Explore Sicily
A
Web Quest for My 5th Grade Students
By
Joyce Brickley
DoDEA Standards - Introduction
– Task
Definition - Process – Researching
Roles - Group Synthesis – Evaluation
- Rubric -Conclusion
Social Studies
Social studies
programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and
cultural diversity, so that the learner can:
Describe similarities and differences between cultures
Social studies
programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global
connections and interdependence, so that the learner can:
Explain how language, art, music, literature, belief systems, and other
cultural elements can both connect people and cause misunderstanding
-Students use media,
technology and human resources as learning and communication tools
-Students understand the ethical use of technology and use
available technology to research and produce products that are accurately
documented.
-Use a variety of skills, strategies and technology to
gather, retrieve, record and communicate information
-Use communication and group process skills to collaborate, process ideas, evaluate work and develop quality products with others
Only
through knowledge do we gain understanding and appreciation
When new students move to Sicily they
need to know what a fantastic country they are in.
It is a country full of beauty in its land and people, rich in history,
diverse land formations and coast, a wide variety of delicious food, temperate
climate, and rich cultural costumes and experiences. They have truly moved to a land of adventure.
Sadly enough, many of our students don’t leave the housing areas to
explore and appreciate this incredible opportunity.
They feel very threatened and intimidated by this new land that they had
to move to. They resent being away
from America and are very unhappy here. There
must be something we can do to help our classmates and their families discover
and appreciate the land of adventure and beauty that Sicily provides for them.
When
new students first arrive we need to present them with a challenge to get out
and enjoy Sicily. It needs to be done in a presentation form that can be viewed
by the student and their family during the registration process.
There are many possibilities as to how we could accomplish this goal.
Some suggestions are a scrapbook, web page, power point presentation, a “big
book”, a brochure, or perhaps a poster collection.
These are just suggestions. Creative
original products are always appreciated.
What is special
about Sicily?
Why is it important
that Americans overseas get out and learn about the people and culture of their
host nation?
How does traveling
and exploring Sicily improve their stay here?
What can we learn
from the Sicilians?
How can we entice
new students and their families to travel and explore Sicily?
Your rubric
for evaluation is designed around your answering these questions.
Starting the task….
Before you can share knowledge, you must have the knowledge to share.
There is a certain amount of general knowledge that everyone needs to know about Sicily so that you attack this project with a passion. First, create a list of what you already know about Sicily and what it offers us. Then create a second list of things you don’t know and feel you should before you can create an enticing product. Everyone should review the following sites about Sicily and take notes on what would be helpful information in producing your final product.
Great
site for overall information about Sicily and the Sicilian people containing many
informative links.
http://www.mi.cnr.it/WOI/deagosti/regions/sicilia.html
Windows
on Sicily is with subtitles, geographical positions, natural environment,
population and economy, maps, tourism, and links to all major towns in Sicily.
Very informative.
http://www.emmeti.it/Arte/Sicilia/index.uk.html
Great
site for informing and enticing new people to get out and explore our beautiful
Sicily. The title of the site is
the Museums of Sicily, but interesting enough, that is a minor portion of the
information provided.
Personal
Contacts
Consider questioning
the following people for information
- The school’s Host
Nation Teachers
-Personnel from the base
ITT Travel office that arrange trips in Sicily
-People in Tourist
Offices in the Towns you might visit
-Americans that have been
living and traveling in Sicily for a long time
-Local Sicilian people that you can communicate with
Literature
-Tour guide books
-Library resource books
Visual
Resources
-Joyce Brickley’s
collection of Sicilian photos
-Photos taken by you
and/or other family remembers while traveling in Sicily
-Videos of Sicily and
Mt. Etna
Each
person will assume a role in the researching process. The roles, questions you
must answer, and suggested Internet resources to explore, are outlined in the
following list. Of course, we never want to forget other sources of information
that are available to us. Some possibilities are mentioned after the list.
Historian
Find interesting history about important areas of Sicily that
would entice families to go exploring to them. What parts of Sicily’s history
would be the most motivating to entice people to learn more?
What is the best way to present that information so that it is
motivating?
http://www.sicilianculture.com/history/index.html
It contains a brief
history of the Sicily, timeline of Sicilian history, and this day in history
(you can pick the day).
http://www.twosicilies.org/history.html
“It
was in 1816, during the Bourbon rule of the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of
Sicily, that these two states were amalgamated to form the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies.”
