Fever 1793
A WebQuest for Sixth Grade Language Arts

Designed by Barbara, Tricia, Betty

bpendziwater@msn.com
blwwolfe@aol.com
Introduction | Learners | Standards | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Student Page

Introduction

This exercise can be used as a culminating activity after reading the novel Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This book is a fictional account of an actual epidemic that plagued our country.  This story is set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  We have chosen this novel because not only is it an engaging work of historical fiction, but it has been recognized in Connecticut as a Nutmeg Book, and received nationally accolades as well.  We hope that our WebQuest can help students learn more about the history of Philadelphia and this terrible disease, yellow fever. We also hope you find this WebQuest helpful in the teaching of this novel.

Learners

This lesson is anchored in fifth or sixth grade language arts and involves social studies to a lesser extent.  The lesson can easily be modified to provide for the needs of all our students.

Language Arts and Technology Curriculum Standards

The following standards are addressed in this WebQuest, as included in the Connecticut State Department of Education and National Standards:

Students will:

  • use technology to locate, evaluate,and collect information from a variety of sources; 
  • use technology tools to process data and report results;
  • evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on  the appropriateness for specific tasks;
  • identify and use main ideas and supporting details in informational texts or elements, such as key events, main characters and setting in narratives;
  • communicate effectively in descriptive, narrative, expository and persuasive modes; 
  • gather, select, organize and analyze information from primary and secondary sources; 
  • engage in a process of generating ideas, drafting, revising, editing and publishing or presenting; 
  • proofread and edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization;
  • understand that an accepted practice in spoken and written language may change over time;
  • examine the ways readers and writers are influenced by individual, social, cultural and historical context;
  • demonstrate an understanding that literature represents, recreates, shapes and explores human experience through language and imagination;
  • identify the unique and shared qualities of the voices, cultures and historical periods in literature.

Process

Since you will be writing a 1793 newspaper, as a group check out these 1700s newspapers: 
When you publish your newspaper, you shall include: As individual reporters each of you will be using your news writing skills to submit an article on one of the following topics: 
  • An obituary of a fever victim or someone in the story.
Don't Forget to Read This!
  • Primary source documents will guide you in how to best read and evaluate an authentic source. 
  • Students striving for excellence are encouraged to explore beyond suggested sites and utilize supplementary information in the creation of their newspaper.

    • You will be required to produce a "'Works Cited" paper in the format directed by your teachers.

    We envision this lesson to be taught collaboratively by the classroom teacher, school library media specialist, and the computer teacher. We believe it will require a minimum of five class periods.  This is, in our opinion, an example of true interdisciplinary learning, incorporating language arts and social studies, with possible inclusion of mathematics and science. 
     

Variations

This project could be modified in the following ways:

  • Newspaper could be displayed in an authentic size, whereby students print their articles and compile them on poster board.
  • A science segment could be included through which students research the weather in Philadelphia at that historical time, and how the weather contributed to the outbreak and spread of yellow fever. Information on the weather could be found at http://www.geocities.com/bobarnebeck/children.html 
  • Because Mattie, in her work in the coffeehouse, dealt with many monetary units and conversions, the activity could be expanded to include a mathematical segment. 
  • Field trip to Philadelphia!  What a wonderful enrichment activity!

Resources Needed

  • Class sets of books of Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • Template of newspaper layout
  • Computer laboratory
  • Local newspapers for general referral and obituary reference
Websites which we found to be a wealth of information, and those we recommend for student use include the following:

A Background to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This site, offered by the Independence Hall Association  and USHistory.org, provides historical information.

Philadelphia History
Historical information offered through government site of the USGS

Yellow Fever 
Information provided by the New York Department of Health

The Diseased City
Newspaper of the time provided by the University of Virginia

A Short History of Yellow Fever in the US
Information provided from the website of historian Bob Arnebeck

Africans in America
Provides primary source documents about the topic, produced by PBS

Dr. Jean Deveze
Information on this person provided from the website of historian Bob Arnebeck

Newspapers of the 1790's
Images of authentic newspapers of the era, offered for sale by the Seven Seas Trading Company, Ltd.

Pages from the Past
Enlargeable images of newspapers provided by website Archiving Early America

Primary Sources
A resource from WebQuest valuable for guiding students in evaluating and utilizing primary source documents.

.

Evaluation
Our evaluation, based on the rubric, will determine degree of mastery achieved toward the above listed standards. 

Evaluation Rubric 

Newspaper reflecting historical period of book Fever 1793
Beginning

1

 Developing

2

 Accomplished

3

 Exemplary

4

 Score
Research

 
Group performed  minimal or non-existent research.
Group located information using secondary sources.
Group performed research using primary and secondary sources.
Group used primary and secondary resources beyond those suggested.
  
References cited



 
No references cited
3-5 references cited, with errors in formatting.
6-8 references cited, with mostly correct formatting.
More than 8 references cited, using correct format.
  
Spelling and Grammar





 
Finished product includes 10 or more errors in spelling or grammar.
Finished product includes 7-9 errors in spelling or grammar.
Finished product includes 4-6 errors in spelling or grammar.
Finished product includes 3 or fewer errors in spelling or grammar.
  
Historical Vocabulary Group included no historical vocabulary in newspaper. Group included one or two historical vocabulary words in newspaper. Group included three or four historical vocabulary words in newspaper. Group included more than five historical vocabulary works in newspaper.
Graphics Group included no graphics, or graphics were not historically appropriate. Group included one historically appropriate graphic. Group included two historically appropriate graphics. Group included three or more historically appropriate graphics.
Newspaper layout

 
Newspaper produced covers two or fewer expected areas in unattractive format.
Newspaper produced covers three or four expected areas in an acceptable format .
Newspaper produced covers five or more expected areas in an acceptable format.
Newspaper produced covers more than five expected areas with a visually enhanced format .
  
Group cooperation
No cooperation evident in this group.
Group made some efforts to cooperate, but had difficulty.
Group members had few problems with cooperation.
Group members did an excellent job cooperation. All members contributed.
  

Grades
25-28 points = A
21-24 points = B
17-20 points = C
13-16 points = D
12 points or less = F

Written by Betty Wolfe. Last updated 08/16/02

Conclusion
When students have completed our WebQuest, they will able to better understand the historical significance of the setting and era. Because Fever 1793 is a recently published work of fiction, we hope it fills a curricular need, and encourage your feedback.


Credits & References

We created this WebQuest for an ILS 693 course at Southern Connecticut State University during the summer of 2002.  We are grateful for the patient guidance of Bernie Dodge, the creator of WebQuest, and our instructors Nancy Disbrow and Bill Derry.

National Technology Standards

State of Connecticut Language Arts Standards

Because we believe WebQuest is such a wonderful teaching and learning tool, we encourage you to visit the sites which were the building blocks used in the creation of this exercise: The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns.

We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original authors' names are retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original authors' names, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let us know and provide the new URL.

Last updated on August 16, 2002. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page