This is a WebQuest for students in grades 3-5, especially students who are still learning to communicate with the English language. This WebQuest allows students to create their ‘dream room’ with free online floor plan software, as well as share their creations with an oral presentation. There are no curriculum standards included with this WebQuest, however there are many curricular alignments to the Common Core State Standards addressing content in reading, speaking & listening, and language. A rubric is also included to evaluate student work and participation. In the conclusion section, there are also options for extension activities.
This WebQuest utilizes a variety of strategies to teach content about houses, rooms, furniture, and prepositions. Since there is a large emphasis on vocabulary, this WebQuest uses quite a bit of inductive learning by exposing students to specific words and examples which will then later be used for an assignment. In addition, this WebQuest helps students learn about vocabulary through scaffolding by modeling, listening, and repeating audio and video clips. The narrator says a word or sentence, and the student is expected to repeat. There are also interactive flashcards that allow the student to explore the vocabulary on their own. In addition, there is more vocabulary practice offered through interactive online games such as matching, word search, and hangman. All of these activities prepare students to apply what they have learned and memorized to produce writing. Allowing for collaboration, students write sentences together with a partner about their favorite room. After they have had time to work with a partner, students produce sentences on their own, and then orally present their writing. These strategies can be effective for learning vocabulary, however context is missing from many of these activities. Learning vocabulary words in isolation is not ideal, but students are at least able to apply what they know to their writing.
To teach the concepts in this WebQuest, many different kinds of technological tools are made available to students. There are a few audio clips, even some that allow students to record their own voice and listen to the playback. There are also many video clips that provide audio and visual stimulation to students. One video also reinforces spelling by writing the words out as the letters are named. Students are also able to play interactive vocabulary games, as well as use online floor plan software to design their favorite room. I believe, however, that this lesson could be completed without the use of technology. Students could practice the vocabulary with flashcards and play a memory game with their own cards. In addition, students could just draw their favorite room on paper instead of online. For this WebQuest, technology is an ‘add-on’ instead of a transformative tool.
The WebQuest is complete with all links currently functional. There are no visible flaws or missing images. The material appears to be up to date. Beyond listing the links, there are no credits or sources included.
This WebQuest could be improved in a number of ways. First, I think it is vital that curriculum standards are included. I would like to include Common Core State Standards for reading, speaking & listening, and language. The content is present but is not currently matched to standards. I also noticed that several links for videos include the British pronunciation for words. This will be confusing for my students who are still learning English. It would be more appropriate to find resources that use American English for my students. As is, I probably will not use this resource in my classroom, but after some tweaking I think this could be a fun and meaningful project for my students.
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