CreatinganInformationalWebsite

LearningObjectives:
Studentswillresearchatopicandcreateawebsitethatpresentstheirfindings.
Studentswillselectcolors,fonts,andbackgroundsthatfollowwebdesignprinciples.
Studentswillwritewebcontentaboutachosentopic.
Studentswillcreatewebpageelements,includingtables,headers,lists,footers,and
embeddedgadgets.
Studentswilldesignandcreatelogofortheirsite.

ActivitySchedule:

Forthisproject,youwilldesignanddevelopawebsiteaboutatopicofyourchoice.Past
examplesoftopicsinclude:DallasCowboys,DominicanRepublic,FlyFishing,andSoccer.

Day1:Reviewpaststudentswebsitestogetanideaofwhatyouyourendproductwilllook
like.ChooseatopicandsubmitonGoogleClassroomAssignmentpage.

Day2:Aftertopicapproval,createwebsiteinGoogleSites.Changeprivacyandsecurity
settings,andshareyourwebsitewiththeteacher.Setupyourpreliminarycolorsandtheme.

Days3&4:Completeplanningoutlineforyourwebsite.Beginandfinishhomepage.(see
attachedwebsiteinstructions)

Day5&6:Brainstormandsketchlogoforwebsite.CreatelogoinGoogleDraw.

Days7&8:FinishFirstPageofwebsite.

Days9&10:FinishSecondPageofwebsite.

Days11&12:FinishThirdPageofwebsite.

Days13&14:FinishFourthPageofwebsite.

Day15:FinishtheLinkspageandPersonalInterestpageofwebsite.

Day16:Makeup/Catchupdayforanyassignments.

Day17:Presentwebsitetoclass.

Day18:Completeselfevaluationandpeercritique(attached).

M.Taylor2015

WebsiteInstructionsandRequirements:

Homepage
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
2paragraphsintroducingandtellingthenoviceaudienceaboutyourtopic
13pictures
Imagesourcesatthebottomofpage.

1stPage>titled
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
1paragraphprovidinginformation
25pictures
Imagesourcesatthebottomofpage
Oneofthefollowing:Table,OrderedList,UnorderedList.

2ndPage>titled
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
1paragraphprovidinginformation
25pictures
Imagesourcesatthebottomofpage
Oneofthefollowing:Table,OrderedList,UnorderedList.

3rdPage>titled
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
1paragraphprovidinginformation
25pictures
Imagesourcesatthebottomofpage
Oneofthefollowing:Table,OrderedList,UnorderedList.

4thPage>titled
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
1paragraphprovidinginformation
25pictures
Imagesourcesatthebottomofpage
Oneofthefollowing:Table,OrderedList,UnorderedList.

LinksPage
Willincludethefollowing:
Heading
1sentencedescribingpurposeofthelinkspage
5linkstoexternalsiteswhereviewerscanfindmoreinformation.

PersonalInterestPage
Heading
1paragraphtellingyourinterestintopicandreasonforchoosing
1paragraphtellinggivingsummaryofwhatyouhavelearnedaboutyourtopic.

M.Taylor2015

WebsiteEvaluation

EvaluatorsName:

InformationaboutWebsite:
Title
Author
Topic
Purpose

Website/WebpageCriteria

Yes

No

Not
sure

Thesiteloadscompletelyinlessthan8seconds

Thepagesubject/topiciseasytofigureout.

Thereisacleartitleatthetopof
every
page.

Thenavigationbarisvisibleoreasytofindatalltimes.

Allnavigationlinksleadtothecorrectpage.

Allexternallinkswork.

Thecurrentpageisshowninthenavigationbar.

Thecolorschemeissupportedbycolortheory.

Thereisaconsistentcolorschemeforallpagesonsite.

Thecolorchoicesarerelevanttothesubjectofthesite.

Thelayoutiseasytoeasytofollow.

Allimagesloadandarevisibleandclear.

Thefontiseasytoread.

