Assessment: Student Prompts/Teacher Directions
(Benchmark Assignment) Charting the Course: Social Studies WebQuest
1) Choose a specific grade level and strand from the following social studies strands: American History, World History, Civics/Government, Geography, and Economics. Within your selected strand, you will also need to select one particular concept. (To assist, visit the Arizona Department of Education’s Social Studies Standards page at https://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/social-studies-standard/.)
2) Create an essential question that your WebQuest will address. Be sure to include the essential question on the introduction page of your WebQuest. Use the “Essential Questions” resource for details on how to create an essential question
https://iss.gstboces.org/ctice/trainings/webquesting/handouts/EssentialQuestions.pdf.
3) Review Zunal.com to construct your WebQuest. (For examples of completed WebQuests, visit the WebQuest home page at
https://webquest.org/index.php.)
4) Design a five-day WebQuest that could be used to teach and assess one particular concept from the social studies strand you selected. Account for the following lesson plan components:
a) Required resources and materials.
b) Strategies for integrating language arts, where applicable.
c) Strategies for teaching applicable social studies vocabulary.
d) Hands-on learning experiences.
e) A minimum of seven pages designed within the WebQuest website.
f) Differentiated instruction.
5) Write a reflection of 1,000-1,250-words on why you think the WebQuest you have devised represents best practices for teaching social studies and how your mentor teacher’s practices influenced your design.