SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES
THAT CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE THE PROCESS OF THE WEBQUEST
A. Reception
scaffolding: Brainstorming
activities, discussions, any background materials, dictionary links,
glossaries, quizzes, etc.
B. Transformation
scaffolding: quizzes,
diagrams, tables, treasure hunts, interviews, etc.
C. Production
scaffolding: outlines,
examples, formats, templates, etc
DESCRIPTION OF
SCAFFOLDING ACTIVITIES; LINKS AND TEMPLATES ON THE WEB
Brainstorming:
It is a good way to activate background knowledge.
“Brainstorming is the act of defining a problem or idea and coming up anything
related to the topic - no matter how remote a suggestion may sound. All of
these ideas are recorded and evaluated only after the brainstorming is
completed”.
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/processguides/brainstorming.html
Graphic Organisers:
They are tools used to organise and illustrate
the ideas and concepts around a topic. Among them we may list: concept maps, events
chains, diagrams, outlines, and matrixes.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm
Interview techniques:
“Experts, grandparents, historians, scientists,
authors, and many others all have interesting and important stories to tell.”
The Internet also gives you the opportunity to interview all kind of experts. The
interview can be prepared and conducted by using some of the hints on this
page:
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/processguides/interviewing.html
Persuasive Arguments
technique:
Sometimes the task requires convincing or
persuading someone about something.
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/processguides/persuasive.html
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/thesis.html
Problem-Solution
Charts:
It is a variation of column notes “to help
students focus on the four areas critical to problem-solving: identifying the
problem, listing the consequences or results of that problem, isolating the
causes, and proposing solutions”.
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/problem.html
Production outlines
and templates:
They are used to help students with the
creation of a final product and may be of many different types.
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/patterns2000/production.html
As an example:
Prompted Writing Templates to help students write a composition or essay.
http://www3.your-net.com/%7Ehinesj/ugrrpresenting.html
Research organisers:
A list of topics and subtopics to help students
organise their work.
http://thinktank.4teachers.org/
Quizzes:
All kind of quizzes can be used to promote
learning about the topic and especially to focus on language form and meaning.
http://www.isabelperez.com/webquest/taller/creating/index.htm
Scavenger or Treasure
hunts:
It is formed by a set of questions and the
links where the answers can be found. This way the students can collect
information about the selected topic.
http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/Scavenger.html
Surveys:
About the topic of discussion or about any other
related aspects.
http://meta-learningtools.com/tutorials/surveys/survey.htm
Timelines or History frames:
They are graphic organisers that help students arrange
the information about people and events (time, place, problems, key facts,
outcome, main features, etc.) in order to comprehend it.
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/storymaps.html