How do you feel about the internet? Does it scare you? Do you wish you could move around easier? Do you feel like you are in the dark when you try to surf? Do you want to include the internet into your curriculum but you don't quite know how to do it? If you answered "yes" to any one of these questions then this is the spot for you. Your mission is to become familiar and comfortable with the world wide web. The first mission will begin with a tutorial on the internet. By the fourth mission you will be able to integrate the wonderful world of web technologies into your classroom curriculum by writing a lesson plan using what you have learned. All this in four easy missions! Using the internet was never so easy!

Your task is to complete four missions. You will work with a partner assuming the roles of a learner and an educator. The role of the learner will look for interesting, stimulating and fun to use web sites. The educator role will look for web sites that are curriculum driven and educationally sound. These roles will help you evaluate educational web sites as you go through the missions. During these missions you will learn the basics of using the internet, learn how to use search engines and learn how to evaluate an educational web site. By the end of the missions you will put together a lesson plan incorporating an educational web site you found that corresponds to a third grade, social studies strand of the Clark County School District's Curriculum Essentials Framework.

As you work on Mission 2 you are asked to evaluate educational web sites using a rubric. This rubric is a wonderful resource that guides you through the evaluation process. Print the rubric to get a hard copy.

Mission 4 requires you to create a lesson plan integrating a web site you find on the internet that corresponds to a strand in the CEF. Here is a lesson plan rubric for you to use if you choose. This is optional and only for your information.
 

Here is a table of all the links used in this WebQuest.

Discovery Channel Schools	Global Schoolhouse	Internet 101	A Beginners Guide to the Internet	Kathy Schrocks Guide
Collaborative Lesson Archive	Webpage Evaluation	Lesson Plan Rubric	Ed's Oasis	List of Search Engines

Here are some off-line resources taken directly from Kathy Schrocks Guide to the Internet. (http://www.discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/books.html)

Classroom Integration and Training

  Barrett, Daniel J. NetResearch : Finding Information Online. O'Reilly, 1997.
       A book that teaches general strategies and search techniques for finding all types of
       information on the Internet. Lots of tips and tricks about the process of searching.

  Cromwell, Sharon. My First Book About the Internet. Troll, 1997.
       A book aimed at students in grades 2 and 3 which gives a simple, but comprehensive
       overview of the Internet and Internet access. Includes a glossary.

  Maran, Elizabeth. More Windows 95 Simplified. IDG, 1996.
       An easy-to-follow, "cute" introduction to Windows 95 that is useful for trainers and
       teachers before beginning to teach the Windows95 operating system.

  Offutt, Elizabeth Rhodes and Charles R. Offut. Internet Without Fear! : Practical Tips
       and Activities. Good Apple, 1996.
       Hundreds of Internet activities and lessons for grades K-6 are included, as well as an
       Internet glossary and descriptions of the techie things a teacher needs to know before he
       or she begins.

  Polly, Jean Armour. Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages (3rd ed). Osborne
       McGraw-Hill, 1998.
       A book of over 3400 Web sites for everyone, chosen by a librarian! There are also
       "Don't Miss" hotlists for teachers, parents, kids who love sports, and many others. The
       best part about this book is that the URLs are checked regularly, and any updates are
       posted to the author's Web page.

  Roerden, Laura Parker. NetLessons : Web-Based Projects for Your Classroom.
       O'Reilly, 1997.
       This book includes over 70 lessons that tap the power of the Internet for classroom use.
       The lessons meet the goals of standard curriculum and also contain extension activities for
       further instruction.

  Serim, Fermi and Melissa Koch. NetLearning : Why Teachers Use the Internet. O'Reilly, 1996.
       A general overview (culled from hundreds of case studies) of the Internet tools from an
       educator's perspective. It offers advice and tips on how to go about using the Net to your
       best advantage.

  Shenk, David. Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut. Harper, 1997.
       Another must-read for those of us responsible for teaching students how to handle the
       huge amount of information that they will encounter in their lives. Some good material for
       thought here.

  Skomars, Nancy. Educating With the Internet . 2d. ed. Charles River, 1999.
       This basic book includes an overview of computers, the use of the computer in the
       classroom, many lessons for incorporation of technology into the curriculum, and a list of
       sites to support each of the major subject areas.

  Welling, Kimberly. Internet Explorations: Activities and Concepts. Computer Literacy
       Press, 1998.
       A perfect self-paced workbook or classroom textbook for students in grades 5-8. This
       book contains an introduction and in-depth explanations and activities for the major areas
       of the Internet. There are 18 chapters covering all the main topics, and 20 Cyber-Outings
       to allow students to practice their searching and evaluation skills.

Mission 1	Mission 2
Mission 3	Mission 4

 

Each mission has an assignment attached to it. You are required to follow the directions and complete each assignment as specified. The following rubric shows you the points of each assignment.
 
 

Missions	Assignments	Points Possible	Points Earned
Mission 1	Compare and contrast previous knowledge about the internet with new knowledged gained about the internet after completing the internet tutorial. Participate in group discussion with class.	20 points
Mission 2	Use Web Site Evaluation rubric to evaluate 3 educational web sites. E-mail the title of your favorite web site, the evaluation composite score, target grade level and curriculum connection.	20 points
Mission 3	Use 4 search engines to find educational web sites corresponding to the CEF, grade 3 social studies. Take notes in Notepad about your thoughts on the search engines you use. Bookmark your favorite sites. Show the instructor your bookmark list.	20 points
Mission 4	Create a lesson plan using one of the web sites found that corresponds to the CEF. Save the plan on a floppy disk, paste the plan in an email to me, use the plan with your class and share the student projects in another email to be included on this site.	60 points

Mission Accomplished!!

Hopefully, you will walk away from this webquest feeling comfortable using the internet and integrating the internet into your curriculum. This can be done with more than just social studies. It can be completed in any core area. Remember, once you get the hang of it your planning won't take as long either! You'll be a pro in no time!

If you have any comments or suggestions let me know. If you would like to see examples of student work from the lesson plans created by the teachers using this webquest send me examples of the student work and I will post them on this site in the future.