Tag Archives: MysteryQuest

MysteryQuest – The Format: Wikispaces Archive

Since Wikispaces is closing down, I’m moving my collaborative videoconference projects over to my blog for archiving. Great project formats can still be used and adapted!

MysteryQuest

A “MysteryQuest” is a specific videoconference collaborative project made popular by Janine Lim at Berrien RESA between 2002 and 2011. Please visit the History section to learn more about how this developed.

In a MysteryQuest videoconference, 2 – 6 classes connect together to share clues about geography, history, or other content; and then research to find out what the other classes presented. Here are some of the different agendas used in MysteryQuests:

Original 2.5 Hour Agenda
(used by LearningSpace and the first middle school world geography sessions by Berrien RESA)

  • 10 min. Introductions and Videoconference Directions (moderated)
  • 50 min. Classroom Presentations (5-7 min. each for 6 presentations)
  • 30 min. The Quest: Locating Sites. Classrooms divide into 5 teams to pin-point the mystery locations presented by the other 5 classrooms. During this time each team will come up with one yes/no question to ask each of the other classrooms.
  • 20 min. Question and Answers: Be prepared and efficient! This section will be tightly moderated.
    Classroom 1 answers all questions.
    Classroom 2 answers all questions.
    Classroom 3 answers all questions.
    Classroom 4 answers all questions.
    Classroom 5 answers all questions.
    Classroom 6 answers all questions.
  • 10 min. Classroom teams ‘reevaluate’ their answers.
  • 10 min. Each classroom presents their guesses to the clues.
  • 10 min. Correct mystery locations revealed by each classroom.
  • Congratulations and sign-off.

2 Hour Agenda for 4th-5th Grade US Geography

  • 5 min. Introductions and Videoconference Directions (moderated) (NO SCHOOL INTRODUCTIONS as some people are presenting their actual location).
  • 55 min. Classroom Presentations (5-7 min. each for 6 presentations)
  • 30 min. The Quest: Locating Sites (Classrooms divide into 5 teams to pin-point the mystery locations presented by the other 5 classrooms. During this time each team will come up with one yes/no question to ask each of the other classrooms.)
  • 10 min. Question and Answers: Be prepared and efficient! This section will be tightly moderated. (Classroom 1 answers all questions. Classroom 2 answers all questions, etc. )
  • 10 min. Classroom teams ‘reevaluate’ their answers.
  • 5 min. Each classroom presents their guesses to the clues.
  • 5 min. Correct mystery locations revealed by each classroom.
  • Congratulations and sign-off.

1 Hour Agenda for Middle School World Geography with 4 classes max

  • 1 min Intro & Directions (no more school intros; you can add two sentences max to your presentation if you keep the total to 7 minutes or less)
  • 4 groups x 7 min presentations = 30 min. for group presentations
  • 15 minutes for research (can use computers from the start)
  • We’re SKIPPING the Q&A and re-evaluate to increase the pressure, make it harder, and make it shorter.
  • 5 min. Each classroom presents their guesses to the clues.
  • 5 min. Correct mystery locations revealed by each classroom.
  • Note: World geography has more required clues than the HistoryQuests

45 min. HistoryQuest8 with 4 classes max

  • 1 min: Intro & Directions
  • 20 min: 4 classes do 5 min presentations or (25 min for 5 classes)
  • 15 min: Research and solve (students can use computers from the start)
  • 3-5 min. Each classroom presents their guesses to the clues.
  • 3-5 min. Correct history mysteries revealed by each classroom.
  • no Q&A to make it harder!

1.5 hour Agenda for 5th grade HistoryQuest with 4-6 classes

  • 5 min. Introductions and Videoconference Directions (moderated)
  • 30 min. Classroom Presentations (5 min. each for 5-6 presentations)
  • 20 min. The Quest (Classrooms divide into 5 teams to pin-point the mystery clues presented by the other 5 classrooms. During this time each team will come up with one yes/no question to ask each of the other classrooms.)
  • 10 min. Question and Answers: Be prepared and efficient! This section will be tightly moderated. (i.e. Classroom 1 answers all questions; classroom 2 answers all questions; etc.)
  • 5 min. Classroom teams ‘reevaluate’ their answers.
  • 5 min. Each classroom presents their guesses to the clues.
  • 5 min. Correct mystery answers revealed by each classroom.
  • Congratulations, goodbye cheers, and sign-off.

