Using A WebQuest With Kindergarten Students

In A Cross-Grade Language Arts Learning Connection

Designed by

Mrs. Kapper
Jkapper5@yahoo.com

Mrs. Smeiles
jsmilesk@yahoo.com

Mrs. Holloway
lholwayk@yahoo.com

Educators at Field Local Schools

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Proficiency Info

"Please read to me! Tell me that story again, please!" Everyone has a favorite tale to hear or has one to share. What is yours?

Where do you go when you want to hear, see, or experience a story?

As an older student, you can now join forces with a kindergarten student to explore stories through the use of real books, audio, video, online, and other electronic resources as suggested in this WebQuest

With your "Study Buddy," you will use a series of activities to examine a variety of stories. Books tell us many things. You can read factual information, which is non-fiction and pretend, which is fiction. (Goals)

• First you will view books with and without print as you get to know each other.
• Then you will be given the opportunity to explore a variety of other literature formats.
• Next you will be asked to give a print awareness assessment and note what kinds of stories your kindergartner enjoys.
• You will help your little partner to narrow their focus on a few interest areas and to build a story line around them.
• In particular, you will be focusing on developing an original story.
• Ultimately, your final goal will be to help your kindergarten student present their newly created story to their classmates.
• As an option, you can assist your kindergartner to submit their work to a national acclaimed program such Reading Rainbow and The Young Authors Conference.

This "Study Buddy" collaboration will cover a five-week term. The sessions together will be during a period of approximately thirty minutes, up to four times per week. The following activities may need more or less time depending upon the students’ interest and ability.

As the older "Study Buddy" you will:

1. Develop a relationship with your partner by locating and bringing in to school one of your favorite stories that you liked when you were a young child. Read this to your kindergartner and discuss why this book became one of your most special literature choices.
2. Explore some books that have print and some that are wordless picture books. For resources you may use the kindergarten classroom’s library corner books. Visit your local public library to check out children’s books. Ask your school building’s library to see if there is any literature that five or six-year olds might enjoy; and look at home to locate more of your favorite childhood storybooks that can be brought in to share.
3. You will be given a literature survey to use as you question and record your kindergarten student’s interests and comments. This survey will also include a print awareness assessment that will help you discover the letter recognition and reading skill ability of you five or six-year old emergent reader.
4. Make simple booklets of all shapes and sizes. These can be made out of using several papers folded and stapled together. Create novelty styled books by tracing the same large stencil shape for the cover and all pages. Make a zigzag folded form or a pop-up book. Include flaps and moving pages if you like. A suggested reference for this is the Step-By-Step Making Books by Charlotte Stowell; Kingfisher Press, New York; Copyright 1994; ISBN 1 85697 518 5.
5. Finally you will help you kindergartner create an original story line that will be illustrated, by them, and is to be placed in a book format. This book will then be presented and shared with their classmates.

• How might a Dictionary or an Encyclopedia help you during any part of this project?
• Can a cookbook or a manual be good reading?
• What do you know about building a story line? Would creating an outline help first? How can you make the plot flow smoothly for a new reader to stay interested in and to be able to comprehend?
• How might you want to display the final book project? Use a poster? Load it into a HyperCard stack? Place it on video? Have it installed on a web page?
• Do you have access to technology tools outside of the kindergarten classroom that you can use during free time to help you preview and prepare your projects? An example of this might be for you to preview an electronic story on a CDROM or visit a WEB site before using it with your kindergartner?
• Helpful hints.

Not all resources need to be used by all students. Be sure to check each source first to select the best age level appropriate topics. The following are just a few suggestions.

Web resources:

• Check http://www.dictionary.com/ if you do not know the meaning of a word.
• See these simple Children’s On-line books at http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html
• Use the audio version or read some Mother Goose yourself at http://www.ipl.org/youth/StoryHour/goose/
• http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/indexmain.htm#stories could be good place to start reading an electronic story. Scroll down the page to the story The Pig Who Wanted To Fly or click on this address http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/pigfly.htm to go there directly. Another story, on the same web page, It’s Spring might also be enjoyable. Go directly there by clicking the following address: http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/spring.htm
• http://monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/predict.html#chain This site identifies several types of predictable books and gives a short bibliography for each type listed. Choose titles to take to your local library and then borrow them.
• Read this, print only, story of the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams at http://www.writepage.com/velvet.htm and then have your kindergartner illustrate what they imagine the characters and environment might look like.

