The lesson will focus on an overview of concurrent Dutch, French, Spanish, and English explorations on the east coast of North America during the 1500’s and 1600’s. After students read their textbooks about North American exploration, this lesson will be used to reemphasize the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments each country experienced. The use of cooperative learning through group goals and individual accountability will be accentuated.

Objectives:

Students will work in cooperative groups to describe accurate aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of explorers from England, Netherlands, Spain, or France by creating a poster of all the information and writing a narrative about one explorer of interest.

This lesson touches on the California State Standards for Fourth Grade Social Studies 5.2 Explain the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of explorers, sponsors, and leaders of key European expeditions and the reasons Europeans chose to explore and colonize the world.

Materials:

• Whiteboard
  
• Graphic organizer on explorers
• Data retrieval chart on explorers
• Class set of computers with Internet access
• Poster board
• Class set of pens
• Copies of North American map for class
• Checklist of historical information for each country
  

Plan:

1. Write the term "Explorers" on the board and create a semantic map with three satellites labeled What explorers do, What explorers look like, and Where explorers go. Ask students what words come to mind when they think of the term explorers and under what categories their information falls. When the students provide comments, each should be recorded around the appropriate category. Allow about six responses. If one category falls short, ask students to discuss the category in a small group and come up with one idea of what came to mind.
   
   
2. Inform students that they will use their knowledge from the textbook readings to complete this project. Provide each student with the graphic organizer that describes the French, English, Dutch, and Spanish explorers of Early America. Have students review this with a partner. Once completed ask students why the European countries decided to send their explorers to America. Allow students to respond and ask them to write in any additional details described in class.
   
   
3. Inform students that they will be working in small groups to study a country’s effort at exploration of the east coast of North America. Tell them that they will work together to gather detailed information about explorers from a country and their expeditions. The group will create a poster about the country’s efforts to explore North America touching on reasons for expeditions, hardships, and results.
   • Put students into groups of five and give each group a data retrieval chart and a copy of a North American map.
   • Explain the tasks to the students by describing the roles they may choose from. Members of the group can choose from one of the following tasks to research: location of expedition, reasons for expedition, the hardships, the results, or mapping the location.
   • Explain to students that they can choose to use their textbooks and websites to find the details about the European explorers. Have each group take turns logging onto either of these websites:
     http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/%3ftqskip=1 take turns logging onto either of these websites:
     http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/%3ftqskip=1