important that all students, at all entry levels, have access to the Internet
to complete this assignment. This may involve bringing in assistive technologies
such as screen magnifiers, headphones, and/or adaptive mouse for students with
disabilities. This also might mean utilizing the support teachers to preview
vocabulary for students with learning or language barriers. It would also be
beneficial to collaborate with support teachers in creating graphic organizers for
students who need support gathering their research.
Evaluation
Student Learning
For Others From this experience, I would suggest to other teachers who
want to complete a similar project, Dont be scared! Jump in! Many
teachers may feel intimidated trying to tackle creating an entire WebQuest
on their own. Finding support people is crucial, whether it is someone to
help with the technical parts, or the instructional parts. Yes, this is a time
consuming process that requires some technical skills, but what you will
learn along the way will be so valuable throughout your teaching experience.
We need to make sure we, as teachers, are stepping into the world of new
technologies and teaching our students where they are most comfortable. It
is time that we start teaching our children for their future, not ours!