The Perfect Society!

 A WebQuest on The Giver: A Novel by Lois Lowry 

Instructions ( PowerPoint Presentation ) and Activities before the WebQuest

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback


Introduction

Lois Lowry wrote a novel about a community that seems to function perfectly. The Giver describes a perfect society. What makes this community flawless? How has it managed to keep things organized and under perfect control? It seems that man has finally found the ideal way to live until one member of the community starts to uncover flaws. What went wrong?

You have been assigned by the elders of the community to investigate why Jonas, a promising young man chose to leave the community. What made this gifted individual, chosen to be the next Giver rebel against the norms?  What went wrong? What flaws did he reveal about this seemingly perfect community?

The presentation: http://www.nelliemuller.com/ThePerfectSociety.WebQuest.Instructions.htm

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback

 

Task

The Team will investigate and uncover why Jonas left the community. They will list the reasons for his leaving and recommend alternatives so this will never happen again. The results of the investigation will be presented in a written report . The committee will create a journal where they will keep track of all the information they disclose from observations and interviews. The information will be added to the appendix of the final report.

 

The team will collaborate, write their final report, and present it to the elders for review. Once approved, the findings will be presented in the main auditorium using audio and visual effects.

 

The committees' final written reports and presentations will include suggestions on how to improve the life style of the community so that it becomes a perfect society once again. Both written and presentations will be done in a convincing way so that they capture the attention of the whole community. The presentations can be done by creating a team blog, a website, a PowerPoint presentation,  a video film, by creating music and lyrics, a play, or composing a dance.

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback

 


Process

The following guidelines will help you and your team:

1. Organize yourselves in teams of four. Find out about team organization and work on the following page: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Task_and_group_work.htm

2. Make sure everyone on the team has read The Giver by Lois Lowry. You should refer to the story as you work on the project.

3. Read the Task and divide your work among the team members. Each member will interview another member of the community and find out what happened to Jonas. This can be his parents, sister, friends, The Giver or any other member of the community you feel would offer relevant clues as to what happened.

4. You may write your individual interview reports according to the following format http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm or create your own questions.

 

5. The final product is a collaborative writing report that sums up the four interviews. The interviews are added to the appendix. The writing report consists of seven parts. http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.writtenreports.htm

6. Each member will be evaluated for both team http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm and individual work: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.individualreports.htm

7. Edit your written observations and the results of your interviews as a team. Check the team evaluation rubrics: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm to find out how you will be graded for team work.  

8. Plan your presentation http://www.nelliemuller.com/Oral_Presentation.htm

9. You are encouraged to present your work in a creative way. You can use visual aids and other multimedia techniques such as video, audio or PowerPoint presentations, blogs, podcasts, websites, or a combination of one or two ideas.

10. Make sure that each member of the committee is ready to present one aspect of the findings. Check the team evaluation rubric for your presentation: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.presentation.htm

11. The grade is out of 100: 25 points for the individual work, 25 for the team presentation and 50 points for the team collaborative writing report.

12.  Do not hesitate to ask questions throughout the project. Your teacher and I will be available.  Please use the   following page to send questions to me: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Write_nelliemuller.htm

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback

 

 

 Resources

 The Giver: Notes on the book

  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/giver/summary.html

  http://www.bookrags.com/notes/giv/

 Utopia: A perfect society

  Utopia by Thomas Moore:

  http://www.d-holliday.com/tmore/utopia.htm

  Definition and other material on the subject of utopia:

  http://users.erols.com/jonwill/utopialist.htm

  Utopian Studies:

  http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/links.html

                      PowerPoint assistance: 

                      http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com/freesample-ok.htm

  http://www.meetingtomorrow.com/cms-category/powerpoint-tutorial

 

  http://www.nelliemuller.com/Effective_presentation_1_.ppt

                     Journal guides:

                     http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm                                        

                     Graphics:

                     http://www.bellsnwhistles.com/

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback

 

 

            Evaluation

 Your grade will based on the following criteria:

1.   Individual interview and report of one of the members of the community (25 points).

      http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.individualreports.htm

 2.  Team final written report of the committee's findings (50 points).

      http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm

3.  The team presentation of the committee's final conclusion (25 points).  

      http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.presentation.htm

     

      The team will present their findings to the class by audio and visual means.

  • The team presentation will be at least 5 minutes long.

  • One member will introduce the topic.

  • Each member of the team will speak about their individual work.

  • Another member will add the conclusion.

  • The presentation will include both audio and visual effects.

  • You may present your work by means of: PowerPoint, video, movie, art, poster work, music, or dance.

      The team will be graded for structure and content:

      

      Structure:

  • Did the presentation have an effective introduction?
  • Were the major points illustrated, explained and summarized?
  • Was there an effective transition between the main points?
  • Did it have an effective conclusion?

      Content:

  • Was the content accurate?
  • Did the presentation hold the class' interest?
  • Were presentation media used effectively?

 

 

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Journal | Teacher | Reflection | Results | Feedback

 

 Conclusion

 How perfect was the society in The Giver?  Did Jonas do the right thing by leaving his community?

  Reflection

 Your feedback is very important for the future success of the WebQuest and collaborative project. Please fill in and

  submit the following reflection forms and send them to your teacher.

 

  http://www.nelliemuller.com/student_reflections_march31.htm

  http://www.nelliemuller.com/evaluation_is_success.htm

 

  Thank you.

 

  Feedback

 

 Please share your experiences and provide your feedback on IT4ALL Wiki.

 

  Thank you.

 

  Dr. Nellie Deutsch, EDD/CI

 

  Dear teacher,

 

  I have added your students' work. Please let me know if I can help.

 

  Best wishes,

 

  Nellie Deutsch

 

  Dear Ms. Deutsch,

 

  Please keep in mind these are second language English learners living in the Dominican Republic.  

  There are bound to be many mechanical errors. Thank you for providing these resources for other teachers. I think this

  webquest is excellent.

 

  Yours truly,

  Andrew Hara

 

   
WebQuest template adapted from Spartanburg County School District Three

Published for the first time on November, 2005. Last updated January 23, 2006 by Nellie Deutsch