Point to Point MysteryQuest

  • 5 min. Welcome and introductions. Each class shares their location and brief information about their school.
    Visuals: Use document camera or PowerPoint to share a few local pictures of interest.
  • 15 min. Clues presentation. Each class shares a 5-7 minute presentation of clues.
    Visuals: Skit, iMovie illustration, or PowerPoint with digital pictures, posters with large letters.
  • 20-30 min. Silence on the videoconference. Each class works busily solve the mystery or guess the event, person, location.
  • 20 min. Answers and discussion. Each class presents their solution and discusses the answer with the other class. Students can ask each other questions regarding the problem solving process and content. If extra time, students may enjoy asking each other questions about their respective locations and schools.

Facilitating Your Own MysteryQuest

If you would like to facilitate your own MysteryQuest project, please feel free to do so. This document provides some tips on doing so.

Using the Website
You are welcome to use this page to support your own MysteryQuest project. If you feel you need your own website, please give credit to the original project created by Janine Lim and Kelly Gaideski, Berrien RESA. Please link to this page.

Communication with Participating Classrooms
I send a confirmation letter to the teachers participating to confirm their date and CC the tech coordinators. Also, I keep track of the countries being presented so that there are no duplicates. In addition, I email the Curriculum and Planning Packet to the teachers so they can effectively prepare for the project. Don’t forget to edit the contact information in the file! Please leave the credit information in the footer. Reminders & count down information should be emailed to teachers as well. Test calls need to be scheduled with the tech coordinators at each site. In addition, you’ll be answering various questions from teachers as they prepare for the event.

Keeping Track
I create a Word table with the crucial event information: School Name & Letter (A-F), Teacher Name, Teacher Phone, Dial Information/Number, Country they are presenting, Tech Name, Tech Phone, Phone Number in Room, Test Date. As test calls are finished and details completed, I shade the cell so I know it is done.

Facilitating the Event
These notes follow the agenda. For ease of reading, the 9:00 start time will be used. Of course, adapt this to the time frame you are using for your event. And feel free to tweak with these instructions. There isn’t just one right way to do this!
I create a little chart for myself such as the one below to keep track of who I’m calling on when (it can get confusing if you lose track, and then everyone’s confused! :>) I include the school name with the number, as well as the country. I also print the agenda to write notes as well as notes on which schools are each number.
I also jot down Y or N for yes or no on what the answer was. This also helps me gauge how much time the classes need for reconsidering the answers.

1 2 3 4 5 6
1 x
2 Y x
3 Y x
4 N x
5 Y x
6 N x

T-30 min. Have the connection up for everyone to dial in. Hopefully all your sites will have dialed in by 15 min. before the connection. Keep a list of the six sites in front of you. Use the same order for referring to everyone (1-6). Call on each site as they get connected and check audio and video. Make sure everyone can hear and see everyone else.

9:00: Introductions and Videoconference Directions (Janine Lim will moderate)

  • Introduce yourself and welcome everyone to the project. List the places connected. Give a quick overview again of the schedule.
  • Remind everyone to mute when it’s not their turn to talk.
  • Encourage students to speak up, speak slowly, loudly, and clearly.
  • Remind everyone to get out their note taking forms.
  • Encourage students to listen carefully to the presentations.
  • Tell them to relax and enjoy the connection! This is about fun and learning, not about competing with each other!
  • Call on each site in order to do a quick introduction of their school and where they are located.

9:10-10:00: Classroom Presentations (5-7 min. each for 6 presentations)

  • Announce each site before they present. (Now we’ll turn it over to Classroom 1 for their presentation. …. Thank you classroom 1. Classroom 2?) Be sure to refer to the classrooms by number, as this is how the teachers are keeping track of which group is taking notes.
  • If you have the ability, force the video to the presenting class each time so that any extraneous noise doesn’t switch the video so visual clues are missed.
  • If a presentation is hard to understand or hear, stop them and get the problem fixed. It’s no use letting them continue when no one can understand or take notes on their presentation. Don’t be afraid to interrupt! The clues are soooo important!!
  • After a class does their presentation, ask the other classrooms in order (1-6) if they need any repeats of the clues. Encourage teachers to find out if the rest of the class has the information already before asking for something to be repeated. Ask schools not to ask for a repeat unless none of the students have the information. Don’t take more than 3-4 repeats per school, otherwise you’ll run out of time later.
  • After doing repeats, then ask Classroom 2 if they are ready or need a little time to set up. Don’t rush a school if they are setting up. Indicate that it is fine and we’ll wait till you’re ready.

