JMU Powerful Social Studies

TITLE OF LESSON: Become An Explorer

CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students just completed a science unit, and are now beginning their social studies
unit on ancient explorers. This week they have been introduced to ancient explorers so I
am doing this lesson as a review of the four explorers that are covered in this SOL.
Throughout the week the students have been working on interactive notebooks that
include all of the facts they need to know about ancient explorers. This activity will
provide a follow-up lesson to what the students have been learning about all week as well
as being a review activity. Prior to my lesson, the students completed their unit on the
explorers in their interactive notebooks where they cut and paste pictures and facts, as
well as filling out skeleton notes with information on the explorers. The information the
students put into their interactive notebooks included facts such as: where each explorer
came from, their reason for exploring, and their successes and achievements. The
completion of this unit of the interactive notebooks served as a pre-assessment, because it
told me what the students have learned about the ancient explorers. While filling out the
interactive notebooks, my cooperating teacher would ask questions about the explorers,
which gave the students opportunities to respond and show their knowledge about the
explorers. My cooperating teacher also showed a short video about all of the ancient
explorers, which allowed me to see what the students learned about the explorers,
therefore creating my activity with applicable information. This particular lesson provides
a review for the students upcoming social studies test. Reviewing in this manner is
different for the students, as they are usually sent home with a study guide to read. This
review will instill more knowledge about the explorers into the students minds, because
they have to apply it in a hands-on manner, making it more relatable. For a physical preassessment, I will give my students a sheet with questions about the explorers to see how
much they know about where the explorers came from, where the went to, and what their
successes and achievements were.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
SOL 3.3
The student will study the exploration of the Americas by
a) Describing the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de Len,
Jacques Cartier, and Christopher Newport;
b) Identifying the reasons for exploring, the information gained, the results of the travels,
and the impact of the travels on American Indians.
Understand Students will Know Students will know Do Students can locate and
understand the impact that each explorer, which country use information from print
ancient explorers had on the sponsored each explorer, their and non-print sources.
Americas.
reason for exploring, and
their successes and
Students can distinguish
Students will understand that achievements.
between relevant and
the first explorers had
irrelevant information.
different motivations, had
Students will know the
different sponsors, and met overall impact that these
Students can gather, classify

different successes.

explorers had on American

Indians.

and interpret information.

Students will understand that

due to European
Students will know the terms
explorations, American
explorer and European.
Indians experienced changes
to their cultures and
environment.
Cannaday, B. K., Jr., Wright, P. I., Wallinger, L. M., Allan, M. R., Barton, B. S., & Dyke,
F. D. (2008, July 17). History and Social Science Standards of Learning Curriculum
Framework 2008. Grade Three: Introduction to History and Social Science. Retrieved
from
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/frameworks/history_socialscience_framewks/200
8/2008_final/framewks_history3.pdf
ASSESSING LEARNING:
Students will answer the pre-assessment and exit ticket questions. Students will correctly
identify which explorer their classmates are portraying.
MATERIALS NEEDED
For this lesson I will need four explorer cards. I will make and provide these cards.
Each card will have the name of the explorer with a picture, which country sponsored
them, their reason for exploring, and the successes and achievements of the explorer. This
card will also have instructions for the activity telling each group what they need to do in
order to create a small skit about their explorer. The card will also have one or two
examples of things each group could say as a starting point, to help their classmates guess
who their explorer is.
PROCEDURE
Activity Element
& Time (in
minutes)
Introduction
1-2 minutes

Procedures and management

I will give the students the

pre-assessment sheets
I will introduce the lesson
by asking the students to
remember what they have
been learning about the
explorers this past week.
I will divide the class into
4 groups by counting them
off by 4s.

Students

Students will think to

themselves and recall what they
have discussed about the
explorers in class.
Students will count off their
numbers as I point to them.

Transition
1 minute

I will tell the students

which numbers should go
where in the classroom,
pointing to two areas of the
carpet, a table and a group
of desks.

Students will go to where their

number goes.

Event 1

Students will arrive at

their station and find an
explorer card with key
facts about their explorer.
Students will also find
direction sheets at their
station.
I will tell them to read over
their card as a group and
follow all of the
instructions on the card.
In addition to the key facts
about their explorer on the
explorer card, there will
also be instructions for the
students to act out qualities
of their explorer in order
for their classmates to
guess which explorer they
are trying to represent.
As the students are
working in groups, I will
circulate the classroom to
see if any group has any
questions on how to act
like their explorer.
If the groups have
questions or concerns
about what to say, I will
give them examples to
begin their brainstorming
process.

