1. Rationale– Through this webquest, which meets the NJCCCS 6.1.4.A.13, students will learn about the immigration process to become a United States citizen through three activities that puts them in the shoes of immigrant children
3.Modifications/Accommodations/Adaptations (ACEI 3.2)
Mild Disability: ADHD- This student has a trouble of focusing on one thing for a long period time and is easily distracted by background noise. To accommodate these needs, this student will be able to wear headphones to cancel out any noise that is distracting.
Moderate Disability: Hearing Impaired- This student is not completely deaf but needs to wear hearing aids so he is able to hear clearly. He cannot hear low noises very well so to accommodate this, he will be able to wear headphones to be able to hear sound from the computer.
Severe Disability: Autism- Student is in the inclusive classroom during social studies and has a paraprofessional with him at all times. The student is not very social so doing the interview during task 2 will be very difficult for him, with that said, the paraprofessional will interview the student. He will also only have to get 4 out of 10 questions right.
ELL- This student may be able to give a firsthand experience about immigration so during task 3, instead of reading two stories, he will only have to read one and compare and contrast the experience to his own experience of traveling to America.
Gifted & Talented- Student is on a 6th grade level. During task 3, student will be required to read 3 different stories and compare and contrast the three in a different venn diagram. During task 2, the student will also be able to take different American history quizzes and has to get 8 out of 10 of the questions correct.
4. Notes for teaching the unit
There are worksheets for every task. For task 1, I went through the Ellis Island Virtual Tour and made the questions myself based on the websites. The questions can be altered depending on the grade level and the level of the students. An average 4th grader could be able to answer these questions if they refer to the websites. For task 2, I referred to the actual U.S. immigration website that has practice tests and picked out questions to use. There are a variety of questions that can be used. Teachers should refer to the Social Studies curriculum and textbook to see which topics are covered so the students are able to answer questions. Students can able refer to trade books to get supplemental information about American History. Most computers have some type of recording program on them, but students can also use iPads or tape recorders to record themselves during the For task 3, I created the Venn Diagram but any type of graphic organizer that compares two topics. I wanted to incorporate some type of art project into the webquest but students can also make a PowerPoint, smart board presentation, or a verbal presentation. Task 3 can be done is so many different ways. Student should be grouped in at least groups of 4 because for task 2 each student needs to have a partner. Any student who requires modifications and accommodations should be placed in groups where they can be scaffolded and included fairly into the group.
5. Trade books related to the topic---
“We the People”- Illustrator and foreword David Catrow
“Here’s to You, America”- Charles M. Schultz
“First Facts About U.S. History”- David C. King
6. Other resources ---
Student Handouts. (2013). U.S. Citizenship Practice Tests. Retrieved from http://www.studenthandouts.com/01WebPages/New%20Folder%20(3)/INS-United-States-USA Immigration-Free-Naturalization-Citizenship-Practice-
Test-Questions.html. This website has a lot of different U.S. citizenship practice tests besides just multiple choice tests. These tests can be used as games and extra time activities. There are word searches, hand man games, crosswords, and a majority of other activities.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2013). Naturalization self-test 1. In Study Materials for the Civics Test. Retrieved from http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/quiz/learners/study-test/study materials-civics-test/naturalization-self-test-1/take. This website is the U.S. citizenship and immigration services website and the actual place where immigrants come to take practice tests. The questions are a little challenging so I was not sure if 4th grade students would understand the questions but I referred to this website when I was making the questions for the practice test.
7. Role/training of paraprofessional(s) during the WebQuest process ---
The paraprofessional will be available to provide assistance with any questions the students may have instead of asking the teacher. The paraprofessional will also provide assistance to the student with autism because that student is going to the need the most assistance navigating the websites and moving through the task. The paraprofessional will interview the student with autism because that student is comfortable with the paraprofessional and tends to socialize with them more than the other students.
8. Ways to inform and include parents in this WebQuest process – i.e. WebQuest showcase, WebQuest workshop, etc. (ACEI 5.2)
1. The immigration posters that the students make during task 3 will be displayed up in the classroom. The students are going to be able to present the posters.