Thereiscontrastbetweentextandbackgrounds.

Alltextisbigenoughtoread.

Thereisaneasytosee/readlogoatthetopofthepage.

Logofitswithcolorschemeofsite.

Allsourcesandimagesareclearlycited.

M.Taylor2015

GradingRubricInformationalWebsiteContent
Category

4points

3points

2points

1point

Content

Thesitehasawellstated
clearpurposeandtheme
thatiscarriedout
throughoutthesite.

Thesitehasaclearly
statedpurposeand
theme,butmayhave
oneortwoelements
thatdonotseemtobe
relatedtoit.

Thepurposeand
themeofthesiteis
somewhatmuddyor
vague.

Thesitelacksa
purposeandtheme.

Content
Accuracy

Allinformationprovided
bythestudentonthe
Websiteisaccurateand
alltherequirementsof
theassignmenthave
beenmet.

Almostallthe
informationprovidedby
thestudentontheWeb
siteisaccurateandall
requirementsofthe
assignmenthavebeen
met.

Almostallofthe
informationprovided
bythestudentonthe
Websiteisaccurate
andalmostallofthe
requirementshave
beenmet.

Thereareseveral
inaccuraciesinthe
contentprovidedby
thestudentsORmany
oftherequirements
werenotmet.

Learningof
Material

Thestudenthasan
exceptional
understandingofthe
materialincludedinthe
siteandwheretofind
additionalinformation.
Caneasilyanswer
questionsaboutthe
contentandprocedures
usedtomaketheweb
site.

Thestudenthasagood
understandingofthe
materialincludedinthe
site.Caneasilyanswer
questionsaboutthe
contentandprocedures
usedtomaketheweb
site.

Thestudenthasafair
understandingofthe
materialincludedin
thesite.Caneasily
answermost
questionsaboutthe
contentand
proceduresusedto
makethewebsite.

Studentdidnot
appeartolearnmuch
fromthisproject.
Cannotanswermost
questionsaboutthe
contentandthe
proceduresusedto
makethewebsite.

Interest

Theauthorhasmadean
exceptionalattemptto
makethecontentofthis
Websiteinterestingto
thepeopleforwhomitis
intended.

Theauthorhastriedto
makethecontentofthis
Websiteinterestingto
thepeopleforwhomitis
intended.

Theauthorhasput
lotsofinformationin
theWebsitebutthere
islittleevidencethat
thepersontriedto
presentthe
informationinan
interestingway.

Theauthorhas
providedonlythe
minimumamountof
informationandhas
nottransformedthe
informationtomakeit
moreinterestingtothe
audience(e.g.,has
onlyprovidedalistof
linkstothecontentof
others).

Spellingand
Grammar

Therearenoerrorsin
spelling,punctuationor
grammarinthefinaldraft
oftheWebsite.

Thereare13errorsin
spelling,punctuationor
grammarinthefinal
draftoftheWebsite.

Thereare45errorsin
spelling,punctuation
orgrammarinthefinal
draftoftheWebsite.

Therearemorethan5
errorsinspelling,
punctuationor
grammarinthefinal
draftoftheWebsite.

Copyright

Fairuseguidelinesare
followedwithclear,
easytolocateand
accuratecitationsforall
borrowedmaterial.

Fairuseguidelinesare
followedwithclear,
easytolocateand
accuratecitationsfor
almostallborrowed
material.

Fairuseguidelines
arefollowedwith
clear,easytolocate
andaccuratecitations
formostborrowed
material.

Borrowedmaterials
arenotproperly
documented.

WorkEthic

Studentalwaysuses
classroomprojecttime
well.Conversationsare
primarilyfocusedonthe
projectandthingsneeded
togettheworkdoneand
areheldinamannerthat
typicallydoesnotdisrupt
others.

Studentusuallyuses
classroomprojecttime
well.Mostconversations
arefocusedonthe
projectandthings
neededtogetthework
doneandareheldina
mannerthattypically
doesnotdisruptothers.

