SIMILE SAFARI

SIMILE SAFARI!

A Language Arts WebQuest

Elizabeth Jerman

Introduction

Welcome to Simile Safari! Have you ever heard that people resemble their pets? Well, it's true! In this WebQuest, you and a partner will search out photographs of animals around the world. Then you will use similes and rhyming couplets in a PowerPoint presentation to compare your animals to photographs of people! Here are the WebQuest requirements:

The Task

Using the links on this page, you and a partner will search the Internet for photographs of animals, copy them to a diskette, and then find photographs of people who look like or are doing things like your animals! When you have copied three pairs of animals and people, your team will combine them in a three-slide PowerPoint presentation using two-line, rhyming similes (called couplets) to state the comparisons. Finally, you will present your slideshow to the class! Remember, similes use the words "like" or "as" to make comparisons. An example might be:

Meercats at play

Are like kids on a bay!

Your PowerPoint presentation will include the following:

· Three slides, with an animal photograph and a people photograph on each slide

· An original, rhyming couplet simile for each slide which compares the appearance or actions of the animals shown with the people shown.

· The Process

You and your partner will divide up responsibility for creating your slideshow in the following manner:

· Both members will search the following links and agree upon photographs to select and save on a shared diskette.

Animal Links:

Wildlife Webpage http://www.wildlifesearch.com

The Cyber Zoomobile http://www.primenet.com/~brendel/

Safari West http://www.safariwest.com/?goto=photo_tour&id=

R. Stacy's Pet Page http://homepage.mac.com/rstacy/firstsite/index.html

People Links:

People (and animal) Pictures http://www.picturesof.net

Famous Faces http://www.williamcoupon.com/FACES/faces1.html

Haga Festivals Site http://www.hgpho.to/home-E.html

Yahoo Famous People List http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/People/

· One member will be the Poet, who will be responsible for writing appropriate rhyming couplet similes for each pair of photographs.

· One member will be the Computer Graphics person, who will be responsible for assembling the PowerPoint slides with photographs your team selects and the poems written by the Poet.

Evaluation

Simile Safari! Performance Objectives Rubric	Exemplary 25pts.	Accomplished 20pts.	Developing 15pts.	Beginning 10pts.	Total Score (75 pts. poss.)
Team Photograph Selection	Photographs selected are paired and of animals and people with clear similarities in appearance or activity.	Photographs selected mostly have clear similarities.	Photographs selected have some clear similarities.	Photographs selected have few clear similarities

Poet	Writes poetry which consists of a two-line, rhyming couplet simile making a clear comparison between the photographs on each slide.	Writes poetry which is mostly rhyming couplet similes with mostly clear comparisons.	Writes poetry which is somewhat made up of rhyming couplet similes making some comparisons.	Writes poetry which is rarely made up of rhyming couplet similes and makes few clear comparisons.
Computer Graphics Person	Assembles photographs and poetry into a three-slide PowerPoint presentation that is attractive, entertaining, and informative.	Assembles a presentation which is mostly attractive, entertaining, and informative.	Assembles a presentation which is somewhat attractive, entertaining, and informative.	Assembles a presentation which is marginally attractive, entertaining, and informative.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You and your partner are poets! Show off to your friends and family your new talent at making comparisons using similes and rhyming couplets . Remember, the best use of similes is to make the invisible become visible, or the unfamiliar become familiar. What else can you make into a simile? Just look around...your world is full of things to compare! Happy writing!