HELMERS . MAPS
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How to assess creative work that also requires factual information is always a question for teachers. Fortunately, Sobel provides a useful Assessment Guide for maps that can be used for WebQuests as well as neighborhood maps, which I have reproduced here in the form that I used it with my students. (Note that the developers of WebQuests have also created rubrics for the assessment of students' web-navigating abilities.) Students are assessed on a point scale from high to low in three categories: communication, following directions, and proofreading. In each category, they are required to think about their audience and how the map encourages use through information design. Maps are made to be read and, in addition to being neat and attractive, they must inform the viewer about the qualities of the site explored by the mapmaker (Sobel 92).
Although my example of a map comes from the Victorian Fairy Painting online exhibit, there are other websites that can be used for exploration, content delivery, and mapping. Among these are sites posted by PBS and the Library of Congress. In particular, PBS has posted three electronic field trips, designed for grades 4-8, that are colorful, informative, and easily navigated. The electronic field trip through the Costa Rican Rainforest allows students the option to select pathways through the "rainforest" based on their interests in monkeys, nocturnal animals, plants, habitats, and birds. The home page invitingly refers to itself as a "tour" and asks students to "Take a Walk in the Rainforest," which is ideal for an introductory mapping assignment.
The Library of Congress American Memory area is a digitized collection of historic photographs, sound recordings, texts, maps, and motion pictures. With an eye toward easing use, the designers organize the materials in their collections into "exhibits," which are suitable for grades 9 and up. There are seventy exhibits in the American Memory collection, ranging from baseball cards to information on the magician Harry Houdini. Recent exhibits have included materials on American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920; Buckaroos in Paradise: Folklife on a Nevada Cattle Ranch, 1945-1982; Votes for Women, 1848-1921; and African-American Perspectives, 1818-1907. Because the American Memory site is so extensive, however, students need focused assignments and enough time to navigate, map, collect information, and write about what they have discovered.
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Send mail to Marguerite Helmers, helmers@uwosh.edu