Notes to the Teacher:

• It is very important to have read and be familiar with the book on which this WebQuest is based:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

• This integrated unit  utilizes Bernie Dodge's Model for WebQuest.    It also integrates many activities reflecting best practice in teaching at the time of writing.  It is an integrated unit, designed to provide extensions and enrichment  - differentiated learning - through the use of Technology at the Point of Instruction.  

• This WebQuest  employs differentiation through the use of many statistically significant and powerful (effect size .50 to 1.87) teaching practices and strategies.  Some of the most  powerful  strategies embedded in this WebQuest are: 

  • utilizing choice in activities according to Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory

  • goal specification-learning contracts

  • utilizing heuristics - procedural knowledge

  • utilizing explicit instruction - declarative knowledge

  • activation of prior knowledge

  • classification

  •  journaling

  • double entry journaling

  • reflective learning

  • 4 contextual engaged learning strategies:

    •  transfer

    • relating

    • experiencing

    •  applying

  • information organization

  •  comparing and contrasting

  • utilizing new/challenging vocabulary in context

  • providing specific teacher feedback, 

  •  metacognition - student reflection

  • metacognitive problem solving

  • utilizing graphic organizers

  • providing a variety of activities at all different levels of Bloom's Taxonomy

  • inquiry

  • problem solving - logic

  • reorganizing data - making a graph or chart

  • authentic assessment

  • specific feedback on strategy use

  • computer manipulation of concrete representations and artifacts 

• The teacher need not be an expert using Microsoft Office Tools to utilize this WebQuest with students, but a minimal  familiarity is recommended so that the teacher will be a source of ideas and guidance when students run into the technical challenges they will often encounter. 

• This WebQuest assumes access to Microsoft Office Tools, specifically,  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and if possible, FrontPage.  Because this  unit is explicitly  designed to familiarize students with Microsoft Office Tools through the utilization of Technology at the Point of Instruction, it will not work as designed if utilized without Microsoft Office Tools. 

• Before students begin, the teacher will need to go  through the WebQuest and click on each hyperlink at every computer terminal students will be using.  This will be necessary as there are a number of perfectly safe and free programs that will need to be downloaded (such as QuickTime, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Real One Player, etc.)  When you  click on a link that requires a program your computer will need to have, easy prompts will guide you through the installation.  These programs are simple  to download and install, but check with your Media Specialist to see exactly how this should be done in your school.

Outcomes and Desired Results

The Student Will:

 1.  Gain a working knowledge, comprehension, and application of select vocabulary from the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

2.  Gain a basic working  familiarity of Microsoft Office Applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and possibly  FrontPage.

3.  Compose and present  original writing using different pictures, games, activities, and make-believe situations inspired by the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

4.  Apply Technology at the Point of Instruction to prepare an Electronic Portfolio or Scrapbook to serve as a record of understanding and learning throughout the WebQuest.  

5.  Finish all activities in a reasonable time frame.

6.  Participate in Metacognition though reflection and self-evaluation at intervals throughout the WebQuest.

7.  Follow  school and district Acceptable Use Policy  regarding safe and responsible Internet and computer usage.

8.  Provide his/her teacher with a signed parental permission form before starting on the WebQuest.

The Teacher Will:

1.  Provide the hardware and software to ensure student success.

2.  Provide guidance, coaching, and specific feedback to the student at intervals throughout the project and as needed.  (Need may  be determined by either student or teacher.)

3.  Provide outside resources for students such as digital cameras, video cameras, in-focus projectors, and possibly web-publishing capability.

4.  Provide accessibility to and supervision of computer and Internet resources. 

5.  Provide a final evaluation of  student progress at intervals and at the conclusion of the project.