2. Parents will receive a newsletter about what a WebQuest is and the different tasks that the students did during the WebQuest. After the worksheets are graded, they will be sent home with each child so parents are able to view the work.
9. Ways to share with professional colleagues (ACEI 5.2)
I could share this webquest with professional colleagues because it is great for all grades and can definitely be modified for higher or lower grades than the target grade of 4th grade. Since one task of this webquest is comparing stories of immigrants, students could meet with immigrant students or colleagues who may have immigrated to America. This gets students talking to each other and interacting with students who they may not have had a chance to. It may be effective to collaborate with other colleagues to create future webquests and have two classes come together to work on different task. Since this online, it would not require for students to physically get together but instead to work together over the internet. I would share this webquest or collaborate with other professional colleagues.
10. Ways to become involved in professional development to enhance your teaching of your WebQuest content area (ACEI 5.1)---how will you continue your professional development in learning about the subject of your webquest, as well as learning about classroom technology?
Immigration is such a popular topic in America because it can be very controversial and it is also very prominent in today’s schools because so many students are first or second generation immigrants. That being said, it is important for students to learn about the history of immigration and some of the processes immigrants have to go through to become citizens of the United States. I can be involved in professional development to enhance the teaching of my Coming to America WebQuest by providing the url for all teachers in the school so they can see what a 4th grade class is doing and so then they can modify it for their own students. I could present the webquest during a faculty meeting or have more than one class do the webquest and see how effective the webquest is. There are also many trade books both literature and informational texts about immigration for teachers and students to refer to both while doing and after the webquest. These books can help support any information the students learn about immigration or write the same information in a different way so it is easier to understand. WebQuests are part of classroom technology which is so important in this day of age so I want to be able to incorporate these into my classrooms. I will collaborate and work with other teachers who use webquests to learn more about how to effectively incorporate them into my classroom.
Standards
2.
NJCCCS 6.1.4.A.13-Describe the process by which immigrants become United States citizens.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.5-Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.6-Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9-Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1f Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-ons.
Credits
11. References used to create WebQuest Project including ALL websites (use APA format)
The Dirksen Congressional Center. (2008). What does it take to becomes a u.s. citizen? In Congress for Kids. Retrieved from http://www.congressforkids.net/citizenship_1_whatdoesittake.htm.
Eyeball Interactive Learning Solutions. (2013). All 96 citizenship test questions. In Citizenship Study Guide. Retrieved from http://www.citizenshipstudyguide.com/member/citizenship-testquestions-quiz.php.
iCivics. (2013). Immigration introduction: why u.s.?. In iCivics. Retrieved fromhttp://www.icivics.org/web-quests/immigration.
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. (2013). The stories of u.s. immigrants in their own words. In My Immigration Story. Retrieved from http://www.myimmigrationstory.com/default.htm.
National Geographic. (2013). United states of america. In National Geographic for Kids. Retrieved from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/united-states-of-america/.
Scholastic Inc. (2013). Interactive tour of ellis island. In Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/IMMIGRATION/tour/index.htm.
Scholastic Inc. (2013). Meet young immigrants. In Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/ACTIVITIES/IMMIGRATION/young_immigrants/.
Statue of liberty flash tour (2013). In Statue of Liberty. Retrieved from http://www.statueofliberty.net/flash/solflashtour_v2.html.
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. (2010). Ellis island-history. In The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Retrieved from http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp.
Student Handouts. (2013). United states immigration citizenship test questions- batch 1. In U.S. Citizenship Practice Tests. Retrieved from http://www.studenthandouts.com/01-WebPages/New%20Folder%20(3)/Batch-01-MC-INS-United-States-Immigration-Citizenship-Practice Test-Questions-Multiple-Choice.html
Television’s Independent Voice. (2012, March 20). Educational Video for Teachers, Educators, Instructors, School Districts: Paperwords. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LllQMQyts0w.
U.S. Chronicle. (2012, October 5). The Great American Melting Pot: Schoolhouse Rock. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aYnNrTnXhk.