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/cultura/archeologia/indice.html
Indexes
of archeological sites in Sicily in the categories of temples, theaters,
excavations, undersea archeology, prehistoric sites, etc. are provided.
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/cultura/storia/cronologia.html
A
timeline chart of Sicily’s history is provided.
Links to the history of
the land, the people, three periods of history (early, middle ages, and modern
era), customs and traditions, culture, arts and cuisine, the rural and urban
areas, family genealogies, and the language can be found here.
http://www.osolemio.it/sicily/storia/default.nclk
This
site provides a well-written and illustrated general history of Sicily, with
links to specific periods of history. These
links provide you with many valuable sites to inform you of various aspects of
the specific periods of history.
Food
Reporter
Find out about the many
delicious foods of Sicily that the families should get out and try.
http://www.osolemio.it/meddiet/default.nclk
There is an overall
report on the foods and diet of Sicily, a wonderful connecting link to the
history of Sicilian Cooking, connecting links to recipes, and information about
olive oil, which includes many more interesting links.
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/prodotti/gastronomia/homepage.html
This site provides the
tourist with some basic information on eating in Sicily and links to more
details on some of the treats, plus some recipes.
A“must”
site to explore, including an alphabetical search for foods of Sicily that
provides a description of each food, plus links to culinary term translations,
recipes and restaurant recommendations.
http://www.emmeti.it/Arte/Sicilia/ristoranti.uk.html
Super
site for recommended and rated restaurants in some of the tourist areas in
Sicily. Each restaurant has its own linked website telling you about the menu,
prices, great photos, and another link to the local area. You must check this
one out. It is definitely in my “favorites” now.
Nature
Explorer
Find about the adventures
families can have exploring the many different aspects of nature in Sicily.
What is the most motivating information we can present about the volcano,
Mt Etna, the seacoast and the interior parts of Sicily? http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~boris/ETNA_links.html
This is where you want to
go to find a wide selection of links about the mighty Mt. Etna.
Find out about lava
flows, eruptions, caves and many more exciting aspects of Etna.
There are also sites with
dynamic photos, updated reports on the activity of the volcano,
and a live cam connection
where you can watch the volcano in action
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/natura/homepage.html
There is interesting
information about less famous but intriguing natural sites and wonders of Sicily
http://www.meilach.com/myfotos/taormina/taormina.html
View enticing photos of
Taormina and its coastline.
Shopping
Adviser
Find information that
would entice the families to want to go shopping in Sicily.
http://www.bestofsicily.com/products.htm
This is a helpful site
for shopping possibilities in Sicily, but is commercially done.
http://www.bestofsicily.com/arts.htm
You must explore this
site for background information on fashion, ceramic arts, cuisine, and folk art
in Sicily.
http://ragusaonline.com/mappe/
This site will help new
people find their way around with the regional and city map selections.
Activities
Director
Find information about
neat places that families enjoy going to.
It is a good site for
recreational activities in Sicily, touring Sicily, and vacation homes, plus lots
of other general information for a tourist, and Fast and Google
searches are provided on this site.
http://www.sicilian.net/photoalbum/
This is a great site for
enticing photos to help motivate a desire for exploring Sicily.
The site provides an easy
way to find out background information about various important tourist areas in
Sicily by clicking on the site on a colorful map of Sicily.
The sites also talk about the puppet shows in Sicily and painted carts
used in festivities.
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/natura/homepage.html
Enticing site to
encourage you to get out and enjoy many activities involving some of the
beautiful natural and historical resources in Sicily, from scuba driving to
volcano explorations.
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/trasporti/indice.html
Very informative resource
site about different forms of transportation, including ferries to the smaller
inlands around Sicily, and
An
extremely valuable resource for places to see in Sicily.
The locations are all provided as links that guide you with background
info about the location, places to see links, directions to get there and
recommended hotels with phone numbers.
