Process

As stated in the introduction, this WebQuest will take about two weeks to complete. It may be shorter if a lot of time is devoted to it each day. On the other hand, it can be made to be a long, ongoing project if you choose to work on it only occasionally. This is for you to decide.

Students will be assigned to a group of four for this project. If completed by the entire class, divide students equally into groups of four. It is recommended that you, as the teacher, assign these groups as this often causes problems for students at this age. When assigning groups, make sure to keep in mind the strengths and weaknesses of your students. Some things you don’t want to do are putting all leaders in one group together, putting all introverted students in one group together, or dividing students into groups by putting them with their closest friends. Also, try to mix the gender of the groups.

As the teacher, you have the option of having only one group of students in your class use this WebQuest or having many the entire class use it in separate groups. If you choose to have many groups do this activity, they can evaluate each other's board games as part of their group grade. If you decide to do this, use the Evaluation Form (PDF).

The actual worksheets and Kidspiration graphic organizers are in a PDF format (Acrobat Reader) and may take a second or two to download. They each open in a new browser window to make printing easier. They will open up, just tell students to be patient!!

This activity may be implemented during center time. One teacher should be able to implement it.

Students may also complete this WebQuest in stages - completing a portion of each step once a week during center time. This recently worked in a third grade classroom. Students completed step one under the process during their center time. It took each student 15 - 20 minutes to complete. This activity cannot be completed in one day!!

There are some other possible variations. Step 3 in the process discusses sharing the information with your group as a way to demonstrate your abilities as a griot. This should be done in all cases. However, you can choose to have different groups of students in your class doing different WebQuests. For example, if you only have one group using this WebQuest on Mali, then they should demonstrate their skills as a griot by also sharing the information with the entire class. Following this presentation, students can take turns playing the game created by the one group who used this WebQuest.

The Student Process page contains the detailed directions that students will follow for this WebQuest.