Back To The Wild, Wild West
A webquest created to enhance the study of western novels and short stories
by Judy Reeder; Madison Southern High School
Spring 2000

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Introduction:

Have you ever imagined yourself in the "Old West"? Think about it! What would it be like to be a passenger on a stage coach or to be a cowboy on a cattle drive? or perhaps you would rather picture yourself in the role of a bar maid in the local saloon or a clerk at the general store.

Well! Today is your chance to experience the "Old West" first-hand. Your teacher has arranged for your class to be transported back into time to a western town. Put on your cowboy hat and get ready for the adventure of your life!

Task:

You're here! But where is here? What town are you in?

As you investigate your surroundings, you notice you are outside a little office. The sign on the door says, "The Western Gazette". You carefully open the door and see several objects - a roll top desk, some type of printing contraption, and a quill pen.

After some investigating, you realize that the time machine has transformed you into the editor of this paper. A note on the desk indicates you can't return to the 21st century until you publish a "single edition" of the town paper.

Process:

1.	You must scope out the town to learn exactly where the time machine has brought you. Have you arrived in Tombstone, Abilene, or some other old west town?
2.	Once you have determined what town you have arrived in, you must learn a little bit about old west newspapers.
3.	You must carefully draft/sketch out the layout for your edition of the paper. Remember you will be unable to return to the 21st century without doing a good job! You know from your research of old west newspapers that this edition must include: (1) a news article about a well-known figure(s) of the old west and an article about the town itself. Also, you must include an editorial; an obituary; and a human interest story taken from events in a Louis LaMour novel that you discovered in your back pocket.
4.	Now that a plan is in place, your hardest job is at hand. You must move around town gathering information for each article. You can use the suggested web sites or multimedia resources. Remember, do not let the town citizens know you are from the 21st century or you will be trapped in the old west forever! With pad and pencil in hand, you take notes for each article. You also will locate an old fashion camera to snap shots of various events and people. These snapshots need to be saved on a disk.
5.	Via your 21st century printing press, you begin to typeset your articles for the paper. Each one should be saved in a separate word processing document.
6.	Now that you have gathered all your information and pictures about this town and its citizens, you must go to your office and layout the paper via Microsoft Publisher and/or any other multimedia program available. Once the layout is complete, you will fire up the printing press and crank out the copies.

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Evaluation:

To view the grading rubric, click here.

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Conclusion:

Yipee!!!!!! The citizens loved the newspaper. Now I'm ready to go back to the 21st century. Where is that time machine?