Culture/Festivities
Expert
Find out what cultural
experiences the families would enjoy while living in Sicily.
http://www.sicily.infcom.it/uk/manifestazioni/homepage.html
The site provides a
listing of seasonal and monthly Festivals in Sicily with chart defining the type
of festival, the town and province where it is located, and links to local
tourist information offices to find out more details
It
provides you with some information about the culture in regards to family life,
language tips, and a brief discussion of the festivals in Sicily
Weather
Adviser
Find information about
the climate of the various regions of Sicily. What aspects of the climate and
weather of Sicily would most Americans appreciate?
http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~boris/ETNA_weather.html
This is a great site of
weather links for local, national, and European weather (also has satellite
images of these areas). You can view these links in a variety of languages.
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/Catania_IY_c.html
This is a very complete
weather reporting and forecasting site of our local area of Catania, including
information about the pollen count, links to weather in Italy and Europe,
satellite images, along with records and averages.
Take
pride in what you produce. It reflects you
What is special about Sicily?
Why is it important that Americans overseas get out and learn about the
people and culture of their host nation?
How
does traveling and exploring Sicily improve their stay here?
What
can we learn from the Sicilians?
How
can we entice new students and their families to travel and
explore Sicily?
2. Use the last question to guide
you in creating a criteria that will help you decide on the best product for
accomplishing your goal. Think about what the word entice means, who your
audience is, and the time available for the presentation. Another important
criteria that you are to consider is showing off. Leave a positive
impression with our new students and parents on how advanced our students are in
their use of technology and creative thinking. Finally, use the rubric
that your teacher will use for final evaluation to assist you.
3. After you, as a team, have decided on the most effective product to create, start analyzing the information each team member has learned to see how and where it fits into the final presentation. Plan together and divide the responsibilities.
When you think your product is finished, stop and reflect. Did it meet
your criteria checklist? Does
it answer the goal oriented questions? Now present it to your classmates,
teachers, and administration, for critiquing.
Encourage comments for improvement, consider them, and use the ones that
the team finds valuable in creating the finished product.
Use the following rubric for
evaluating your final product and submit this evaluation to your teacher.
Based on the goal
oriented questions
|
Product |
Completed |
Completed
with effort |
Completed
with effort and pride |
|
Sicily
is special |
Found
and shared some information |
Found
and shared a lot of information in an organized format |
Found
and shared a lot of information in an organized format that was unique and
creative to entice the observers. |
|
It is
important to explore your host nation. |
Our presentation addressed
exploring your host nation. |
Our presentation addressed
and encouraged exploration of your host nation. |
We worked as a team to
entice the observers that this was a great opportunity to explore history,
impressive natural wonders, beautiful countryside, and cities full of
adventure and interesting people. |
|
Exploring Sicily will make
you happier while you are in Sicily. |
Our presentation showed the observer what they could enjoy doing in Sicily. |
Our presentation showed them
many ways they could enjoy Sicily and how it would make them happier. |
Our presentation was created
to convince the observers that their stay would be happier if they
explored Sicily. We did this
in a way that they could resist with our creative display and logical
reasoning. |
|
We can learn from the
Sicilians and their culture |
We stated that they would
learn about the Sicilians and their culture through traveling in Sicily. |
We encouraged the observers
to get out and travel so that gain and understanding and tolerance for the
people from other cultures. We stressed the importance of this. |
Our presentation addressed
and challenged the observers that it was there responsibility as
Americans, promoting World Peace, to become educated about their host
nation. We did this in a creatively unique way. |
|
Entice the observer with
your power to create. |
Our presentation was
informative about Sicily. We worked as a team. |
Our team presentation was
done with the use of technology to stimulate the interest of the observer
and inform them about Sicily. |
We used technology to work
as a team to produce a unique and creative presentation. We challenged
ourselves to learn and explore creative ways to capture the attention of
the observers. We carefully analyzed ideas that we explored and planned
together how to apply the ones we felt would be most effective. Our goal
to entice our audience to explore Sicily was our focus.
|
Bravo! You have challenged yourself to achieve. You have used your
abilities to research, analyze, create, and evaluate to influence and challenge
others. This is power! More
important, you used your power to help promote a better world of communication,
tolerance and understanding. Be proud of your accomplishment and always value
this incredible ability that you have. You
reached out to others to educate them so that they could become happier people.
You cared enough to challenge yourself beyond what you thought you could
do. What has this experience taught
you and how will it affect your life?
DoDEA Standards - Introduction
- Task
Definition - Process
- Researching Roles