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The Secret Garden WebQuest

Mary discovering the garden

Introuction   Task   Process   Resources   Evaluation   Closing Questions

Introduction
Movie cover

Imagine that you are a movie director. You have read and seen theatrical as well as movie productions of "The Secret Garden." However, none of these productions seem to live up to your "vision" of how "The Secret Garden" should be portrayed. You have a "vision" for costume and character appearences, set design, and for character portrayal and you need to convey these to your production staff in order for them to adaquatly create your vision of "The Secret Garden."


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Task

Mary and Colin marionettes in the garden

Read "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett and takes notes or write a reflective journal for the chapters as you read. This will help you to reflect later on without having to search through the book to find things. Consider, while reading, the images that come to you and be sure to record or make rough sketches of these things so you don't forget them. See if you can identify with one of the three children, or if you have a vivid image of them. Record any information that jumps out at you or really holds true for you personally. Do you have a favourite part of the story, a favourite moment or chapter? Write it down. Be sure to record or sketch out anything that you think may be important later on.


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Process

  1. Read "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Take notes or write a journal at the end of each chapter.
  2. Write a character sketch of one of the three children, Mary, Dickon or Colin.
  3. Draw a picture of one of the children. Choose one of the two children that you didn't use for your character sketch.
  4. Choose a chapter of the book and take careful notes of the scenery in it as well as the charaters and what they do or where they go. Create a shoebox diorama of this scene. Include the characters as well as the scenery.
  5. Select a small passage from the chapter you've chosen and paste it in an appropriate position on your diorama of the scene.

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Resources

The Secret Garden Online - This is a free copy of the book online to read.
The Secret Garden Online 2 - Another online copy of the book.
The Secret Garden Online 3 - yet another online copy of the story.
How to write a Character sketch - An educational site that explains one way of writing a character sketch.
How to write a Character sketch 2 - Another educational site on how to write character sketches.
How to write a Character sketch 3 -Another great site explaining how to write character sketches.
Examples of Dioramas - This site contains mulitple examples of dioramas and how to build them.
A little boy's Diorama - This site contains examples of dioramas children have created, this is one boy's example.
Another little boy's Diorama - Same site as the other little boy, but a different boy's diorama example.
Dinosaur Dioramas - This site contains multiple examples of Dinosaur dioramas.

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Evaluation
/0 Incomplete /1 Non Satisfactory /2 Satisfactory /3 Good /4 Excellent
Journal or Notes Missing or incomplete Illegible, doesn't account for all chapters Doesn't account for all chapters Shows reflection, but doesn't mention chapter number Shows clear reflection and thought as well as understanding
Character Sketch Missing or incomplete Illegible, point form, several spelling errors Inaccurate character description, some spelling errors Mis-used words, little to no spelling errors Clear character description, no spelling errors, proper essay structure
Drawing of Character Missing or incomplete In pencil and not coloured Coloured, but not inked Inked but not coloured Inked and coloured
Diorama: Visual Appeal Missing or incomplete No background, few pieces of scenery, missing characters Missing characters, Visually messy(i.e. globs of glue everywhere etc) Good scenery and background, barbies or toys used for characters, inconsistent size Good scenery and background, characters present and self created, scene is to scale, visually tidy
Diorama: Passage from chapter Missing or incomplete Illegible, and misquoted, missing punctuation and citation Pasted inappropriately, Missing citation, and punctuation Pasted appropriately, Missing citation Pasted appropriately, Citation given, proper punctuation, legible
Totals: /0 /5 /10 /15 /20

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Closing Questions
  1. How could a diorama be used in other courses to help you learn better? (i.e. science, phys ed, etc)
  2. In what other ways could you present this information to the class?
  3. How could keeping a journal be useful in other subject areas? (i.e. studying? note taking? etc.)

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