What's a WebQuest???

What's A WebQuest? Good question! I didn't know what one was until taking a class for college this semester where I had to create one. A WebQuest is a collaborative active inquiry into a subject online. My WebQuest was created to help Kindergarten children learn about changes in the spring. The end task was to have the children create a mural with the changes they had found in their "research". It satisfied the objective, given pictures of changes in the spring (C), Kindergarten children (A) will be able to explain what change is happening (B) with 85% accuracy (D). " Des Moines Elementary Science, Grade Kindergarten.", in my unit on spring. A teacher creates links, uses gadgets, which can be videos, and non computer resources for children to explore. This interactive type of learning helps fosters active inquiry and collaboration. Children get to be their own teachers after you set this up for them.

Its very easy to get started with a Webquest! First you must set up a google site. From there it's easy! Look at these other WebQuests for more ideas. I found Cathy Nolan's "Art Exhibit" WebQuest to be simple to use and very informative for students. She used the same basic set up as mine even though it was designed for 6-9 grade art students. She even encourages her students to explore more on the topic outside of the WebQuest. Click here if you want to see my Webquest for Kindergarten children.

Kidspiration - Tool to Teach?

This kidspiration was created to help kindergarten students arrange pictures of a growing flower in order. It helps my objective, given four pictures of different stages of flower growth (C), Kindergarten children (A) will be able to arrange them in order (B) with 85% accuracy (D). “ Des Moines Elementary Math , Grade Kindergarten”, for my thematic unit, spring. It labels what happens in each stage of growth. The childrens job is to move the pictures to have the words reflect the picture. It is a very simple interactive tool to use to support interaction in the classroom and also a great way for children to seek out information and learn stages of a flower. This is a great teaching tool but it does require a lot of teacher prep. In the end, the children love to manipulate the pictures so it was worth all the work put into it.

There are some kidspiration projects already done for you to use, which will help with teachers time restraints. One I found easy to use for children was Seasons: Winter and Spring. It is an activity where children can work together to sort pictures of the spring and winter. You will have to have Kidspiration software on your computer to download and use them. There is a 30 day trial period for Kidspiration if you want to try it out. It is a program for children K-5th Grade. Kidspiration is also a program that children can work with to create a project. It has many helpful tools for children such as, a dictionary, and lots of picture. The program was also designed to read the toolbars for the students who can not read yet.