Victoria's+Inquiry+Activity

(1) After you have completed the online activity, describe it. My WebQuest came from the WebQuest Locator: English. Harry Potter WebQuest []

The first part of this WebQuest takes students on a virtual "tour" of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (this link was actually broken, but I've been to sites like this before, as I am a HP fan). The student would then write a paragraph about each 'class' they attended.

Next, students went to "Harrypedia" where they could study up on some characters from the books. This knowledge was used to create a 3D model of a Harry Potter character, which is to demonstrate a deep knowledge of the character's traits and personality. Students were to utilize inferences and context clues in order to really get a feel for the character they were studying.

Finally, students were directed to a website in order to create and act out a news interview with JK Rowling, which they made a video of.

(2a) Identify the specific NYS Standards Standard 1) Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding. (Intermediate)
 *  Use a wide variety of strategies for selecting, organizing and categorizing information.
 *  Produce oral and written reports on topics related to all school subjects
 *  Establish an authoritative stance on the subject and provide references to establish the validity and verifiability of the information presented
 *  Organize information according to an identifiable structure, such as compare/contrast or general to specific •develop information with appropriate supporting material, such as facts, details, illustrative examples or anecdotes, and exclude extraneous material
 * Use the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, and proofreading ( the “writing process”) to produce well-constructed informational texts
 * Use standard English for formal presentation of information, selecting appropriate grammatical constructions and vocabulary, using a variety of sentence structures, and observing the rules of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

Standard 2) Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
 * Analyze, interpret, and evaluate information, ideas, organization, and language from academic and nonacademic texts, such as textbooks, public documents, book and movie reviews, and editorials
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">evaluate their own and others’ work based on a variety of criteria (e.g., logic, clarity, comprehensiveness, conciseness, originality, conventionality) and recognize the varying effectiveness of different approaches.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">understand that within any group there are many different points of view depending on the particular interests and values of the individual, and recognize those differences in perspective in texts and presentations

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(2b) National Education Technology Standards – Use Standards Link from course web page. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">1) Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products & processes using technology. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2) Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> (3) Explain why you think this is a good example of inquiry based learning. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I think this WebQuest is a good example of inquiry based learning for a few reasons. First, when taking the virtual tour of Hogwarts and sitting in on a class, the students are really immersing themselves in the fantasy world of Harry Potter. This is automatically causing them to think past just simply searching for answers to questions. They have to be descriptive and form opinions and scenarios when they write their response paragraphs. The second portion of the WebQuest is the most interesting, I feel. To have students use inference and contextual clues in order to create a physical representation of a person is super interesting and a great assessment tool. Hermione could carry books in order to show that she is studious, Malfoy could have a scowl on his face to demonstrate that he is the 'bad guy', and so on. The final component, the news interview with Rowling, puts students in a potential real life situation. They create the questions and also step into Rowling's shoes in order to answer them. All of these sections create opportunities for deeper learning and thinking.