Thirty Seconds Teacher Page

Teacher Page

Recommended Grade-Level: 5th Grade and up.

Recommended Duration: 7-10 Days

**This webquest is intended to serve as an integrated project involving writing and another subject area such as science or health. The persuasive topics could easily be adapted to fit many different areas such as ecology, nutrition, drug awareness, or character education. I allowed the students to choose from a wide range of topics as long as they maintained a specific point of view and were trying to persuade an audience.

**When giving the webquest, make sure the students are given a lot of time to view and discuss existing PSAs. This gives them the dialogue and reference point for making their own. They do not notice camera changes, lighting, and musical effects often unless discussed directly.

**If time is a factor, you may be able to cut out the research step of the process. If you have already spent time studying the causes and effects of global warming, for instance, you may not need this additional time spent getting background information. Feel free to adapt as needed.

**One of the biggest tips I can give is to make sure students spend plenty of time on the planning part of the project. Check storyboards carefully with students to make sure they have thought out the process completely. Otherwise, the filming portion of the movie takes a lot longer.

**If you or your students have not used Windows Movie Maker before, the Microsoft website offers wonderful video tutorials to help get you started. If you are using a Mac computer, iMovie tutorials can be found here.

Examples: Here are a couple examples from my classroom of finished students PSAs. These were our first attempts---judge gently! Good examples though to show what they can do. Three are from my 2008-2009 class. The other is from student council 2008-2009.

Standards: **the standards provided are for CA only. However, individual projects meet additional area standards depending upon the subject matter. Links technology standards and communication arts grade level expectations are provided below.

Communicaion Arts Grade Level Expectation

Writing1.a: Follow a writing process to
• organize information in a graphic organizer
• apply writing process to write effectively in various forms and types of writing

Writing3.c.:Write expository and persuasive paragraphs (emphasizing compare/contrast) with
• an effective topic sentence or a point to prove
• three or more supporting sentences
• a concluding sentence

Listening and Speaking 2.a:In discussions and presentations,
• give organized presentations that demonstrate a clear viewpoint

Information Literacy 1.a:Develop research questions in order to establish a focus and purpose for a project

Information Literacy 1.b:Locate and use various resources to acquire information to answer questions

Information Literacy 1.d:Give credit for others’ ideas, images and information by listing sources used in research

Information Literacy 2.a:Analyze messages conveyed in various media (e.g., videos, pictures, web-sites, artwork, plays and/or news programs)

NETS-Student Standards

Technology Productivity Tools

A.	Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
B.	Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

Technology Research Tools

A.	Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.

Notes:

This webquest was created by Johna Bequette. If you have any questions, suggestions, or find broken links, please email me. You may adapt the webquest freely, please just include a link to the original in the credits. Let me know if you use it and if your students liked it. I would love to see examples of what they make! Thanks.