Primary Source Learning Web Quest Criteria

  • Introduction contains student roles, tasks, and investigative question(s).
  • Process is clear and written for a student audience.
  • Students are guided in an experience centered on primary source investigation.
  • Understanding goals are enduring, transferable, and represent the big ideas at the heart of the discipline.
  • Students work in a role to solve a problem or develop a product.
  • Rubrics provide specific criteria on which the students will be evaluated.
  • Students answer investigative question and connect to understanding goal in Conclusion.

Content:

  • Library of Congress resources are an integral part of the lesson.
  • Library of Congress resources are properly cited.
  • Library of Congress resources are historically accurate in relation to the topic under study.
  • Lesson Plan goal(s) and resources are aligned with curriculum standards.

Process:

  • Content knowledge is developed through analysis of primary source(s).
  • Topic is explored in depth focusing on key concepts.
  • Skill development includes critical and creative thinking, reading, writing, or research.
  • Learning process is clearly articulated, easy to follow, and replicable.

Product:

  • Content knowledge is demonstrated through critical thinking such as evaluation, interpretation, or pattern identification.
  • Understanding, knowledge, and skill(s) goals are visible through student work.

Best Instructional Practices:

  • Teaching for Understanding: (All Lesson Plans must exemplify)
    Students to connect learning to their own experiences and to central ideas of the subject. Students are challenged to flexibly use understanding, knowledge, and skills in their work.

In addition, Lesson Plans must include at least one of the following:

  • Differentiated Instruction:
    Students with diverse academic strengths and learning profiles are engaged through explicit actions in the classroom.
  • Literacy Instruction:
    Specific strategies are used to enable students to locate, comprehend, evaluate, and apply knowledge.
  • Technology Integration:
    Technology tools provide purposeful and effective learning opportunities for students.