Black History Month Webquest

This past Friday, I knew I HAD to keep the students engaged...it was our first full week of school without any snow days, it was Valentine's Day and did I mention it was Friday?!  A last minute idea formed and suddenly, I knew the students should complete a Black History Month WebQuest.  I had already gathered websites beforehand (to help the 3rd gr with their black hero research) and bookmarked them on my Only2Clicks, which you can view here.  *There are more sites than on the webquest because I wanted them to browse this page during centers week.

Typically, I've created WebQuests that are made completely online where you ask students to visit a site, they read the content, and answer questions or explore topics by following links all in one place.  This time, students in grades 3-5 are introduced to this concept via a worksheet I created to visit the bookmarking site and follow links to answer questions or view videos.  They were directed to learn more about the Harlem Renaissance, children's book authors and illustrators, influential sports figures (website works best on Google Chrome), inventors, and a choose your own path version of the Underground Railroad.  

My students have to get used to the idea of navigating several websites to find answers to questions. After their interest in this activity, I've decided to begin brainstorming more WebQuests.  I think one of the next ones I create will involve the skill of gathering information on the same topic from several forms of visual media online--text, video, and picture (ala Common Core).

I'm working on a modified version of the sheet I'm sharing with you so that 2nd graders can complete the webquest, too.  

Image courtesy of supakitmod/freedigitalphotos.net