Victorian Life and Amusement
WebQuest
A
Technology-based Lesson for 12th Grade (English IV-ENGL 2323)
Teacher
Page
Designed
by
Karin
Dalton
South San Antonio ISD
kdalton@southsanisd.net
Introduction | Learners | Standards | Task | Implementation | Resources
| Evaluation | Conclusion |
Credits |Student Page
A South
San Antonio ISD teacher as part of the Region 20 Education Center’s TIFTech
WebQuest training developed this lesson. In researching various aspects of
Victorian culture, students will be able to recreate the environment of
Victorian England.
Students examine a number
of areas of Victorian life and then create both a research paper and a group
project to design a Victorian Theme park.
This lesson covers English IV for high school
seniors who are enrolled in Dual Credit English in connection with a local
Junior College. TEKS covered will
include Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking as well as Viewing and
Representing. While the lesson is specifically designed for students working at
a very high level, it could easily be
modified for general English classes or for History or Humanities classes by
adding very specific task questions for each cultural aspect, or by spending
time brainstorming with students about the kinds of questions they should be
asking.
Students in this class have already read
extensively many works by Victorian authors and have had some background in
Victorian history, though the links provided can provide basic background. Students should already be familiar with
good research skills and should be able to document both on-line and off-line
sources in their research papers. Experience working with groups will also be
helpful, as every member of the class is responsible to every other member.
The teacher should be familiar with some the web
sites suggested and should know how to document sources on and off line. Teachers should check frequently on the
progress of the groups and allow much class time for preparation by the
students.
I.
Students will apply higher order thinking skills by finding practical ways
to use the historical information they have researched.
II.
The Student will
address all the writing TEKS, especially writing for research.
III.
The student will
address many of the reading TEKS, including building vocabulary, reading a
variety of materials, connecting material to culture and connect personal
experience to literature and reading materials.
IV.
The student will
engage in discussions and practice listening skills.
V.
The student create
and examine visual representations of information.
Task
Students will write a 3-page research paper on the aspect of Victorian life that each explored. This
should be well written and well documented.
Various sites are suggested, but students must also explore and use
off-line resources (a minimum of 5) and document them as well. The second task
is to prepare a presentation for the
Disney representatives on the Victorian theme park. The park must be named, be given a flag, a
slogan, and contain at least four distinct thematic areas. One of the sub-tasks
of the group will be to determine the theme focus of each area. Each area must have its own name, flag,
attractions, rides, food court and menu.
Students might also want to have a jingle or theme song for each area.
In addition,
the park will have a visitor’s center/museum that will be a “time capsule” of
Victorian England. The museum should be
arranged logically to allow visitors to really learn about Victorian life. The
research papers may help create the displays offered to the public. A gift
shop with appropriately tacky souvenirs
must be included in the visitor’s center.
Each member of the class will have an active role in the
presentation. The presentation should
include a map of the park, a map of each area, a map of the visitor’s
center/museum.
The lesson involves one class of twelve (12),
though can easily be adapted for larger and smaller classes and for multiple
classes. Classes are 47 minutes meeting daily.
The research portion of the class should take 7 to 10 days with students
who are familiar with writing a research paper and used to doing research on
the web. Allow 4-7 days for research, 3-4 days for writing, with much of the
writing done outside of class. The creation of the theme park should take
another 10-12 days, (1-2 days general organization, 3-5 days working in area
groups, 2-4 days creating the final products, and 1-2 days for the
presentation).
·
Days 1-4: Individual research
·
Days 5-7: Preparing the research paper
·
Days 8 & 9: Whole class organization of groups and theme park
areas, discussion of responsibilities
·
Days 10-14: Groups create areas, coordinate with other groups as
necessary.
·
Days 15-18: Whole class creates final product, practices
presentation
·
Days 19-20: Presentation of Theme park
Once the research papers have been submitted (students should keep a copy for their use), as a class they will decide how to divide the class into four groups. They may decide that all groups do not need to be the same size, even though this class would divide evenly into four groups of three.
The
timeline allows for a good deal of flexibility after the research paper has
been submitted, adjust as necessary for your class. If students have too much
time at a stage, speed them on to the next.
Keep them focused on their tasks by frequently monitoring their
progress. Make sure that all students
are spending time on the basic sites.
In some classes, you may want to assess with a few questions or a quiz.
Your school’s librarian will be a welcome partner
in this project, as students will need to use library resources for further
research.
Student papers should reflect a high level of
thinking, reading, writing and researching skills. The products in the presentation should be imaginative and make
good use of the researched material. It
should be apparent that students have worked closely together and have been
invested in the project. Group
cooperation as well as solving problems which arise in creation and
implementation will also be important.
This lesson will help students become more aware of
the influences of the Victorians which have lasted into the Twenty First
Century.
Cpj2.gif.
[Online Image] Available: <A REF="http://www.victorians.net/clipart.shtml">Victorian
Clipart</a>, March 21, 2002.
Jpangels.gif [Online Image] Available:<AREF="http://www.victorians.net/clipart.shtml">
Victorian
Clipart</a>, March 21, 2002.
Some ideas borrowed
from a Web quest by Mark Woon, http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/madams/the_task.htm, March 21, 2002.
Last updated on March 22, 2002
by Karin Dalton. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page.