Teacher Page
Overview of the Webquest Introduction: This webquest features award winning author, Margie Palatini's book, The Three Silly Billies. The primary purpose of using children's literature is for the child to develop a love for reading. As with any book, The Three Silly Billies, should first be read for enjoyment before attemping the activities based on the book. Students should be allowed the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, and simply enjoy the story. The tasks provided for students in this WebQuest facilitate reading comprehension skills. Students will be asked to learn vocabulary terms that are found within the book, explore predictions about the book using items found in the book box, as well as complete a literature web. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their own opinions about the main character Troll using a polar opposites chart. Students will be performing tasks that help them understand Troll's way of thinking. Content Areas: This multidisciplinary WebQuest includes the following content areas: reading, and math. It is directed toward middle elementary. Extension Activities:
Objectives (Kentucky Curriculum Standards): Mathematics MA-E-1.1.1 Whole numbers (0 to 100,000,000), fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals through thousandths. MA-E-1.3.1 How fractions, decimals, and whole numbers (0 to 100,000,000), fractions, mized numbers, and decimals through thousandths relate (equivalence, order). Reading RD-E-4.0.6 Locate and apply information for authentic purposes. RD-E-1.0.8 Describe characters, plot, setting, and problem/solution of a passage. Implementation Overview: Students will work in groups of 4 as book explorers. There are various tasks that the students will need to divide up among themselves for the activities, although teachers may find it better to assign task based on each child's needs to be successful. Students will need time to collect data from websites, respond to the data response formats, and to prepare presentations for their classmates. This unit can be extended by examining other topics of interest to students using The Three Silly Billies as a springboard. Some students may need extra support in doing this WebQuest. Teachers need to prepare students for the format of a WebQuest and for working together cooperatively. A nice modeling technique might be to take one of the options on the student page and do it together as a whole group activity. Many of the lessons include activity pages that need to be printed out. I would recommend printing these out ahead of time, and making enough copies for your students. You will find a list of the pages in the student evaluation section. Special Resources Needed:
Entry Level Skills and Knowledge: Students will need to be able to read and write, however there are alternative materials, such as a dictionary and thesaurus, built into this WebQuest that allow for various ability levels. For very young children, an adult will need to be assigned to each group to facilitate reading and writing. Evaluation: A self evaluation guide will be used to allow students to self-assess and for the teacher assessment. Teachers may also want to use the Scoring Guide specifically designed to evaluate students performance in group work associated with doing a WebQuest. Student Handouts for each Task: Click on each activity to view. Task 1: Stoplight Vocabulary, Visualing Vocabulary, Word Search Task 2: Book Box or Anticipation Guide Task 3: Literature Map or Character Map Task 4: Polar Opposites or Literary Report Card Conclusion: This unit is an interdisciplinary (reading, writing, math) constructionist approach to learning. Students participate in group work, experience the internet, make predictions, learn to read critically and synthesize information, compare relationships among characters of the book, and write to communicate. This WebQuest could easily be adjusted for younger or older students, and teachers can adapt the activities to students' individual needs. Credits: Special thanks to the following resources:
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