10:00-10:40: The Quest: Locating Sites

Classrooms divide into 5 teams to pin-point the mystery locations presented by the other 5 classrooms.
During this time each team will come up with one yes/no question to ask each of the other classrooms.

  • After each presentation, schools have 40 minutes to research. You may be tempted to shorten this time, but they really do need the full time.
  • I use BigClock on my Palm and set it to count down 40 minutes. I zoom the document camera in close on the clock. Kids love to see that clock and know how much time they have left.
  • Remind schools to have their questions ready when they come back. Remind them of the rules – that the question is a yes/no answer, it shouldn’t ask the name of the country (don’t give it away for the other schools), and that they only get one question per classroom. Ask teachers to have students up at the mic ready to ask the questions, as that section will move quickly.
  • You could allow schools to disconnect during this time if you want (personally I prefer that they don’t).

10:40-11:00 Question and Answers: Be prepared and efficient! This section will be tightly moderated.

Classroom 1 answers all questions.
Classroom 2 answers all questions.
Classroom 3 answers all questions.
Classroom 4 answers all questions.
Classroom 5 answers all questions.
Classroom 6 answers all questions.

  • This section should be tightly moderated. If possible force the video to the classroom answering the questions.
  • Remind schools again of the rules. They shouldn’t ask “is your country the USA?” One question per classroom, and it should be a yes/no question.
  • Encourage teachers to have students up at the mic ready to ask and answer the questions.
  • You may facilitate as follows:
    • Classrooom 1, are you ready to answer questions?
    • Classroom 2, your question for Classroom 1? … Thank you.
    • Classroom 3, your question for Classroom 1? … Alright, Classroom 5?
    • Classroom 4, your question for CLassroom 1? … Thanks. Classroom 6?
    • Classroom 2 are you ready to answer questions?
    • Classroom 1, what is your question for Classroom 2? … Ok. Classroom 3? etc.
  • I find that I have to keep a finger on who is answering as I go down the list of the classes to keep them straight!

11:00-11:10: Classroom teams ‘reevaluate’ their answers.

  • After the Q&A, give classes the full 10 minutes to re evaluate their answers. Use the BigClock again if possible.
  • Encourage teams who are sure of the answer to help the other teams.

11:10-11:20: Each classroom presents their ‘answers’ to the clues.

  • When everyone comes back after 10 minutes, then have each class present their answers. Encourage teachers to have the students saying the answer come right up to the mic and be ready.
  • It could go like this:
    • Classroom 1, your answer for Classroom 2? Your answer for Classroom 3? Your answer for Classroom 4? …
    • Alright, classroom 2. What are your answers? for Classroom 1? ….
  • Have them say it again if it isn’t clear or they said it too fast to understand.
  • Remind kids that they won’t find out right now if they are right or not. They should frame their answer as: “Our guess for classroom 1 is that the country is * and the city is *.” (Sometimes they say, is it xxx? and then wait for a reply.)

11:20-11:30: Correct mystery locations revealed by each classroom.

  • Then have each classroom present the correct answer. Again go in order (1-6).

11:30: Congratulations and sign-off.

  • At the end, congratulate everyone for a job well done, creative presentations, etc.
  • Remind teachers to fill out the evaluation (if you are doing one).
  • Encourage kids to clap for each other, and to wave goodbye.

History

Learning Space
This project is modeled after the Where in the USA project by Learning Space (1996-2004). LearningSpace ran two projects like this: Where in Washington and Where in the USA?

Berrien RESA
In 2002, Berrien RESA created the MysteryQuest World: middle school world geography version and offered it widely across the U.S. and internationally.

In 2005, when LearningSpace was no longer running Where in the USA?; Berrien RESA started running MysteryQuest USA which was also offered widely across the U.S.

In 2008, Berrien RESA ran LiteratureQuest, designed by Kim Fritz, a teacher who participated in the 123 VC: Jazzing Up Your Curriculum with Videoconferencing workshop.

In 2009, inspired by the Texas History Mystery and Wisconsin History Mystery based on MysteryQuest; Berrien RESA added HistoryQuest5: Beginnings to 1800 and HistoryQuest8: Civil War or Revolutionary War.

In May 2011, Berrien RESA bequeathed these popular projects to Whirlidurb to run in the future, as Roxanne Glaser is an incredible facilitator and has contributed to the quality of materials and facilitation materials for MysteryQuest since 2007.

TWICE
In 2007, TWICE started running an annual Where in MI?

