CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE!
The Travel Agency
In this section we cover Educational Standards and other Teacher information, as well as, our Credits so that we can give credit to those who gave us all of our wonderful information to provide you with!
Curriculum Standards
The Learners
Process
This lesson was developed during an art education course entitled Art Education 322: Visual Culture and Educational Technologies at the Pennsylvania State University. It was created as a way to teach art education students the components of a WebQuest and how to incorporate it into the classroom. The lesson was created for an actual 7th grade classroom in Pennsylvania.
This lesson is to introduce students to the different ways that people celebrate around the world. It is a ten day lesson, where the first four days are spent learning about different countries and their holidays/celebrations there. The last six days allow for the students to explore their own creativity by developing their own celebration. In a response to their holiday they are asked to explain the different aspects of their celebration, as well as, creating their own greeting card and decoration to reflect the ideals and beliefs that are a part of their holiday.
Introduction
This lesson is designed for a 7th grade classroom, meaning the text is set around a 7th grade reading level and involves social studies content as well. The WebQuest can easily be adapted for other age groups because it covers a wide variety of cultural information that is not necessarily taught at a certain grade level. It is also easily extended into the social studies or world cultures classrooms because of its focus on other cultures and their traditions.
Prior to completing the WebQuest, students need to know how to read and work a computer, and basic internet functions and navigations (including blogging and YouTube).
The students will learn how different cultures celebrate matters that are important to them. Through that process they will learn other cultures, including their traditions, religion, and lifestyle. Learning about these other cultures will encourage the students to have a better understanding of diversity and grow in their world view. The students will also learn to advance their communication and critical thinking skills by discussing what ideals are important to them, and how to represent those ideals through visual images. This fits in with the national standards for grades 6-8 in the visual arts, according to artsedge.kennedy-center.org. The link to this is provided below. Please click on the paint splatter image below to take you to the website with these curriculum standards.
This WebQuest is designed to take about ten days to complete (with 42 minute class periods), where the first four days are spent learning about different countries and a celebration there. The last six days allow for students to explore their own creativity by developing their own celebration. In response to their own celebration they are asked to explain the different aspects of their celebration, as well as, create their own greeting card and decoration to reflect the ideals and beliefs that are a part of their celebration.
This lesson requires very little background knowledge in the cultures for the teacher. The students will be learning the information as they go, and as the teacher, you can choose to learn alongside of the students, or review some of the information before introducing it to your students. The teacher will also need a basic knowledge of arts and crafts, such as coloring, using scissors, and other basic art supplies that will be needed for the students to complete the actual art-making section of the lesson. Please click the paint splatter image below to take you to the process page that is provided to the students.
Supplies Needed
What you will need to complete this WebQuest:
- internet access for each student
- digital cameras and uploading capabilities
- colored paper
- markers/ crayons/ colored pencils/ paints
- any other basic art supplies and materials you would like the students to use to create their decorations and other project elements.
Evaluation
The students will be evaluated on their creativity, neatness, time and effort, and responses for both their decorations and greeting cards that they individually design. They will also receive points for completeness when they turn in their daily responses on the blog/ travel journal. Please click the paint splatter below to take you to the evaluation area of the WebQuest where the rubrics for each project element is provided.
Conclusion
This WebQuest is designed to creatively and interactively teach students about different cultures of the world, while developing their critical thinking, communication, and art skills. The students will have an opportunity to travel the world through the screens of their computers and partially experience these cultures, which they ay never have had the opportunity to explore and learn about before.
Credits & Citations
Below we provide all the links and credit for the information that we have gathers and the images that we borrowed for the educational purposes of teaching this lesson. We do not claim ownership of any image on this site other their the images of our own artwork and selves. All other images have been borrowed and their sources can be found below. Thank you to all of those who's information we have gathered to help teach the this WebQuest.
Please click on the image below to upload a document to view the credits and citations.