Studentusuallyuses
classroomprojecttime
well,butoccasionally
distractsothersfrom
theirwork.

Studentdoesnotuse
classroomprojecttime
wellORtypicallyis
disruptivetothework
ofothers.

M.Taylor2015

GradingRubricInformationalWebsiteDesign
Category

4points

3points

2points

1point

Background

Backgroundis
exceptionallyattractive,
consistentacrosspages,
addstothethemeor
purposeofthesite,and
doesnotdetractfrom
readability.

Backgroundis
attractive,consistent
acrosspages,addsto
thethemeorpurposeof
thesite,anddoesnot
detractfromreadability.

Backgroundis
consistentacross
pagesanddoesnot
detractfrom
readability.

Backgrounddetracts
fromthereadabilityof
thesite.

Color
Choices

Colorsofbackground,
fonts,unvisitedand
visitedlinksforma
pleasingpalette,donot
detractfromthecontent,
andareconsistent
acrosspages.

Colorsofbackground,
fonts,unvisitedand
visitedlinksdonot
detractfromthecontent,
andareconsistent
acrosspages.

Colorsofbackground,
fonts,unvisitedand
visitedlinksdonot
detractfromthe
content.

Colorsofbackground,
fonts,unvisitedand
visitedlinksmakethe
contenthardtoread
orotherwisedistract
thereader.

Fonts

Thefontsareconsistent,
easytoreadandpoint
sizevariesappropriately
forheadingsandtext.
Useoffontstyles(italic,
bold,underline)isused
consistentlyand
improvesreadability.

Thefontsare
consistent,easytoread
andpointsizevaries
appropriatelyfor
headingsandtext.

Thefontsare
consistentandpoint
sizevaries
appropriatelyfor
headingsandtext.

Awidevarietyoffonts,
stylesandpointsizes
wasused.

Graphics

Graphicsarerelatedto
thetheme/purposeof
thesite,arethoughtfully
cropped,areofhigh
qualityandenhance
readerinterestor
understanding.

Graphicsarerelatedto
thetheme/purposeof
thesite,areofgood
qualityandenhance
readerinterestor
understanding.

Graphicsarerelated
tothetheme/purpose
ofthesite,andareof
goodquality.

Graphicsseem
randomlychosen,are
oflowquality,OR
distractthereader.

Layout

TheWebsitehasan
exceptionallyattractive
andusablelayout.Itis
easytolocateall
importantelements.
Whitespace,graphic
elementsand/or
alignmentareused
effectivelytoorganize
material.

TheWebpageshavean
attractiveandusable
layout.Itiseasyto
locateallimportant
elements.

TheWebpageshave
ausablelayout,but
mayappearbusyor
boring.Itiseasyto
locatemostofthe
importantelements.

TheWebpagesare
clutteredlookingor
confusing.Itisoften
difficulttolocate
importantelements.

Navigation

Linksfornavigationare
clearlylabeled,
consistentlyplaced,
allowthereadertoeasily
movefromapageto
relatedpages(forward
andback),andtakethe
readerwheres/he
expectstogo.Auser
doesnotbecomelost.

Linksfornavigationare
clearlylabeled,allowthe
readertoeasilymove
fromapagetorelated
pages(forwardand
back),andinternallinks
takethereaderwhere
s/heexpectstogo.A
userrarelybecomes
lost.

Linksfornavigation
takethereaderwhere
s/heexpectstogo,but
someneededlinks
seemtobemissing.A
usersometimesgets
lost.

Somelinksdonot
takethereadertothe
sitesdescribed.A
usertypicallyfeels
lost.

LoadTime

Allpagesloadquickly
(510seconds)

Allpagesload
reasonablyquickly
(1015seconds).

OneWebpagetakes
morethan15seconds
toload,buttheothers
loadquickly.

Webpagestakea
morethan15seconds
todownloaddueto
largegraphics,
animations,sounds,
etc.

M.Taylor2015