Introduction | Task | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion

The Clay Marble
by Minfong Ho

WebQuest
by C. Youth & C. Perren

7th Grade Language Arts
West Millbrook Middle School

"The faces of the Cambodian children haunted me long after I stopped working on the Thai-Khmer border. I had done so terribly little for them, when so much more remained to be done. I felt frustrated, sad, helpless, angry. More important, I also found that I missed them--these tough, tender refugee kids. And so I wrote about them, to try and tell them how I admired them, and missed them." -- Minfong Ho

Student Information

Introduction

Task

Process

Evaluation

Introduction:

The Clay Marble was written describing the life and struggles of a twelve-year-old girl and her family in war-torn Cambodia.

"Here is a moving and sensitive account told by someone who worked at camps on the Thai-Cambodian border. It is the story of families torn from their homes but bound by a love and determination that even war could not destroy." --Parents Magazine

Task:

The early 1980's in war-torn Cambodia created great struggle for the people left behind. Your overall objective is to produce an entertaining news broadcast in which you present a series of power point slides to a teenage audience with the aim of letting them know about Cambodia and its people.

Your team will research the Cambodian people, their customs, living conditions, family struggles and political upheaval of the time. You will present your findings as a team to the class by making a power point. Each person will be responsible for creating four slides for their specified topic area. Each slide must contain text and at least one picture, but no more than two.

The team must include an additional works cited slide at the end listing the sources used to gather all of the information. A useful website to show you how to layout a works cited page can be found MLA Citation Style.

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Process:

Your project will be divided into three areas:

• Forming Teams
  
• Research
  
• Evaluation

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Forming Teams

Your team will be made up of four experts in Cambodian life. You must research the topic and complete a series of tasks. The success of your proposal to the health organization will be determined by your ability to work together as a team. After reviewing the roles, please identify the role each member of your team has selected. Teams must be selected by your teacher.

Political Reporter

Social Worker

Historian

Culture and Arts

Political Reporter:

Your job is to research the current political situation in Cambodia and report your findings. You should research the Wars in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. It is your job to find the facts about the current political unrest if any found there and present in the form of 4 power point slides. You may also include pictures and other related current events found in current Cambodian newspapers online.

Social Worker:

Your job is to research the current living conditions of the people, especially the lives of those in the refugee camps. Find out what it really means to live in a refugee camp. This would include food, water, shelter, health care, medicine, sanitary conditions and other related topics. You are expected to prepare four slides of a powerpoint presentation to present the information collected. You must include at least three of the statistics from your math class investigations. At least one of these must be in graph form.

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Historian:

Your job is to research the rich history of the Cambodian people. Find the map and flag of the country and research the kings and rulers of the people. Create a timeline of the rulers of Cambodia. You are expected to produce four slides of a power point presentation to show your findings. You must also include at least one slide which deals with Cambodia’s changing climate using information gained from your Science class.

Culture and Arts:

You will be expected to research the customs and culture of the Cambodian people. Find out the costumes worn and their purposes, the types of artwork and dance, household items of daily life, and manners and behavior. Find music and pictures of daily family life and find out about the types of work that must be done. Prepare four slides of a powerpoint presentation with pictures describing the above information. At least one slide must include information from your Social Studies poster design on Cambodia.

Resources:

The resources section will give you a variety of topics with links to help you with your search. Be sure to cite all references. A link is provided to help you cite properly.

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Political Reporter	Social Worker	Historian	Culture and Arts
Khmer Rouge Current political situation General Info. on Cambodia Pol Pot Asia Observer Cambodia Post	Life in a refugee camp Refugee camps Refugee Camp Presentation Education in Cambodia Social Statistics	History of Phnom Penh Map & Facts Virtual Tour of Sculpture of Angkor Wat General Info. on Cambodia	Dance Daily Life in Cambodia Music Dress, Music, Social Behavior Culture

Site which includes pictures: (for everyone to use)

http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/photos.htm

Be sure to cite your source!

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Individual Evaluation:

Your individual grade will be based on teacher and peer evaluation. In addition, individual grades will be given for meeting deadlines along the way.

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Conclusion:

Through an in-depth look at the people of Cambodia, the students will gain a greater understanding of life in a country going through significant political struggle, look at the lives of the general population and determine some of their struggles and their joys. The students will be able to identify everyday lifestyles of the people and look at the information from different perspectives. Presentations will be a culmination of the information gathered with the point of view of the team presented.

Introduction | Task | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion

Thanks to Sandy Greene for permision to use and adapt her original webquest.

Last updated: March 6, 2008