The Internet Public Library has several children’s favorites at http://www.ipl.org/youth/StoryHour

• Review Author’s Birthday at http://www.thereviewzone.com/arthursbirthday.html
• Review Author’s Computer Adventure at http://www.thereviewzone.com/arthurscomputeradv.html
• Review Bailey’s Book House at http://www.thereviewzone.com/bailey.html
• Review Disney's Animated Story Book: Hercules at http://www.thereviewzone.com/hercules.html
• Review D.W. the Picky Eater at http://www.thereviewzone.com/dwpickyeater.html
• Review Sheila Rae, the Brave at http://www.thereviewzone.com/sheilarae.html
• Review Snoopy's Campfire Stories at http://www.thereviewzone.com/snoopcampstor.html
• Review Stanley's Sticker Stories at http://www.thereviewzone.com/stanley.html

• Trouble for Thomas and Other Stories/Book and Cassette (Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Book and Cassette Series Wilbert Vere Awdry, et al / Audio Cassette / Published 1991
• The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat/Book and Audio Cassette Hardcover / Published 1991
• A Chair for My Mother/Book and Audio Cassette Paperback / Published 1992
• Ants and the Grasshopper/Big Book Bags (Includes Audio Cassette, Companion Books and Lesson Plans)
• Hop Like a Bunny! Waddle Like a Duck!/Audio Cassette and Book (Golden Song Book 'N' Tape)
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer/Book and Audio Cassette (Golden Story Book 'N' Tape)
• Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck/Book and Audio Cassette Beatrix Potter

These can be purchased online at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/quicksearch-query/002-5229166-7498641 Amazon or at most any other bookstore. Check for these at your local library.

• Richard Scarry's Best Silly Stories and Songs Video Ever!
• Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories - Feature-Length Edition
• Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends - Cranky Bugs and Other Thomas Stories
• Reading Rainbow - Rumplestiltskin/Snowy Day Stories and Poems ~ Pbs Home Video

HyperStudio:

• Get the free player at http://www.hyperstudio.com/resource/hsplayers/players.html

• The New York Public Library recommends these wonderful children’s books at http://www.nypl.org/branch/kids/gloria.html that will get you started at your local library. Maybe you have many of these in your personal home collection?

Miscellaneous:

• Discover how to present your literature questions to gear the student’s thinking to respond more effectively to Proficiency Test questioning. See Field Local Schools’ Superintendent Timm Mackley’s information that was presented to the elementary teachers who were interested in improving their teaching methods. 
• Would you like to use puppetry to tell a story? Check this web site for more information http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/using/index.html and http://www.muppets.com/ to see the famous Jim Henson’s puppetry.
• Check your local performing arts organizations for children’s theater productions.
• See Helpful Hints for additional considerations.

This WebQuest will be evaluated according to the following criteria. You will evaluate you project with your "Study Buddy" as follows:

• See http://rubistar.4teachers.org/  for suggestions on how to set up your own kind of Rubric.
• Write a short reflective summary that includes your thoughts, suggestions, reactions, and what you feel you accomplished with your "Study Buddy" as this term has ended.

In summary, it is hoped that you will realize stories and other forms of literature can be looked at, listened to, or be experienced in many ways. These stories are presented in a variety of perspectives, in first person, second person, etc.

Both "Study Buddies" should realize how important reading is for pleasure and for information acquisition.

Hopefully you will have a new appreciation of literature and especially how it can affect a five and six-year old emerging reader. You will also have learned more about the construction of books in hard copy formats and how literature is displayed electronically such as the many ways it is presented on the Internet.

Credits and References

• As the older "Study Buddy" you should keep your own written records of the sources you use. This information should include books, music, pictures, and text that were used with the kindergarten student. Also record when and how you used these resources. This log will become an important document showing the reading adventures that were experienced.
• Be sure to thank any people who have helped you.
• We thank Maria Mastromatteo, Educational Technology Consultant for PBS 45 & 49.

The clip art included in this WebQuest project presentation can be found at or near this web site: http://webclipart.about.com/internet/webclipart/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.geocities.com/awilson57/clipart/booklrg/booklrg.htm