WebQuest

This week, I was asked to do something I had never done before! I actually had never even heard of a WebQuest! I was really dreading the unknown here! Now my WebQuest is complete, and I am very glad I was required to once again step out of my box! WebQuests could be very useful in a classroom. WebQuests require higher order thinking, and they get students out of the textbooks and using technology! I love to see students learning using resources other than just their textbooks.
I just got hired as an AmeriCorps worker through EKU at Monticello Elementary. I will be working with 4th grade students who are at low reading levels. I am not certain what else my job entails, but I wanted to create a WebQuest designed for this grade level. So, I spoke with a 4th grade teacher I will be collaborating with. One thing she suggested would be a WebQuest on Kentucky, since 4th grade is when students start learning the most about their state. I was looking through the textbook and saw the different regions of Kentucky section. Although I have lived in Kentucky all my life, I really don't know much about the other regions of Kentucky. I know your basics...what each region is known most for, etc... However, as an adult living in Kentucky for almost 30 years, I should really know more about my state. I'm sure I learned about Kentucky as a young student, but it apparently did not leave much of an impact! I believe a WebQuest encouraging students to learn about the regions in Kentucky, compile a Power Point Presentation and presenting it to the class would make more of an impact than reading about regions in our book. I hear students often complain they are so bored! There is nothing to do in Monticello! That is how I came up with my task: Students were to research the different regions, and then convince their parents to move to another region. Of course, their parents would need a job, so it had to be a region their parents would be able to move to. The students were to write a persuasive letter to their parents convincing them to move. Or, hopefully the students learned more about the region they lived in and decided to stay where they were. The title of my WebQuest is "Is the grass "bluer" on the other side?" I chose bluer instead of greener because of Kentucky being called the bluegrass state. The URL for my WebQuest is http://questgarden.com/107/99/1/100807174644/