"Seeking the Nightingale" Webquest

As I was perusing some webquests on the internet recently, I came across this one in particular and decided to explore it. This webquest, created by Virginia Hinkle, is based on the novel Of Nightingales that Weep by Katherine Paterson. (Although I have not read this book yet, I loved Bridge to Terabithia,which was written by this same author.) Similar to the webquest focused on dinosaurs that I had the opportunity to explore within the My Education Kit setting, this webquest is designed to prepare students for a group oral presentation at the end. I love this concept because it (1) gives the group a common purpose to work together as a team and (2) gives the individual a specific task to prepare for as a group member.

I believe that many "webquests" evolve into questionnaires, which come across as "busy work" for students. And simply by its name, a webquest must be a "quest" - students need to find it interesting, fresh, and purposeful. I believe Hinkle created this activity with a purpose in mind, and in her introduction she explains, "understanding the culture of a time and place will deepen your interpretation of the literature, and strengthen your connections to the march of humanity." These are the characteristics of a webquest that an educator should want their students to experience.

Hinkle makes this webquest more than simply hitting different links and filling in blanks on a worksheet. Because Paterson's novel is based in Japan, she has students explore Japan's culture, from playing virtual Japanese instruments (like the koto) to working with an interactive site about Japanese castle structure to viewing famous art pieces from Japan. There is enough information for students to learn dfiferent things and share them with peers during oral presentations. The tasks vary so that students with different interests can relate to one another. And students are who learn in different ways (visual, audio, etc.) have opportunities to use their strengths.

Lastly, I love how she still has reading questions involved in this webquest because I believe that once students have a backdrop from historical and cultural research that Hinkle has provided for them, they will understand and feel more connected to the novel, even the simpler questions. All in all, I enjoy how Hinkle provides general tasks, specific links, and connections between language and culture!