WEBQUEST FOR 4^th GRADE

2003 Newbery Award winner

A Single Shard by

Linda Sue Park

Overview

Over the course of this lesson, we will be reading a Newbery Medal Award book titled A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. The student will use the book, computer and the Internet as their source of information. The student will also incorporate Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Fine Arts, and Social Studies, which will be based on the book. The student will also participate in this assignment during class time to discuss any and all information that was found in their research and to ask any questions that might be pondering in their minds. This web quest is based for students in elementary level above grade four.

The student will be supplied with all the materials needed in order to complete this assignment including the computer, access to the internet, the printer, computer software to complete the assignment, plus any resources and or materials the student requests, and finally, the a copy of Linda Sue Park’s book A Single Shard.

Introduction

As you well know, the author of this Newbery book is Linda Sue Park. In order to get a little better acquainted with her please be sure to visit her website located in the resources section.

As you may have already guessed from the brief synopsis of the book I have given you in class, she is the daughter of Korean immigrants. Linda Sue Parks became an author at the age of nine by publishing her first Haiku poem for which she received a dollar. So began her career as an accomplished author.

A Single Shard is based on a thirteen-year-old orphaned boy named Tree-ear in 12^th Century Korea. A man named Crane-man raises him and both live under a bridge. Tree-ear, however, has dreams of becoming an accomplished Celadon potter and has hopes of being trained by the best potter in the town of Ch’ulp’o named Min. Unfortunately, Tree-ear is tested on his courage and integrity as well as his spirit throughout his journey.

Please feel free to check out her other books titled: When my name was Keoko, Seesaw Girl, and The Kite Fighters.

Questions and the Task

PERSON 1:

1. Define Newbery and how it got started.

2. What is the name of the Newbery book you are reading?

3. What year did this book win the Newbery medal?

MATH: As described in the book, use an atlas to track Tree-ear’s journey. Using this information, compare Tree-ear’s walk to other forms of transportation and how far you can travel in a day by the use of bicycle, horse, car, train, and airplane. In order to accomplish this task, first, time how quickly you walk in a given distance and give an estimated time of how far you can walk in a day. Then use this same formula for figure out how far you can travel in with the use of the other forms of transportation. Please remember that Tree-ear had to carry Min’s belongings/works of art, such as his Celadon pottery.

Person 2:

1. What is the author’s name?

2. Where was the author born?

SOCIAL STUDIES: Create a time line of Korean history that is described or written of in the book. Your timeline should start from the 12^th century to the present.

Research the life of royalty versus the life of the common people during the 12^th century. How does it compare with current class differences?

How does the roles of royalty and the peasants compare to today’s society in the United States, England and Korea? For example, how does the Korean Royalty in the twelfth century compare to the royalty and/or presidency in Korea today?

Person 3:

1. In what century did this book take place?

2. In what country did this book take place?

3. What was the name of the city where this book took place?

LANGUAGE ARTS: Look for ways in which this story was affected by 12^th century times and the coming centuries. Write a report and present to the class on your findings.

Person 4:

1. How many books has the author written?

2. What are the names of the books that the author has written and the year they were publish?

3. After having visited the author’s website, what type of information did you find interesting about the author? Does her life relate to the books the author has written?

On the Author: Find Illinois in the United States map and then find Korea on the world map. Document and track how far Linda Sue Park’s family had to travel to reach the United States and give an account or tale, rather, of what it might have been like to travel to the United States. Please compare your findings to that of Tree-ear’s travels. Are there any similarities in their journeys and how do you think their spirit, courage and integrity compare and/or tested to that of Tree-ear’s.

FINE ARTS: Research 12^th century Celadon pottery and compare it to todays.

Please try to create your own pottery made of clay or some other material that has specific meaning to you and tell why and for whom you build it.

Bonus: Research Ch’ulp’o in the 12^th century to see if it existed then and if it still exists today.

Process

Students will be using the computer to search the Internet for information as well as their books and any materials provided for you as resources. Please remember to use the list of websites in the Resources section at this web site.

Resources

Please use these website addresses to begin your quest:

http://www.lspark.com/

http://www.kaeri.re.kr/~sols/yoo/kor-chungja.htm

http://members.fortunecity.com/kyungkim/korart.html Click on Celadon wares.

http://www.cwd.go.kr/warp/en/korea/geo/geo/

http://www.korea.net/directory/List.asp?Category_id=h001

http://www.ala.org

Other resources may include:

PowerPoint software to develop an informative slideshow

Any URL links provided in this section

Classroom Encyclopedias

Color Printer

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on an individual basis. Please review the rubric below to understand how your grade will be calculated.

Excellent Fair Poor

4 3 2 1 0

	Exceeds	Fair	Poor
Answered all questions
Cooperative Work
Written assignments
Individual work
Class presentation

Conclusion

This webquest will hopefully enhance the student’s reading experience while connecting to the main characters by viewing the character’s home, photographs, and time periods. The student’s will also be able to connect to the author by visiting her website and finding new and interesting tidbits about her.