MysteryQuest Lesson Ideas

These are a sampling of lesson ideas written by teachers in various classes… all of them are based on the MysteryQuest format:

A sampling of projects posted in CAPspace based on the MysteryQuest format:

MysteryQuest Feedback: Impact on Students

This month we had several MysteryQuest sessions, with the last session today. Here’s a great story:

One class had a really cool game show, and in passing, one of the participating teachers told me that their students loved the voice of the game show host.

I passed on the feedback to the game show host’s teacher, only to find out that this student is usually bullied and ostracized by the students in his class. The feedback from the audience class meant so much to that student!

Lesson: Compliment the students who present and interact in your collaborations! It means so much to them!!

If you want to participate in a MysteryQuest type session – we have several coming up in April and May: HistoryQuest8, MysteryQuest USA, and HistoryQuest5. Hope you can join us!

Day 9: Multiple Section Collaborations for Middle and High School

One of the challenges of using videoconferencing in the curriculum is the middle and high school schedules. High school structures make it difficult to be creative; and the cost of scheduling content providers for each section at the high school level is prohibitive. Many great high school content providers are guest speakers scheduled at specific times, and it doesn’t take long for teachers to get annoyed when the schedule gets disrupted. Time for preparation for a videoconference is challenging as well. These are some of the reasons that middle and high schools tend to use VC less than elementary schools (for curriculum videoconferencing purposes, that is.)

So, one of the ways that I’ve been trying to address this challenge, is to schedule collaborations for each section/class period. This way each section gets the same experience, and since it’s a collaboration, it’s free!

Steps to Success

  1. Start with the curriculum. The project has to fit tightly into the curriculum to be worth the precious instructional time.
  2. Define it. I work with the teacher to define exactly what each class will do, to make sure it’s focused to the instructional goals.
  3. Set the dates & times. Save yourself some negotiation time and just pick the dates and times. Some of my teachers like to have all the sections on the same day; others want them spread out a bit.
  4. (Optional) Make a web page or wiki. I like to make a web page or wiki for the project so that interested schools can easily see which times I still need to fill.
  5. Logistics: If you have a mobile cart, the teacher may prefer to have the system in their room for all of the sessions. Some of my teachers prefer it in their classroom; others prefer to participate in the library.

Examples

Sharing a water bottle race car in EcoConversations

Here are some examples of projects that I’ve been working on for middle and high school:

Point to Point Collaborations

  • EcoConversations for middle school science classes.
  • I really want to pull off a Black History Month set of VCs for my high school English teachers this year, but I’m not done writing the wiki yet. I am at stage 2 – working with the teacher to define what each class will do.
  • Another high school English one I’m hoping to run in April is Poetry Month. I’ve had some high school English teachers really enjoy performance poetry videoconferences. I want to systematize the idea to reach more teachers.

Multipoint Collaborations

These can easily be adapted to more simple point to point collaborations as well.

  • I’ve been running MysteryQuest World for a few years; and this year have converted it to a one hour session to fit into one class period. I actually will have a few more spots in this one either Friday or Monday, so check back if you’re interested.
  • HistoryQuest 8th grade has worked great for the 8th grade schedule this year. Civil War is scheduled for April.

Your Turn

  • How are you meeting the scheduling and curriculum needs of your middle and high school teachers? Please comment and share any other tips you have.

If you are totally new to collaborative projects and/or would like step by step assistance making a collaborative project happen, from start to finish, sign up for Kid2Kid Videoconference Connections, a six week online course beginning January 25.

MysteryQuest Teacher Story

I’m cleaning up my MysteryQuest World site (to meet the new standard), and so I need to archive these on another site. Here they are for your enjoyment!

By Jeff Gaynor, Clague Middle School, Ann Arbor

I did Mystery Quest last year, with the idea that risk taking is good, and found it a fabulous experience. Besides being on the forefront of technology, having this live experience really did sharpen my students’ motivation and performance through the whole process. I put the responsibility on them – my job was to keep the project manageable and the kids relaxed – but they really did much of the work – with more effort and resolve than they usually put forth. Plus we had a good time and felt pretty special.

