Thomas Jefferson: Journalism on the Quest for Truth

A WebQuest for 8th Grade ELA

By Ms. Caddy

Introduction

Imagine this:

It’s the summer of 1776. You’re a journalist for the Philadelphia Daily News and you hear a rumor that
a man named Thomas Jefferson has brought a very secretive and powerful document to your home
state to be signed: The Declaration of Independence. Your job? To investigate.

The Task

Be the best journalist you can be and search for the whole, nothing but the truth, so help you, God. You
will use the class computers to research:

1. Who exactly is Thomas Jefferson? Find out everything you can about him.

2. What is the Declaration of Independence? Who commissioned it, why, what does it say? What is its
purpose?

3. Is Thomas Jefferson really connected to it and why?

4. Why has it been brought to Philadelphia, your beloved home state?

Once you have compiled this information, you will use it to write a research paper compiling everything
you have learned. In other words, put your notes into a formal essay by writing a research paper.

The Process

1. Grab a computer from the computer cart and plug in your headphones.

2. Once you have logged in, you may begin your research by completing the following steps:

3. Start by visiting this site: http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson-9353715#synopsis

4. Write at least one summary paragraph of what you discovered. Be specific and detailed.
 5. Now go to: http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-declaration-of-
independence

6. Again, write at least one summary paragraph of what you have discovered. Be specific and detailed.

7. Next, do some more sleuthing. You are making great progress! Try finding some more clues here:
http://classroom.monticello.org/kids/resources/profile/6/Jefferson-and-the-Declaration-of-
Independence/

8. What great notes you got! Go ahead and write them down and summarize them into a specific and
detailed paragraph.

9. Finally, you have reached your last stop; your last destination. Find out the final truth, here:
http://philadelphia.about.com/cs/history/a/1776_phila.htm

10. Now that you have everything you could need to run this story in the Philadelphia Daily News,
combine your notes and summaries and write a 2 page research paper on what you have learned. You
have the information; you have the sources . . . NOW GO!

11. When you are finished, log out of the computer, and return it to its numerical spot in the cart.

Evaluation

This will serve as a guideline for your activities and I will use it to grade your work on.

Oliver
Middle
School
Thomas
Jefferson
Webquest
Name: ________________________ Teacher: Ms. Caddy
Date Submitted: ____________ Title of Work: ___________________
 
  Criteria Points

4 3 2 1  
 All questions were Not all questions
All questions were
answered were answered
answered
completely, but completely, or All questionswere
completely and
Introduction rationales for the greater than 2 notanswered ____
rationales for the
all the rationales for the completely.
answers wereclearly
answerswere all answers were
stated.
not clearly stated. not clearly stated.

All areas of the task

At least one area At least two areas
were addressed and The task is
of the task was of the task were
handled with a high incomplete and/or
not addressed. not addressed.
degree of it is apparent that
The plan followed The plan followed
Task sophistication. The little effort went ____
by the team by the team
plan followed by the into the
demonstrated a demonstrated a
team demonstrated development of
great deal of moderate level of
a great deal of the task.
thought. thought.
thought.

The final product

It is evident that a The team worked The team had is not the result of
mutual effort and well together, but problems working a collaborative
Process:
cohesive unit could have utilized together. Little effort. The group ____
Teamwork
created the final each other's skills collaboration showed no
product. to a better degree. occurred. evidence of
collaboration.

The ideas
expressed by the The ideas
The ideas expressed body of work are expressed by the There were no
Process: by the body of work mostly original. body of work original ideas
Originality demonstrate a high The group may demonstrate a low expressed in this
 
degree of originality. have improved degree of project.
upon a previous originality.
idea.

The final body of

The final body of The final body of The final body of
work had 1 error
Grammar, work was free of work had 3-5 work had major
related to either
Format , and grammar, spelling,
grammar, spelling,
grammar, spelling, grammar,  
Spelling and formatting and formatting spelling, and
and formatting
errors. errors. formatting errors.
errors.

        Total----> ____

 
Teacher Comments:
  

Conclusion
So what do you think? Is Thomas Jefferson really the father of the Declaration of Independence? Did
you enjoy being a sleuth; a good journalist? Keep your skills sharp! You never know when this state
needs a good journalist!