WebQuest

Q U E S T
F O R K I D S

SPECIAL EDITION:
THE MOST
CRITICAL BATTLES
OF THE CIVIL WAR

A WebQuest for 5th Grade Social Studies

Introduction

Memo
To: Cub Reporters

From: Editor-In-Chief, Quest Magazine For Kids

Re: First assignment;

Your first assignment as cub reporters for Quest Magazine For Kids is to create a special edition called The Five Most Critical Battles of the Civil War.
Union soldier Rebel soldier

Task

Re: Assignment;

It will be your job to identify, as a team, the five most critical battles of the Civil War. Your team will research and write summaries of battles and then rank them. You will then design and print an issue of QFK. You will do the cover art, the placing of the articles, and the illustrating of any pictures to be included. You will be competing against other teams. Your editor, Old Man Fama, will choose the best issue to publish and distribute. The winning issue will be distributed to the teachers of Brayton School as a market test. If they like it, it will be distributed across the country. Good Luck!

Process

Re: Individual Assignment;

Each cub reporter will research two battles. The battles will be assigned to you by your editor. You will write a summary for each battle. Each summary must be an organized, accurate description of what happened.

Once you have been assigned your two battles, you will use the following websites to research them. You may also use your textbook and Scholastic's Encyclopedia of the Civil War to learn about your battle and to assist you in writing your summaries. Remember that you should use at least three resources to take notes before you begin writing.

You may use this planning sheet to help you take notes and write your summaries. Battle Planning Sheet (open in Microsoft Word)

Internet Resources

1. Kid Info               2. Civil War Talk              3. National Park Service

4. Virtual War Museum          5. History Place

6. Civil War.com                   7. Civil War Home

                                                       unionflag

Re: Group Assignment;

Once you have written your summaries, your team must then meet, share their summaries, and then decide which five battles are the most important. You will have to rank them. Once you have decided on a ranking you can begin your magazine assignment.

Your team will create a four page issue of Quest Magazine for Kids. It will have a front cover, back cover, and a two page middle. The middle will be where your five summaries and your ranking list will be placed. Your front cover must have a Quest for Kids title and logo, a picture, and the title of your issue. The back cover is a place for you to be creative and decide what should go there. In order to create this issue you will need to choose a job. Each job has responsibilities that must be accomplished in order for your magazine to be completed. You will decide with your teammates on which job you will accept.

Jobs

1. Copy Editor- Your job will be to edit all five summaries that will appear in the magazine for their content. Are they well written? Do they make sense? Are they easy to understand? Do they describe the battle? Do they follow all the rules for summary writing that we have discussed this year? When you have finished, you will assist the art director.

2. Proofreader- Your job will be to edit all five summaries that will appear in the magazine for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. You will receive the summaries after the copy editor is finished. When you are finished you will assist the layout director.

3. Art Director- You are responsible for finding or drawing all the art that will appear in the magazine. You may copy and print pictures from the internet.

4. Layout Director- Your job will be to build your issue of the magazine. You will take the summaries and the pictures and organize them to make your issue. You decide where each story, picture, headline, list, and an anything else your team decides to include will be placed.

Evaluation

Does Not Meet Expectations

Partially
Meets
Expectations

Meets
Expectations

Exceeds
Expectations

Score

Summaries

Writing is disorganized or is an incomplete paragraph. Lacks necessary details to explain about the battle.

Writing is a single paragraph that has some details about the battle.

Organized intro., body and concluding paragraphs that describe the location, conflict , and the result of the battle.

Same as Meets Expectations, but also includes battlefield leaders, objective of both sides, and influence on future of both sides.

Teamwork

Does not contribute to discussion of rankings. Does little or no work on group issue. Participates only when reminded by teacher or partners.

Contributes to discussion of rankings occasionally. Adds some work to group issue. Participates with some reminders.

Contributes often to discussion of rankings. Shares ideas with others. Adds significant work to group issue. Positively encourages team members.

Leads the discussion of rankings. Shares ideas with others and encourages other to share their ideas. Organizes the group and adds significant work to group issue. Positively encourages team members.

Magazine

Articles are haphazardly placed, lacks colorful illustrations, is messy or sloppy in appearance, and has more than eight spelling, punctuation, and capitalization mistakes.

The articles unorganized, it has only one or two illustrations, is messy or sloppy in appearance and has eight or fewer SPC mistakes.

The articles are neatly written and organized, has several illustrations, is neat in appearance, and has five or fewer SPC mistakes.

The articles are neatly written and organized, has several illustrations, and is neat in appearance, includes extras that improve the quality of the issue, and has two or fewer SPC mistakes.

Conclusion

Your textbook is a good resource for American history. But, like all textbooks, it cannot go into great detail on a lot of subjects. The Civil War was a crucial time in American history. Millions of Americans, as several of your resources have told you, are still intrigued by it today. Names like Gettysburg, Ft. Sumter, Grant and Lee, and Lincoln and Davis stir up strong emotions in people from all over our country. It deserves the attention that your team gave it during this assignment.

There are many great books right in our library about the Civil War, like 1861, if you are interested in pursuing your research of this time in our country’s history. The library in town also has many resources. And, of course, any of the websites used in this webquest will help you as well. I encourage you to continue learning about our country’s great past.

Through your work on this webquest, you have learned what it takes to be a reporter, a researcher, a writer, a team member and a Civil War historian. You should all be proud of your terrific copies of QFK.

Credits & References

The images above were taken from Civilwarprints.com and from Discovery School's Clip Art Gallery.

The websites are listed in order according to my personal preference. I particularly like Kidinfo.com and feel that site would be most appropriate for my students.

To find more Webquests, visit The WebQuest Page. The template for this webquest was found on the Design Patterns page.

We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL.

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