Using WebQuests in the Social Studies Classroom: A Culturally Responsive Approach

"Founded on a well-established educational rationale, this book takes the critical and challenging step of helping teachers integrate culturally responsive education into their own practice. By using real student stories, the authors spin an engaging narrative that both informs and entertains."
―Tom March, Codeveloper
WebQuest

Foster student inquiry and higher-level thinking with this powerful Web-based model!

Today′s educators face the challenges of making content engaging and relevant for students from diverse backgrounds and incorporating technology in the classroom. Designed to optimize content learning and promote greater intercultural understanding, Using WebQuests in the Social Studies Classroom shows how educators can make social studies personal and real while nurturing globally minded students.

This unique guide presents practical strategies for using WebQuests: inquiry-oriented, collaborative student activities that use Web-based information for solving problems through focused analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Aligned with the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) standards, the American Historical Association criteria for Excellent Classroom Teaching, and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards, this comprehensive resource includes:

• Real stories portraying culturally diverse classrooms
• Comprehensive examples of culturally responsive WebQuests
• Guidelines, tips, and step-by-step instructions for developing WebQuests

Reflective exercises throughout make this guide an ideal professional development resource for teachers interested in learning more about culturally responsive social studies and technologically enhanced instruction.

Margaret Thombs is an associate professor of education specializing in instructional technology at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. She has taught secondary mathematics and computer science and was formerly the director of technology for the Middletown, Rhode Island Public Schools. Her areas of expertise include facilitating English as a Second Language skills using technology and technology-enabled family and local history research. She is a frequent presenter at national and regional technology and education conferences, and has authored a number of articles on technology integration in the classroom. She earned her PhD in computing technology in education from Nova Southeastern University.

Maureen Gillis is the owner of an Internet-based business and the coordinating editor for Spalding University’s manuscript review program for MFA alumni in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to becoming a writer and Internet entrepreneur, she was a CPA and business executive and taught in the MBA program at the University of Hartford. She serves as the writing coach for the management team of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Gillis earned her MFA in writing from Spalding University and has taught in that program.

Alan Canestrari
Alan S. Canestrari, Ed.D, Boston University, a veteran social studies practitioner and Professor of Education at Roger Williams University, is co-editor (with Bruce Marlowe) of Educational Foundations: An Anthology of Critical Readings (Sage) and Educational Psychology in Context: Readings for Future Teachers (Sage). Educational Foundations was awarded the 2005 American Educational Studies Association Critics Choice Award. Canestrari had a long career in public schools and universities as a history teacher, department chair, adjunct professor at Rhode Island College, and mentor in the Brown University Masters of Teaching Program. He was the RI Social Studies Teacher of the Year in 1992.