Are you trying to develop self-regulated learners in your classroom? Students with strong research skills that engage in critical literacy skills? Students who can work collaboratively in groups and manage themselves so that everyone contributes? Are you looking for ways to further integrate technology skills into the classroom in more implicit ways? Then you are in the right place. Let me tell you about using a webquest for elementary students.
One of the reasons I wanted to teach internationally was because of the room for innovation in the classroom. I wanted to have the freedom to utilise new technology and integrate in ways that were enriching for the students and got them thinking. You might be in a similar situation to me when I was teaching in London, with a class set of iPad between 3 classes and not being able to use them because the classes needed to match every lesson at the same time and we couldn’t all use the ipads at the same time. If this is you then maybe you might be interested in Teaching Abroad. Check out my Beginners Guide to Teaching Abroad.
Webquests have been around, surprisingly, for decades. I was first introduced to webquest as a high school student. I remember loving the freedom that it gave me to work within a group, to manage ourselves and our own learning. Also, I found the topic way more interesting than I had previously. I was then reintroduced to webquest for elementary students through my Masters in International Educational and Bilingualism, where it was highlighted that all of these benefits could be experienced in the primary classroom (if not more so!).
Why you need to start using webquests for 3rd grade (or any!) in your class.
WebQuests have been around for decades, and there is a reason that they are still used today. WebQuests,( a quest for knowledge, as one might say) has so many benefits in the classroom. One of the foundations of a Webquest for elementary students is that they are done in groups. They build students’ collaborative working skills and develop interpersonal and leadership skills. In many WebQuests, students must take on specific roles and then work together to bring the project together. The students become mini-experts of their section.
Webquests also develop student agency and inquiry skills. Most Webquests require students to manage their own learning. In this way, they are supported to become self-regulated learners. Students must also become critical thinkers. Anyone can read information off the web, but a webquest for elementary students allows students to consider which information is fit for purpose, how they know that and how to use that information to complete the task. Now more than ever, as teachers, we need to be developing critical thinkers, especially when it comes to what we can find on the web.
But first, what are Webquests?
A Webquest for elementary students is an inquiry-based activity where most of the information students interact with comes from the internet. It is a Quest through the Web. From a constructivist approach, students search through the web with guidance. How much guidance? Depends on the ages of your students. In my Yr 2 Kenya WebQuest, I prescribed what websites the students could go to find information but left the rest up to them. Students use their inquiry and their research skills to sort through the information on the web and then use that information to complete a project.
At the core, a Webquest for elementary students is built around mini-projects that can last anywhere for one lesson or even a week. I personally love to use them over one week using our topic time, where the first couple of days focus on research and organising the information they have gathered, and the last two days are focused on using the knowledge to complete a project.
How to use history webquests or geography webquests in your lessons (or even webquests for science!).
I think WebQuests work so well with all topics and have so much potential for transdisciplinary learning. Webquests have a very specific pedagogy behind them and a specific process to creating and using them. I used a lot of the activities and investigation materials – such as watching a live stream camera from the Kenyan Safari. Still, instead of teaching it from the front, I let my students explore it at their own pace. It meant that my students were more engaged because they got to choose which aspects interested them most and to interact with that content first. Click here to see the Kenya WebQuest on my TPT page.
WebQuests have a very specific process: Introduction, Task, Process, Resources, Evaluation and Conclusion. Once these aspects are laid out and displayed online (which is so easy with google sites, or even just google slides, then as long as you’ve provided enough guidance within the WebQuest, students can get started. In my experience, it’s important to consider which roles you would like students to take on and be clear and explicit about this when you split your class into groups. One of the reasons I love WebQuest is that they are so easy to implement in the classroom.
The big question: How do you find webquest examples to use in your class?
I have seen a lot of great examples of webquests and some not so great ones online. Personally, I created my own because I needed it to match the specific content and standards set by the school I was working at. However, I definitely looked at many to get ideas. If I were to do another one, I would definitely take ideas from existing ones and edit them to adapt them to my classroom. Using Google Sites is so easy; it basically builds the webpage for you. It can be tricky to find a good WebQuest website, though. My best suggestion is google; however, I have done some of the research for you and linked some here.
Webquest ideas for 2nd grade and below
Here are some examples of WebQuests and what you can do with them. I wouldn’t necessarily use these directly like they are in my classroom, but I would learn a lot from them. It is so easy to use google sites to create your own WebQuest.
Exploring Kenya – Yr 2 WebQuest
Planets – A mini-WebQuest for 2nd Grade
Webquests for 3rd grade and above
Fractions – 3rd Grade WebQuest
The World’s Tallest Building WebQuest
Webquests for Kindergarten
I have linked some interesting webquests for kindergarten below. I know kindergarten ages worldwide changes by country, if not by county, and WebQuests do require a bit of reading. As WebQuest requires collaboration, mix-ability pairing is best for this kind of learning. But if I was making my own webquest, I would probably record myself reading so that the student could read along with it and support my emerging readers.
A Quest for Respect with The Grouchy Lady Bug by Eric Carle
Want to create your own webquests? Check out these related articles
9 Surprising Ways to Use WebQuests in your Classroom by Lucy Renard
Why Use WebQuests for Today’s Learners by WizIQ
Strategies: WebQuest by Maddi Lee, Darcie Bottem, Monica Sanvik
Want to know more about Project-Based Learning?
Why Project Based Learning is Taking Over by Jennifer at Teaching as we Speak
Want to know more about my life as an international teacher abroad?
Check out this recent post about the 4 Big Lessons I Learnt from Teaching in London as a New Grad.
Interested in Teaching STEM but don’t know where to start? Click here to get the Beginners Guide to Teaching STEM in the Public Classroom
