WebQuest+Project


 * Introduction **

Since Chairman Mao's death, there has been a rapid increase in migration between the Chinese countryside and Chinese cities. While the estimated number of migrants is between 100-200 million people living away from home, it is difficult to determine what the real number is. This is because their official home is in the countryside and this is where they are registered to live, go to school and receive benefits from the government. However, these people have moved without changing their registration in order to make more money and increase opportunities for themselves and their children. This makes their lives very secretive and very difficult.

This project will focus on this new migration from the view of a seventh grade girl who moves with her family from the countryside to the city. Through this project we will learn more about the migration in general, but we will also learn about the lives of students in China who are also in seventh grade. How are their lives different than ours? How are their lives similar?

Themes: We will describe the school and family life of Hongyan, a fictional Seventh grade girl who moved recently from the countryside to the city with her father and mother. We will use general research, such as general reasons for leaving the countryside, general hardships for migrant children in the cities and general school life for all children in cities to help form your story. For instance, in the cities there are public schools and private schools, but also special schools for children of migrants. Which type of school will Hongyan attend? However, we will also use specific research to include in our story to make it more realistic. What specific town did Hongnian come from in Sichuan? What is the specific reason her family left? What is the specific city her family went to? What are some specific problems or advantages that Hongnian experiences? One of the goals is to show the difference between rural and urban life in China. Another goal is to show reasons why people move from the rural to urban areas. We also chose other goals based on our specific interests.
 * Tasks **

We also wrote questions, attached to each slide, to evaluate our audience's comprehension of our voicethread.

Since this is a group project, everyone in the group will have to meet to decide what information to add into the story. The story will be split into one section per member. Everyone in the group will then find at least one different picture to represent their part of the story. Everyone will choose one person in the group and send their picture to that person. That person will be responsible for uploading the pictures onto slides in voicethread and inviting the other members of the group to participate in the voicethread. Everyone will then sign onto the group voicethread, find their own picture and comment on their picture in order to tell their own part of the story. Hopefully the parts will come together in the end and make sense as one story! Later, everyone in your group will help to present the story in front of the class.
 * Process: **

"Changing migration patterns" []
 * Resources **

"We like to move it move it" [] "Rural Life in China: Facts and Details" []

"Sichuan Earthquake" []

"Beijing Jingshan (Public) School" []

"Beijing Dandelion (Migrant) School" []

"Beijing Jingshan School (Chinese Text)" []

"Second class workers, second class children (Chinese text)" []

"Broken Dreams of Migrant Workers Children" []

"Educating Beijing's Migrant Children: A Profile of the Weakest link in China's Education System" []


 * Evaluations **

The conclusion of our story is mostly about hope. We wanted to resolve the tension of culture shock which our main character has felt after moving to the city. Therefore, we had our main character return to her old home province and see how different she is. She has changed a lot and her old home is not her home anymore. Her old home though has also changed a lot and it is becoming more and more like the city where she now lives. Through this project, we learned how to collaborate with other students through online media. We also explored many online resources about one common topic, migrant workers, as well as a multitude of related topics including migrant school life and migrant living conditions in the city. We engaged with new social issues that we will be able to bring up in our classes.
 *  Conclusion **

VoiceThread Project
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Members
Jie Judah Chuling Xumei Jennifer