Saturday, April 26, 2014
The quest for the best webquest...
When I was little I LOVED this show on PBS called "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego." It was a kids game show that was basically all geography mixed in with a little bit of trivia. The goal was to find Carmen. She wasn't just anywhere in America though. She was always in another part of the world that I, as a small child, had sometimes never even heard of. The kids had to find her by answering trivia questions for the first rounds. Once they discovered which country she was in the final challenge was to be able to identify different areas of that country on a large map. Once they got a certain number of areas correct they found Carmen and won. The show was amazing to me. How did these kids just a little older than me know all this information about countries that I haven't even heard of?! How could they identify the capitals of these countries by looking at a blank map? These kids were geniuses!! They probably began studying geography at a young age. But how? I barely knew where Illinois was on the map- how could I learn more? Were there geography books made for little kids? The answer is YES!! I discovered a webquest that is perfect for little kids based on a story called Flat Stanley. The webquest is designed for students in the 2nd grade. Flat Stanley is a character who has been flattened and can be folded to travel easily. This webquest is great because it teaches little kids to identify places on all seven continents. They also will research these places to find out why Flat Stanley would want to travel there. I thought this webquest was just the best because it taught kids about how big the world is and gives them the opportunity to discover new and exciting places! If I had this webquest when I was 7 I would definitely be applying to be the next contestant on "Carmen San Diego!!" Check it out for yourself! http://questgarden.com/88/51/0/110206182314/index.htm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I remember watching Carmen San Diego as a kid too. That was such a fun show! Flat Stanley is a neat concept for kids. I have a (much) younger brother. Our school district does a Flat Stanley unit in second grade. At the time I had a good friend who was teaching English in Japan so we were able to send his to Japan. Not only was it great for my brother's class, but it was fun for the Japanese kids too. They were really amused by the whole thing. Things like Flat Stanley and Carmen San Diego are so much fun for kids that they don't even realize how much they are learning.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about the WebQuest that you posted that was particularly interesting to me was the section on Antarctica. The questions really got kids thinking about how Antarctica is different from all of the other continents. This WebQuest was very well done.
I too remember Carmen San Diego! Wasn't there a space version too? Lynn Thigpen was the Chief(?)...
ReplyDeleteI really like this webquest. I love geography. I agree with Megan that it is so much fun the kids don't even realize how much they're learning. This could easily be adapted to other grades and even more directed purposes. In some ways Pat's Disney vacation webquest is at one of the spectrum (one place) and this one is at the other end (all 7 continents). They are both geography webquests just with different agendas and outcomes.
I like the color scheme of the pages - catchy without being garish. I thought the plan seemed well suited for 2nd graders. It occurs to me that Flat Stanely could be used in the future as a learning tool and companion for the the class that completes this webquest.