West Virginia Knowledge & Tourist Regions WebQuest

Contains following the PDF’s:

WV WebQuest: 39 pages

Brainstorming Worksheet: 1 page

Group Rules: 1 page

Jobs: 1 page

Letter: 3 pages

Rubric: 1 page

WebQuest Checklist: 1 page

West Virginia Quiz: 4 pages

West Virginia Tourist Regions Investigation: 2 pages

WV Fact Worksheets: 9 pages

WV Map: 1 page

Grades 1-8, but can be adapted to fit other grade levels

Social Studies and English Language Arts

Time Frame: 7-12 days (30-40 minute sessions)

Introduction:

A new student is coming to your class next month!

When you go someplace new it is nice to learn about it beforehand. Help the new student learn about where they are moving to before they arrive. You will be creating a West Virginia tourist booklet to help them learn about West Virginia and write the new classmate a letter before they arrive.

Over the next 2 weeks, you will be researching facts about West Virginia and investigating the tourist regions in our state.

You will be broken down into 9 groups and assigned specific West Virginia facts to research and a tourist region to investigate. Within your groups, you will choose jobs to help you create your booklet pages. Once the class has finished creating their booklet pages we will be presenting them to the class.

A checklist will be provided for you to keep track of your progress.

And finally, you will write a letter to the new student and share some of the information you learned on this quest.

Learners:
Since this WebQuest is geared towards 1st- 3rd grade there is a possible gap in reading abilities.
Students will need to be able to read and write.
Students will need to know how to move a mouse, click on a link and return to the former page.
The students will have the links provided for them to use, but discussion about safe internet practices would be beneficial.

Materials Needed:
Worksheets
Computer access
Ability to access YouTube (Many of the links are on YouTube)
Paper for booklet pages
Art materials: crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, markers etc…..

Some Essential Questions Addressed in Worksheets: 

What are the state animals?
What are some celebrations/ festivals in West Virginia?
Who are some famous West Virginians and why?
Who is the governor of West Virginia?
Where is your home county/town located on a West Virginia map?
What states border West Virginia?
What holidays were created in West Virginia?
What are some of the state symbols?
What are the 9 Tourist Regions?
What counties make up your tourist region?
What makes your tourist region unique?
What is something interesting about your tourist region?

Some Possible Essential Questions To Be Asked During Presentation: 

What is your favorite thing to do or place to visit in West Virginia? Why?
Do you live in the best region in West Virginia? Why?
Where else in the state would you like to live? Why?
What do the tourist regions have in common?
What is different about the tourist regions?
Why do you think someone would move to West Virginia?

Process:
Students will follow a checklist.
Students will be taking a pre-test on West Virginia knowledge prior to starting the WebQuest, then they will be assigned to one of nine groups. Each group will have a West Virginia fact topic to research and a tourist region to investigate. Each group is as follows:

Group 1: State Animals + (Eastern Panhandle Tourist Region)
Group 2: History & Bordering States + (Mountain Lakes Tourist Region)
Group 3: Famous West Virginians + (New River – Greenbrier Valley Tourist Region)
Group 4: Governor + (Hatfield-McCoy Mountains Tourist Region)
Group 5: Your county & town + (Potomac Highlands Tourist Region)
Group 6: Celebrations & Holidays + (Mid-Ohio Valley Tourist Region)
Group 7: State Seal, Moto, Flag + (Northern Panhandle Tourist Region)
Group 8: State Capitol + (Metro Valley Tourist Region)
Group 9: State Songs + (Mountaineer Country)

Within each group, the students will be assigned a job: editor, chief reporter, head artist, brainstorm manager, or reporter. The students will work together to answer questions on their worksheets for their specific group. Once they have answered the questions on the worksheets they will create booklet pages. Each student will create two booklet pages: a West Virginia fact page and a tourist region page. The students will present their pages to the class. After the presentations, students will take the post-test on West Virginia knowledge. The WebQuest will conclude with a letter written to a student that is moving to West Virginia.

Standards

English & Language Arts and Social Studies Grade 1
ELA.1.26 Participate in shared research and writing.
SS.1.24 Locate students’ hometown and county on a West Virginia Map

English & Language Arts and Social Studies Grade 2
ELA.2.26 Participate in shared research and writing.
SS.2.17 identify state symbols, celebrations, holidays, famous West Virginians, and the governor of West Virginia

English & Language Arts and Social Studies Grade 3
ELA.3.26 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge on a topic
SS.3.25 Investigate the nine tourist regions of West Virginia