Flotsam Speaks

A Journey to the Unknown

A Webquest for 4th Grade Language Arts
By Ms. Debbie Morillo
debbiemorillo257@hotmail.com

Introduction

If you have ever looked at David Weisner’s Caldecott winning book, Flotsam, you will understand why I think this is the perfect book for creating imaginative stories. Each picture tells a tale within a tale that we are going to use to create a kid’s science magazine.
I am an Editor at Large for National Geographic for Kids Magazine and I assign you and your partner (as my top reporters) to report on the places and things that the camera from Flotsam took pictures from. It is your job to report and write an article for my magazine to tell the readers what these unknown worlds are about. Whoever writes the most compelling article (with new pictures) will be awarded the cover page of the magazine!

The Task

After you receive your picture from the editor you and your partner will:

Collectively write an article about a mythical place that you have both visited as reporters and would like to tell the world about
Draw pictures/photographs that show more about the place and the creatures that you have met
Have the “Editor at Large” help you edit your final copy
Publish your article in the magazine that our class has created

The Process

After we read Flotsam by David Weisner, choose a partner that you think you will work well with to do a writing project together (I will make final decisions as to who will be working together).
I will give you a list of choices from the book that you can report about. The list is as follows:

Mechanical Fish
Octopus in Living Room
Puffer fish Hot Air Balloon

Giant Sea Turtle world

Aliens Underwater
Starfish Island

Going Back in Time
The Animal Express “AniEx”.”
Merpeople

Brainstorm possible ideas for imaginary names, places, lifecycles, etc about the creatures in the picture you are looking at. (click on link below to get your graphic organizer).

http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/wheel_eng.pdf

Look at the National Geographic for Kids website and look at how some of the stories are written. Can you get more ideas from their articles and their styles of writing to use for your own articles?

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/

Write a rough draft together not worrying yet about spelling and structure. (Click on links below that explains the writing process)

http://www.planet.eon.net/~bplaroch/indexb.html
http://www.big6.com/showenewsarticle.php?id=172

Take turns editing your article (maybe one reporter can look for mistakes, one reporter uses the dictionary, thesaurus, etc.).
Draw an additional picture (as if you had taken a photograph) about your article.

Evaluation

Story Writing : Flotsam Speaks

Teacher Name: Ms. Morillo

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Writing Process	Student devotes a lot of time and effort to the writing process (prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and editing). Works hard to make the story wonderful.	Student devotes sufficient time and effort to the writing process (prewriting, drafting, reviewing, and editing). Works and gets the job done.	Student devotes some time and effort to the writing process but was not very thorough. Does enough to get by.	Student devotes little time and effort to the writing process. Doesn't seem to care.
Creativity	The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has used his imagination.	The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story. The author has tried to use his imagination.	There is little evidence of creativity in the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.
Illustrations	Original illustrations are detailed, attractive, creative and relate to the text on the page.	Original illustrations are somewhat detailed, attractive, and relate to the text on the page.	Original illustrations relate to the text on the page.	Illustrations are not present OR they are not original.

Collaborative Work Skills : Flotsam Speaks

Teacher Name: Ms. Morillo

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Focus on the task	Consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Other group members can count on this person.	Focuses on the task and what needs to be done some of the time. Other group members must sometimes nag, prod, and remind to keep this person on-task.	Rarely focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
Contributions	Routinely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A definite leader who contributes a lot of effort.	Usually provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A strong group member who tries hard!	Sometimes provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. A satisfactory group member who does what is required.	Rarely provides useful ideas when participating in the group and in classroom discussion. May refuse to participate.
Pride	Work reflects this student's best efforts.	Work reflects a strong effort from this student.	Work reflects some effort from this student.	Work reflects very little effort on the part of this student.

Conclusion

Well, when you are finally finished with your work, please take a minute to reflect (think about) what you liked best about the project? What did you like least? What do you think you could have done differently? What do you think you learned most about doing this type of project? And, would you like to do this type of thing again?

Credits & References

National Geographic for Kids information about the Great Barrier Reef
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/reef/reef1_flash-feature.html
A National Public Radio Broadcast about Flotsam.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5749588
The Rubics were created by Rubistar
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
created for a Rutgers SCILS course
Summer, 2007

Last updated on November 29, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page