Poor
Grades at PS 129 WebQuest
Teacher: Ms.Sahar Shabazz
Email:
sahar2968@gmail.com
Introduction:
Many
students in our school are struggling academically. They are getting poor grades which impacts their
promotion, chance to get into good high schools and future success. Some
students are coming into the school more than a year behind. Other students are failing to show up to
class and have missed out on a lot of work as well. The quality of student performance in English
Language Arts and Mathematics classwork and on exams has been on the
decline. Something must be done to help
students with poor grades get back on the academic track to success.
Task:
After
meeting with the principal, we have decided to create a special task force to
address this problem. This task force
will be called “Making the Grade Team.”
The exciting news is that you will be on this taskforce. As a member of this team, you will be
responsible for completing a Public Policy Analysis (PPA) of the problem. By the end of your analysis, you will:
1.
Create a survey to gather evidence on why students are failing their classwork and
exams using https://docs.google.com/forms/u/o/
2.
Write an essay
or create either a Google Slides Presentation, or video clip,
3.
Give an oral
presentation on the topic.
Process:
Your
teacher will assign you to one of 4 groups to examine the problem of poor
grades using the 6 steps of the (PPA). The 6 steps are listed
below. Make sure that your group stays focused
and that you listen to one another. See Group Work Rubric 1. You and your group
will create a survey that asks your classmates about their grades on their ELA and Math
classwork and exams to gather evidence on that problem. You can create a survey by using one of two websites.
You can use Survey Monkey
or Google Forms. You will have to sign up for a free account
or login and follow the instructions on the site for creating the survey. Your survey should include specific questions
to find out about report card grades in ELA and Math for the last marking
period and the scores they received on the last to ELA and Math assignments.
Your survey should have at least 8 questions and should elicit responses that
tell you about students' academic performance in ELA and Math and what
challenges may be causing the performance. For example, how often do you attend
classes? What grades did you receive on your last exam? What is your most
difficult subject in school? What do you
find the most challenging? Once you have
completed the survey, you will send it to your classmates so they can answer
questions about the problem. (See survey rubric in evaluation section below)
Once your classmates have finished the survey you will review and discuss the
results within your group. Once you have
reviewed the survey for your group, you will read articles about poor grades by
clicking the hyperlinks below the step in the PPA.
2. After your group
completes each step in the process, you will be able to choose to write an essay
or create a slideshow, or poster to share all of the work you have done. The essay
can be type or hand-written. It should
be at least one page long with an introduction, body paragraph(s) and a
conclusion. Make sure you stay on the topic and include multiple details and
examples to support.
If
you choose to do a Google Slides Presentation, you must create a title slide that includes the WebQuest title
(Making the Grades at PS 129) and your name and class. You will need to have at least 6 more slides
to the problem, the evidence, causes, existing policy, solutions, and a
conclusion. You should have at least 8
slides in total in your PowerPoint presentation. You can include pictures in your slides using
google images. To use images, you right-click on the image,
click copy and then right-click into your PowerPoint slide and select paste.
3. For your oral
presentation, you will have 5-7 minutes to share what your solution is and how
you determined its feasibility and effectiveness. You should use visuals such
as your slideshow, pictures or a poster to aid your presentation. You will be graded on how prepared you are so
be sure to practice before-hand. Make
sure your presentation is at least 5 minutes long. Also, you should use expression
and try to motivate your audience and keep their attention. Lastly, make sure
you present your thoughts clearly and you stay on topic. (See Oral Presentation
Rubric).
The 6 Steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA)
Gather the Evidence: Worksheet #2
How do I Improve Failing Grades in Elementary School
Identify the Causes:
Worksheet #3
9 Reasons Smart Kids
Get Bad Grades
4. Evaluate an Existing Policy
Evaluate an Existing
Policy: Worksheet #4
Develop Solutions:
Worksheet #5
6. Select
the Best Solution (Feasibility vs.
Effectiveness)
Select the Best
Solution: Worksheet#6
Resources:
Process-
Public Policy Analysis
Articles-
Bright Kids, Poor
Grades: What can you do about it?
9 Reasons Smart Kids
Get Bad Grades
What Failing Kids Want
Us to Remember
Search Engines-
Surveys- Survey Monkey
or Google Forms
Visuals- https://images.google.com/
Videos-https://edpuzzle.com/content
NYC
Social Studies Scope and Sequence
NYS Technology
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/cte/technology/standards/computer.html
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/cte/technology/documents/techsta1_2.pdf
Reading
Informational
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/3/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/4/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/5/
Writing
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/3/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/4/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/5/
Speaking
and Listening
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/3/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/4/
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/5/