The activity featured in this exhibit shows a shopping WebQuest I created for my students. This WebQuest is available on my teacher Web site: Mr. Ledesma's Web site

Objectives:

• Students will choose items based on personal interests.
• Students will identify appropriate stores or Web sites to find prices for selected items.
• Students will use the Web site search feature to find items.
• Students will identify the item price.
• Students will enter the price and quantity on shopping list.
• Students will use multiplication to solve for total item price and tax, and addition to solve for the total price.
• Students will write complete sentences to describe item purchases, stores visited, and total price (price will be expressed in word form).
• Students will print their shopping lists.
• Students will share their shopping lists with classmates.

First, the students had to learn how to use the mobile wireless lab. I modeled how to use the equipment, and encouraged the students to practice and help each other learn how to use the laptops.

The students had to learn how to use the various programs, specifically how to navigate the Internet with a Web browser, open and type documents, and select among several open programs.

The students also had to learn how to find and locate information within a commercial Web site. Some of the students could not read all the words on the Web site, so I used some strategies such as looking at the pictures to find the selected item and finding the dollar sign by a number to find the price.

I helped my students learn the necessary skills to use the technology by encouraging them to model and practice the necessary procedures as often as possible, so that using the mobile wireless lab and laptops became routine, and the students became independent in its use.

Giving them the opportunity to control the direction of their activity is important in empowering them to develop their own voice and self determination.

These are the steps required to complete the activity:

1. Access my teacher Web site: The students learned to go to my teacher Web site to find the shopping WebQuest.
2. Complete the Shopping List: The students open the shopping list on the Web page and type the necessary information.
3. Choosing the Item: The students type their chosen items in the blanks provided.
4. Which Store? After typing the items, the students choose appropriate stores to find them and click to the store Web site.
5. Searching for the Item on the Web site: Once the students are on the store Web site, they can search for their items using the search function, or use the navigation bar to choose the appropriate category.
6. Identifying Price: After the students find their items, they identify the price and type the price in the price column on the shopping list.
7. Calculation: After the students have completed entering the items and prices, they are ready to use a calculator to find the tax and total price.
8. Shopping Journal: After the students complete their calculations, they type a few sentences about their shopping choices on the shopping list.
9. Printing: When the students have completed their shopping lists and journal, they print their work and prepare to share.

My expectations for each student vary according to their individual strengths. Some students will complete the entire activity--calculating the totals for multiple items, calculating the tax and total price, and writing a few sentences about their choices. Other students may find an item and identify the store where the item can be purchased. Adjusting high expectations for each student ensures that the activity is challenging and meaningful.

Making calculations was one of the more challenging aspects of this activity. Prior to this lesson, we had various mini focus lessons on when we use addition, why we use multiplication, why we pay taxes when we purchase items and how we calculate tax, and understanding the "dot" or decimal.

Although they may not have understood all the reasons and details of each component, they understood the end purpose. In a life skills curriculum, it is sometimes possible to make progress with a larger goal without full understanding of all the steps of the process. The students understood they had to pay tax, and they learned how to compute tax without a full understanding of multiplication and decimals. These concepts would be reviewed in more detail in future lessons.

Since many of my students have speech and language goals in their Individual Education Plans, I integrate opportunities to practice communication whenever possible. I encourage my students to share their ideas and work with others. This also gives them the opportunity to take pride in their accomplishment by sharing what they do with their peers.

In turn, this sharing facilitates further communication since the students learn more about each other. I believe that it is important for special education teachers of students with moderate disabilities to facilitate conversations and friendships in every way possible, since the students may have difficulty doing this independently.