Webquest

Mrs. Biermann and Mrs. Springhower

  Introduction        Task        Resources        Process        Evaluation        Conclusion

Why do some teenagers commit suicide?

What are the most common warning signs?

What are common myths about teen suicide?

 

How many teenagers die by suicide in America each year? In 2001, in the US, 4,250 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 died by suicide. This is an average of one suicide roughly every two hours! Why are some state’s teenage suicide rates much higher than others?  Youth suicide rates are highest in Alaska and the Rocky Mountain states. If you map the youth suicide rates by state, there is a striking difference between the eastern half of the USA and mountain regions in the west. We don’t know for sure why these rates are higher, but some theories include the largely rural territory, the vast land allocations to Native American reservations, poverty and a lack of easy access to resources.  What is a family's reaction when a teen family member completes suicide?  Most feel a combination of emotions: anger, sadness, guilt, shame and fear. They wonder what they could have done and why they didn’t do more. Suicide is different from other kinds of sudden death because the reason for the death is difficult to understand. With a car accident there is an external explanation or cause – an icy road, loss of vehicle control, etc. With a homicide, the grief-stricken can point to a perpetrator. With suicide, we don’t have an external cause, and so we ask ourselves over and over: 'why?'

What you are going to do:  You and your team have been given the task of creating a public relations packet to combat suicide awareness in Glenwood Community Schools and Community.  Each group will be producing a public relations packet that will include:

Who you are doing this for:  You will need to produce materials that are appropriate for West Elementary, Glenwood Middle School, Glenwood High School and the Community.  This means that you may need to make more than one item to make them age-appropriate.  Ultimately, your team’s task is to create materials that promote suicide prevention.

Remember:  Your public relations project should be informative and persuade the viewer to act – to be aware of suicidal signs.  Your suicide project should be worthy of being displayed in public.

Below is a list of issues that should be included for each project:

Guidelines:

Video - http://www.yspp.org/#

Suicide website - http://www.yspp.org/#

Newspaper creating website - http://www.juliethompson.com/Webquest/newsqst/teacher.html

Templates for bookmarks

Puzzle-maker website   - www.puzzlemaker.com

Class will be divided according to age level to be researched.  Ages to be covered will be 10 – 12 year olds, teenagers, and adults. 

Suicide Video:  Students will watch “The Silent Epidemic” Teen Suicide.  Students and the teacher will have a group discussion over the video and how suicide has affected them. 

Frequently Asked Questions:  Students will read through the frequently asked questions about Teen Suicide and answers to make them more aware of the situation and answer any questions that they might still have. 

http://www.yspp.org/aboutSuicide/suicideFAQ.htm

Statistics:   Students will need to gather statistics for their age group.  They will be asked to do a comparison of our county, with two other surrounding counties and a county from another state that is located at least two states away from Iowa.  Students will be required to have at least five different facts in their comparison.  Students will create a graph depicting the comparison of facts.  Successfully compare three counties and one county from another state that is at least two states away.

Newspaper:  Students will be asked to write a newspaper article which will help to create an awareness of suicide warning signs and prevention.  Newspaper article will meet high school criteria for journalism class. 

http://www.juliethompson.com/Webquest/newsqst/teacher.html

Students Choice:  Students can create a survey to be given to high school students in the district, develop a crossword puzzle incorporating warning signs of suicide, posters of prevention, or bookmarks. 

Puzzle Maker - www.puzzlemaker.com  Crossword puzzle contains no errors, provides answer key and contains minimum of 15 clues.

Bookmarks – Bookmarks need to either show a prevention strategies or warning signs. A template is available (click on “Open” if asked to open, save or cancel).  You should create one bookmark for each of our Glenwood Schools:  West (4-6), Middle School (7-8) and our High School.  You need to make a front and back.  The bookmarks should be formatted so they can be printed back to back and then cup apart.  We will send bookmarks to the Print Shop and distribute them to the different schools.  Your bookmarks can be on colored paper, but only in black.  Bookmark suitable for public use (determination made by guidance counselors and principal)

Posters – You should create posters that are appropriate to display at West (4-6), the Middle School (7-8) and our High School.  Make sure your posters are eye-catching and stick to the theme of suicide prevention.  You may use any materials that you wish.  Make your posters colorful and interesting.  Remember you are trying to get across the message that suicide is something we are trying to prevent.  Poster suitable for public display (determination made by guidance counselors and principal)

Survey Brochure – Your group will be responsible for creating and giving a survey to high school students only about suicide.  Those results will then be published in a brochure that can be read by students, parents and teachers.  You will need to think up the questions for the survey, give the survey, tabulate the results and then put the results together in an interesting and logical way.  Survey includes a minimum of ten questions. 

School Plan – As a class, you will come up with a suicide prevention plan for the high school.  The plan will be reviewed by the Counselors, High School Principal, Dean of Students and then will be presented to the School Board. 

Presentation:   creates overall picture student’s understanding of suicide

·        Includes statistics

·        Includes warning signs

·        Includes prevention strategies

·        Project is thorough, obvious effort put into it

·        Project completed by due date

Students will be required to present what they have learned and how it has impacted their life.  They will have the option of doing a power point, written report-orally presented, project board, or digital story.   They will have to include all the aforementioned criteria.

Mrs. Biermann and Mrs. Springhower
Glenwood Community High School
2005