The Australian Authors-what do you know? WebQuest
by rosemary thomas
Introduction ·
Question ·
Background Info ·
Individual Roles ·
Group Process
Rubric ·
Conclusion ·
Teacher's Guide
Introduction ·
Question ·
Background Info ·
Individual Roles ·
Group Process
Rubric ·
Conclusion ·
Teacher's Guide
Introduction
You're going to use the Web for learning. And grabbing someone else's ideas without giving them a close look is worse than silly. Think for yourself and be proud of what you produce.
As a group you're going to explore the topic of Australian Authors-what do you know? Each member of your team will become an expert on one Australian author of your choice. Then you'll have to come back together to put your efforts together to complete the next step, which is a set of 10 'Who am I?' questions for the local radio station. We want you to do a good job, so why not read the evaluation rubric for this WebQuest before you start to see what you need to do and include for marking?
The Question
The main question you will be asked to find an answer for is:
How does the work of individual Australian authors differ?
Background Information
Australian children's authors are on the forefront of writing for children,not only in Australia but all over the world. In your research about your author consider why you enjoy your author's work and why this author's work would be so popular overseas.
Individual Roles
You need to have a team of 2, one of each sex. Split your team now and pair up with another person of the same sex and interest in the same author. This way team members can become experts on different aspects of the question and then come together to poll their learning. This is where team work pays off. So now you have a partner of the same sex and interest in the same author put your heads together and work on to answer the questions asked. Remember to take notes in Microsoft Word and list your sources,as you go, as these are part of your assessment.
female student
Use the links below to learn more about your chosen author. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:
1)Who is your author?
2) What style of book does your author write?
3) Has your author won any awards for his/her writing?
4)Can you give a brief biography of your chosen author?
5) Why do you like their work so much?
6) Why do you think their work is so popular with children?
- Ozlit for children
- Australian authors and Illustrators
- Allen and Unwin author list
- Alphabet links to authors
- Alphabetical list of Penguin authors
- alphabetical list of Scholastic authors
- alphabetical list of author profiles
- authors and Illustrators on the web.
- Australian Authors, directory
- A school site for Australian authors
- Australian authors for teenagers
- South Australian authors and illustrators
male student
Use the links below to learn more about your chosen author. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:
1)Who is your author?
2) What style of book does your author write?
3) Has your author won any awards for his/her writing?
4)Can you give a brief biography of your chosen author?
5) Why do you like their work so much?
6) Why do you think their work is so popular with children?
- Pan McMillan author sites
- Australian authors for young people
- Ozlit for children
- Australian authors and Illustrators
- Allen and Unwin author list
- Alphabet links to authors
- Pan McMillan author sites
- Alphabetical list of Penguin authors
- alphabetical list of Scholastic authors
- alphabetical list of author profiles
- authors and illustrators on the web
- Australian Authors, directory
Group Synthesis
Congratulations! Your team is now full of expertise. Each person on your team has become an expert on one Australian author. You've all gathered a lot of information. But guess what, gathering useful information isn't the same as truly understanding a topic. What experts in the field of learning suggest is that you now use that information in a new and challenging way. Then you'll really know about this topic.
So with your original team member use your new knowledge to produce a set of 10 questions for a 'Who am I?' segment on the morning segment of the local radio station. Remember the audience tries to guess the answer so that they can win a prize. The radio station doesn't want easy questions. Think about your author's life, achievements, novels and characters when composing your questions. All work must be on A4 paper and typed for easy reading. Your answer should be written neatly on the back of your sheet. You have 4 weeks to finish this work.
writers' homepages
Real World Feedback:
Conclusion
You deserve a lot of praise for all the work you've done, and so does your brain. You gained background information, developed expertise on one particular author and his/her work and debated and presented some impressive work to share with others. Why not expand your world and read work from another author presented by your classmates.
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created by rosemary thomas email: rosemary.thomas@ainslie.act.edu.au http://web-and-flow.com/members/rthomas/aussieauthors/webquest.htm |