Homes Around The World 
Teacher Page 
A WebQuest for 1st Grade
Designed by 
Stephanie Ashley 
ashleyst@hickory.k12.nc.us 
  Introduction | Learners | Standards | Process | Resources 
Evaluation | Conclusion | Student Page

Introduction 

This lesson was developed as part of the Webquest training that I received during TechTraC +3 

The purpose of this lesson is for students to use the Internet to learn about homes around the world.  The students will enjoy interacting with first grade classes in other countries.  The end result will be a class slide show about different types of homes around the world. 


Learners  

This webquest was designed for 1st grade students and is intended to be a whole group project.  It could easily be adapted for any grade level.  If used with older students, they would be able to complete the quest as an independent project.  


Curriculum Standards  

This webquest addresses the following objectives for the North Carolina Standard Course of Study: 

Social Studies 
2.3  Compare one's own family life with that of a child living in another culture. 

Technology 
2.5  Participate in the creation of a class multimedia sequential/linear story. 

My goal is for the students to gather information from students and teachers in other countries about different types of homes.  Then they will compile that information to make a creative KidPix presentation to show what they have learned.  This webquest will also help the students learn to work together as a team and cooperate. 
 


Process  

The students will go through the following process as a group to complete this webquest. 

  1. With your partner go to Web66 and decide which country you want to learn about.
  2. Choose an elementary school in that country and email a first grade class at that school.  Ask them to send you a picture and some information about a typical home in their country.  You can use this sample message.
  3. Choose at least 2 more schools in that country to email and request the same information.
  4. While you are waiting to receive information from the schools that you emailed, you can visit the International Village to look for information about the homes in the country you chose.  You can use this information on your KidPix slide.
  5. Visit Miyake Elementary School to read about Japanese homes.
  6. Read the following books to find information for your KidPix slide:  Houses, This Is My House, Homes Around the World, and Houses and Homes.
  7. Visit the Homes and Buildings Project to read about what other schools learned about different types of homes.
  8. After you receive a picture of a home from one of the schools that you emailed, work with your partner to design a slide on KidPix about that home.  Explain how that home is different from American homes.  Also describe any similarities.  Also include any information that you learned about how the home is built.
  9. Add the picture of the home to the world map to show its location.
  10. If you do not receive any pictures and information back from the schools that you emailed, use the books listed in the resource section to find a picture of a home in your chosen country.  Then with your partner draw a picture of the home for your KidPix slide.  Then include any information that you can find from the books on your slide.
I introduced this webquest and went through the process with the entire class.  Then I supervised each small group as they chose the 1st grade classes that they wanted to email.  Then came the hard part of waiting for responses to our messages.   

I have included several books which can be used to be gathering some information as the students wait to hear back from their email messages.  There is also the possibility that some of the groups will not get a response back.  So I have included instructions for the students to use the books and draw pictures of the homes to include on their KidPix presentation.  The students can also send out multiple email messages to increase the chance of getting a response. 

This webquest will take several weeks depending on how long it takes to get responses from the other schools. 
 


Resources Needed  
 

Evaluation  

Each student will be evaluated based on participation and how well they cooperate with their group.  I used the following rubric: 
 
Partner's Names
________________________
1 point
2 points
Participation
Partners Participate
Partners cooperate
Thinking Process
Stayed on Task
Able to verbalize what
is learned.
Kid Pix Presentation
Completed presentation
Shows complete understanding
of different types of homes.
 
0-2 Points-Attempted  
3-5 Points-Acceptable  
6 Points-Accomplished  

Partners' Score________  


Conclusion  

This webquest will allow the students to discover the large variety of homes around the world.  Communicating with the students who actually live in these different homes will bring the lesson to life for the students. 

 

Last updated on April 10, 2000. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page