Know that we are all in it together – and there is no real pressure the day of the videoconference. Everyone will be understanding and supportive. It is not a competition – just a cool event. There were people with whom I couldn’t do this without. Janine, of course, was supportive the whole way through – and will go above and beyond, to make you comfortable. We had to bus to our local ISD and the tech guy there was incredible. He had me out beforehand and showed me just what would happen, made fantastic suggestions to make my job easier, and then ran the show, from the tech side, during the conference. The tech person should be able to give you specific guidelines too – depending on the set up and equipment available. I couldn’t have handled that and the class too – so check out how your end of the video conference will go. You need to have confidence that part is handled. (Oh there were glitches, but we dealt with them – and it was a big thing that they weren’t MY responsibility. 🙂

I have 2 groups for 2 classes (World Geography / Math) and I took each class on separate days. Each did it’s own country, which kept things interesting and we came up with a different ‘plot device’ for each one too. One class we did a ‘jeopardy game’ format, and the other a skit where a group of explorers crashed on the shore, not knowing where they were – they went on to ask questions of the people they met. I jazzed this one up by showing a video clip from unitedstreaming.com of a sailing ship going around Cape Horn – but that was just silly fun. Someone suggested we could have done jeopardy with a Powerpoint set up – but I just juggled 30 sheets of papers with the questions -and that many sheets for the answers, and placed them under a document camera (which the tech guy showed me :). For 4 classes you might want to keep things simpler though – come up with a format to use for each class – though a different country so YOU won’t get bored. Each class would present to a different group of kids, so THAT doesn’t matter.

We spent about a week, divided up into groups of 4-5 doing research on sample countries – to get a feel for the questions and answers, and the resources and web links we had. This also helped during the research time during the video conference as we knew where to look for different kinds of clues. Then a week researching and setting up the presentation for our chosen country. We wish we had twice as much time, but again, nothing gets stale and kids know they have to use every minute wisely.

I felt this was a great project at the beginning of the year to introduce students to resources they’ll use a lot during the year – encyclopedias, almanacs, and various web sites.

And if you are worried you don’t have enough time to participate, join the club – we all feel that way – but we’ll manage it the best we can. I think maybe what’s most important is to guage your class. Sell it well, but then ask them if THEY want to do it, explaining carefully that it means no free rides, and every single person will be on camera and has to do their share.

Good luck – go for it.

MysteryQuest World Student Comments

I’m cleaning up my MysteryQuest World site (to meet the new standard), and so I need to archive these on another site. Here they are for your enjoyment!

Kids’ Comments

Lance Middle School, Kenosha, WI

  • I learned that you can have a video thing with people in other places.
  • I learned how to look up facts and have fun at the same time.
  • I learned about teamwork.
  • I learned how to use all kinds of references.
  • I learned how to use an atlas and other resources better.
  • I learned how to work with other people in a group. It was nice to see the people in my group helping each other.
  • I liked the TV talk. I thought it was amazing.
  • I think the best part was researching because it was fun using all of the clues.
  • The best part was the camera because we got to talk to different states.
  • The best part was when we got to see the other people in different states.
  • The best part of it was our whole group working together to find answers.
  • It was fun because we got to use maps, atlases, and the computers.
  • I loved today. It was so fun and it was a good experience for teamwork and cooperation.
  • It was the biggest event of the year! I would tell other kids how awesome it was.
  • I loved it. It was awesome. We were so lucky. I would do over and over again.

Ending Jazz, Ideas for Short MysteryQuests

In Jazz this morning, as we were debriefing from the week, the middle school and high school people really wanted to do MysteryQuest in one class period. Their class periods are 55 or 60 minutes. We brainstormed how it could work:

New Schedule

  • 4 groups x 5 min presentations = 20 min. for group presentations
  • 15 minutes for research (can use computers from the start)
  • SKIP the Q&A and re-evaluate to increase the pressure, make it harder, and make it shorter
  • 5 min. sharing guesses
  • 5 min. sharing answers

45 min total with 10 minutes lee-way for technical difficulties and transitions.

Tips for shorter preparation time:

  • all the sections do the same city/country
  • use the same visuals (posters/PowerPoint) for all the sections

Transitions

  • put in the prep materials some tips for making fast transitions
  • know the schedule and have kids up at the mic ready to go
  • when you’re about to present, have some kids taking notes and the others getting ready to go

Whew! What an amazing week of Jazz June 2009. I love this workshop – everyone learns so much! In the words of one of my participants:

I feel very fortunate to be a member of this workshop. It’s like summer camp for adults, and the best part is, our “summer camp” travelled from state to state and overseas! :)

Well, I must say that I was very intimidated by technology in general. At the beginning of this week. I just thought that I would learn about vc and still let the librarian run the vc’s like in the past. Well, I am excited to say that thanks to Janine, I really will set up the vc. Actually, I have about 8 scheduled for next year. Thank you so much Janine for taking away my vc anxiety and introducing me to so many other online things.

You can review the blog reflections and the Flickr photos of this amazing workshop!