WebQuests (ICT Integration)

A Great Book of Great Thinkers

Ever wanted to be a writer? This is your chance to write about a true hero. This hero will be someone who has been honoured at the highest level for his /her deep and inspirational thought. Nobel Prize winners are amongst the most exceptional talent worldwide. Our challenge is to tell their story in a way that children can understand.

Task

You are a team of children's book authors. Your publisher has given you an assignment to create a children's book about four South African Noble Prize winners. You will write the book for children between the ages of eight and eleven. Your book should be a minimum of six to ten pages long.

Process

Research South African Nobel Prize winners to help you decide which Nobel laureates you want to write about in your book.
Write their stories in a way that will keep children interested. Include photographs or other artwork in your book. Use Microsoft Word to create the pages of the book.
Create an eye-catching cover design with a title.
Make sure you include a bibliography page that lists all the sources you used to write the stories and create your book. All text in the book should be typed.

When you have completed creating your book, you may have the chance to share the stories with some children between the ages of eight and eleven to introduce them to the lives of these South African Nobel laureates and see if your book does a good job of holding their interest.

For this assignment, you will work in a team of five, four authors and an artist. As a team you will briefly research and discuss all seven South African Nobel laureates. Discuss which four you will include in the book and what the theme of the book will be.

Authors

Each author will write a story for based on one Nobel laureate. The story should be aimed at an audience of 8 to 11-year-olds, but each author may adopt his/her own writing style. Each story should be no shorter than 1 page and no longer than 2 pages.

Artist

You will find and adapt suitable images for the book, giving each image an artistic look. You could also draw images that will be included in the book. The team should discuss the artistic design of the book. Other than this, your main task is to design the cover of the book. It should depict the sense of heroism and courage of the characters in the stories.

Resource

» http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/acceptance-speech-president-anc-nelson-mandela-nobel-peace-prize-award-ceremony-oslo-norway-
Nelson Mandel Nobel Prize acceptance speech

» http://www.biography.com
This is a comprehensive site that includes biographies of thousands of people. The site is easy to use.

» http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fables.html
This site has five quality fables. It has a definition of fable and information on two people that recorded fables. There are also links to learn about other types of stories.

» http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-structure-a-story-the-eight-point-arc/
How to structure a story. Watts’ very useful “Eight-Point Story Arc”

Conclusion

By completing this activity you and your team will have gained a good insight into the lives of South African Nobel laureates. You would also have gained an understanding of how to write in a different style for a specific audience.

» Download the Presentation Assessment

Related Scenarios

» World Heroes Hall of Fame
» Local Leaders, Tomorrow's Heroes