Rome WebQuest
A WebQuest for Sixth Grade Social Studies
Designed by Ms. Petner, Ms. Picardi, and Ms. Richmond
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When historians say "All roads lead to Rome", they mean that Rome was the center of power and culture of the ancient world. It was the base of military dominance, and the center of art, culture, and trade. Rome's influence has left a lasting impact on our world today.
What would life have been like in ancient Rome? In this WebQuest you will use books and the Internet to answer this question.
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You will be traveling back in time to Ancient Rome as a newspaper reporter. You will be working with a group of newspaper reporters that were all chosen for their excellent ability to write articles that are interesting and based on fact. Over the next two weeks, you will be researching and writing your newspaper articles and working as a team to create one edition of a newspaper. Each team member will be responsible for writing at least one news article and one supplemental article. You will work together with the help of your group's Editor-in-Chief to compile and publish the newspaper. You should assume you are writing at the time of the event on which you are reporting.
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1. You will be working with a team of 3 to 4 students.
2. The first thing you will need to do is choose an Editor-in-Chief to coordinate the publication of your newspaper. The Editor-in-chief will be responsible for helping the team come to a consensus when there is a decision to be made.
3. Next you need to choose the time period in which your newspaper will be published.
The Rise of Rome (The Republic), 753 B.C.E. to 49 B.C.E. (Text pages 394-423)
or
The Roman Empire, 49 B.C.E. to C.E. 235. (Text pages 428-451)
4. There are certain things that your newspaper must include. Please look at the guidelines below and work together to decide who will be responsible for writing the different news and supplemental articles. Remember that each team member is responsible for writing one news article and one supplemental article.
Newspaper Guidelines
A. Each newspaper will include four news articles based on the EMERALDS:
feature story (2)
human interest
opinion/editorial
B. Each newspaper will include four of the following supplemental articles:
election news
obituaries
want ads
theater reviews
restaurant reviews
announcement of upcoming events
religion/mythology
recipes
women
sports
C. Each newspaper will include at least 2 pictures/photos/drawings.
D. Each newspaper will have a header that includes a title in large font, and a
date and page number in a smaller font.
E. Each article will have a headline.
(The feature story should have the biggest headline.)
F. Each article will have a dateline (place) and a byline (author’s name). These and the text of your article will be size 12 or 14, and in font New York, Palatino, or Times Roman.
G. Make sure to use the Ancient Roman Vocabulary we have been studying.
Use a minimum of 15 vocabulary words.
H. Length of newspaper:
Group of 3-4 members -- two pages (one double-sided page)
I. Timeline for the project (two-week project):
3-4 days for research
2-3 days to write
2 days to compile the articles into your newspaper
1-3 days for editing, sharing, and evaluating
6. Now that you have decided what type of articles you will each be writing, you can refer to the Emeralds sheet to see a list of possible topics. You should each try to cover a different topic, so that your newspaper has variety. Use the Group Brainstorming Sheet to outline the topics and types of articles you
will cover.
7. Now it is time to start your research. Please use the books on the cart and the Internet sites below to get started. You should each use the Emeralds Sheet to take notes while you do your research.
Websites
8. Once your research is finished you should each type your articles in an Appleworks word processing document. Save your articles in your folder on the student server.
9. After each of you has typed your articles, you need to work together to compile them into one newspaper. You will be using AppleWorks to create the newspaper.
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You will use the Evaluation Guidelines to assess your group's project and to assess your peers' projects. Your teacher will use the same Evaluation Guidelines to grade your group as a whole. Group Evaluation Guidelines You will also be assessed individually for your feature article and your participation as a member of your group. Individual Evaluation Guidelines.
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Conclusion
Now that you have reported on the news of Ancient Rome, you have gained a deeper understanding of how Roman civilization has impacted life today. Were you surprised at the similarities? Did the differences interest you?
What other questions do you still have? What new questions are now brought to light with this new understanding? How might these questions be important when determining another culture's impact on life today?
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Credits
Gladiator/Roman speaker animation
