Teacher Information Page

Introduction | Learners | Standards | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusions

Introduction

This lesson was developed as part of the Warrensburg, Missouri School District's WebQuest Academy project, a State funded Competitive Technology Grant.

This is a social studies project designed to teach students about the 7 continents and give an overview of the countries of the world. We will focus on information such as major landforms, climate and weather, gathering some facts of choice, and map skills. This project requires students to gather information, organize it, do an oral presentation, and do a written presentation. It contains both cooperative learning features and individual responsibilities.

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 Learners

This lesson is part of the second grade social studies and communication arts curriculum, but it could easily be expanded for use at higher grade levels.

It is necessary for students to have knowledge of landforms and map directional skills before starting this project. Each group will need to have at least one good reader.

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Curriculum Standards

Missouri Show-Me-Standards Addressed include:

Social Studies Standards

• the major elements of geographical study and analysis (such as location, place, movement, regions) and their relationships to changes in society and environment
  

Communication Arts Standards

• speaking and writing standard English (including grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling and capitalization)
• participating in formal and informal presentations and discussions of issues and ideas

Goal 1

• use technological tools and other resources to locate, select, and organize information

Goal 2

• plan and make written, oral, and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences

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Process

The students will:
1.Locate their assigned continent on the world map. Locate, color, and label the continent on their paper map.

2. Read about their assigned continent and look for information about major landforms. Make notes on those landforms. Make notes on 2 other interesting facts about their continent.

3. Prepare and practice what they want to tell the class about their continent. They need to show the class where it is located and tell about what landforms they found. Then tell the other interesting facts that they learned.

4. Be assigned alphabet letters. They need to find a country for their assigned letters. They will locate the country on the world map and label it. They need to research these 3 questions on their country.
*the continent it is on
*the climate or weather
*a fact of your choice
*draw a picture of the flag of your country

5. Prepare their page for the ABC book. They will use the facts from their research and write a paragraph about their country. When this is finished they give it to the teacher to type. When they get the typed copy back, they need to add a picture of the country's flag in the space.

6. Prepare to tell the class about your country. They need to show the class where their country is located on the world map and tell them the facts they learned.

7. Give their presentations for our class.

This is an integrated social studies and language arts project. The WebQuest and resulting projects will take several class sessions, perhaps two weeks. Because this is an integrated unit, both social studies and language arts/writing time will be used for the completion of the projects. Time will also have to be allotted for the oral presentations.

Students will be divided into 7 groups for the WebQuest. Each group will contain at least 1 student who is an especially capable reader. This project will be carried out in the Ridge View computer lab where we have 6 internet capable computers. The seventh group will work in the classroom at the computer there.

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Resources Needed

• Blank world maps of continents
• Blank world political maps
• Classroom copies of student atlases
• Access to 7 internet capable computers
• Word processing capabilities
• Students need note taking supplies
• Classroom wall map of the world

This lesson can be done with one teacher; however, it would be much easier if there was a teacher aide or parent volunteer available to help.

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Evaluation

Participation in this Webquest will result in 3 grades:

1. An individual grade will be given on the map test. All students will be given a blank world map and asked to label the 7 continents.

2. Individual grades will given for the completion of the ABC Countries of the World pages. This will include the oral presentation to the class.

3. A group grade will be given for the continent reports.

ABC Countries of the World	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Written report contains a minimum of 3 facts: 1. continent 2. climate or weather 3. a fact of your choice	Uses only 1 fact	Uses only 2 facts	Uses 3 facts	Uses more than 3 facts
Report contains a picture of the flag	Picture messy, inaccurate, and lacks color.	Picture neat, accurate, but lacks color.	Picture neat, accurate, and colorful.	Picture neat, accurate, and colorful. Picture contains something beyond the requirements.
Class presentation	Is not prepared. Fails to present information. Does not locate country on the map.	Is somewhat prepared. Presents some required information. Locates country on world map.	Is well prepared. Presents all required information smoothly and is easy to understand. Locates country on world map.	Is well prepared and presents all required information. Presentation is smooth and easy to understand. Locates country on the world map. Presentation contains something extra beyond the required elements.

Continent Oral Group Report	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
	Shows location on the world map. Is lacking required information on land forms. Lacks 2 other facts. Everyone does not participate.	Shows location on the world map. Is lacking some information. Everyone does not participate.	Shows location on world map. Tells about 2 major landforms. Tells 2 other facts. Presentation is well prepared. Everyone participates.	Shows location on the world map. Presents all necessary information and includes more. Everyone participates in a well prepared manner.

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Conclusion

This is an integrated project that combines social studies, language arts, and technology. The Missouri Show -Me knowledge standards as well as performance standards are addressed. Warrensburg RVI social studies and communication arts curriculum standards are also addressed.

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