Learners
This WebQuest is intended for use in a collaborative project supported by an eight grade social studies teacher and a media specialist. It is written to meet social studies standards, though the project will require students to use language arts skills, as well.
The class for which the WebQuest is designed is from an urban middle school. The students have had some practice with inquiry as teachers work to build more inquiry-rich assignments into the curriculum, but inquiry is not a foundation on which the school is built. Students will have some skills and be able to do some of the work independently, but the WebQuest itself, the classroom teacher, and the media specialist will also support student learning. The students are enthusiastic users of technology, which is not accessible to many at home. They appreciate non-traditional educational experiences and have had some experience with collaborative processes.
This is not the first the students have heard of the Civil Rights Movement. They have studied the Movement in the past. Recently, the students visited The Power of Children exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. One-third of the exhibit is about Ruby Bridges, an African American who integrated New Orleans' school system in 1960, at the age of six. Additionally, the students have been involved in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day service learning projects each year.
Students are from a variety of backgrounds. Over half of the students are African American and 10% are Latino. 70% of the 27 students receive free or reduced lunches. Many of these students have not been outside of the city in which they were born. Travel is a luxury that has not been available to many of them. The opportunity for "virtual travel" is a good alternative and is motivating to this class.