The students will read over the

directions sheet to find out
exactly what they are going to
be doing.
The students will read over their
explorer cards as a group.
As a group they will decide
which roles they want to act out
and how they will portray their
explorer.

10-15 minutes

Transition
1 minute

I will call students back to

their assigned desks.

Students will go back to their

assigned desks.

Event 2

I will call each group up

Each group will come up and

5-10 minutes

by number

Conclusion
5 minutes

I will ask everyone to get

back to his or her seats and
thank the students for
participating.
I will ask if the students
have any questions about
any of the explorers.
I will see if students have
any compliments to give to
their classmates.
I will give students the preassessment sheet again to
see how much information
they have learned from the
lesson.

perform their skit

After each group is finished
performing, the class will have
opportunities to guess whom the
explorer is. Each group will be
allowed to give one hint.
Students will give themselves a
round of applause.
Students will ask questions if
they have any.
Students can compliment their
classmates on the amazing job
they did.
Students will complete the same
questions that they did for their
pre-assessment, but this time it
will be used as an exit ticket to
see what information they have
learned from this lesson.

DIFFERENTIATION:
In order to meet the needs of all of the students I have given examples of things to
say in their skits and given students very explicit instruction cards with what to do with
the other information on their explorer cards. As I walk around during the lesson, if some
students are shy or having difficulty coming up with things to say I will suggest that they
contribute to the skit as. I will group students that need more one-on-one attention, or
have various disabilities with students that are knowledgeable with this information and
feel comfortable with this activity to help their classmates.
For students that find this content minimally challenging, I will give them the task
of group leader. They will be in charge of making sure every student in their group has a
role and is confident in what they will say or do when they perform their skit. These
students could also be in charge of instructing their group when to begin their skit once
they are in front of the class, so that all of the students are on the same page for when to
begin performing.
RATIONALE:
I am teaching about the ancient explorers, because it is important for students to
understand how their world as they know it came to be. It is important to know the
impact that these famous explorers had on the people that already lived in the Americas,

and how these impacts directly affect their life today. Children must know how the world
as a whole came to be, and what people thought the world was before these explorers set
sail. If students did not have this knowledge, they would think that the world has always
been how it is today. Students can also learn what the proper ways to treat people and
other cultures are. From the explorers, we as citizens can learn that it is not acceptable to
encroach on other peoples land and completely take it over while destroying their society.
It is important for students to know that the world went through difficult times in order to
get to the more peaceful place that we are in today. This knowledge will make students
better citizens, because they will learn to not take from others, and not destroy others
properties, people, land, and belongings. This lesson will help students understand the
affects that the ancient explorers had on Native Americans and the land they lived on.
These affects will teach students the positives and negatives of the ancient explorers,
causing them to be grateful for the world we live in now, as well as teaching them that we
can not just take anything we want away from people, whether it be as big as their home,
or something small like their lunchbox, helping them develop into a positive citizen.
Learning about the explorers also teaches students how facts about the world were
discovered, including Earth being round instead of flat. The skills used in this lesson will
also help students locate and use information from print and non-print sources,
distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, and gather, classify and interpret
information. These skills can be put to use in everyday life, helping students gather
information from a variety of sources, allowing them to learn from resources outside of
school, on their own time.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?

With this lesson, it could be possible that students in a group do not work well together
and cannot complete the task without causing an issue. If this is the case, I will separate
the students into different groups. Some students could feel too shy to act in front of the
class. If a student feels shy I will encourage them that this classroom is a friendly and
welcoming environment and everyone will love their performance. If they still feel
uncomfortable acting in front of the class I will suggest that they play a small part in the
skit, even an object like a boat could be acted out. Within groups, students may have a
hard time deciding who gets to say what. If this problem arises I will encourage them to
work it out through talking. If students can still not figure out which roles they want to do
within their group even after talking it out, I will suggest they do rock-paper-scissors in
order to decide who gets to say or do what. Students could not have any idea which
explorer a group is portraying. If this happens and no student has a guess, I will begin
listing key facts of each explorer (giving hints) until the explorer is discovered. After this
I will review the key facts and pick out the parts in which the group identified those facts
in their skit. Students could not have any idea what to say in their skit, if this is an issue I
will continue to prompt students with simple sentences that they could say to help their
classmates identify their explorer, as well as giving them actions they can act out. Groups
could also have an organized plan, but freeze once they get in front of the class to
perform their skit; if this happens I will remind them of what I overheard in their
conversations prior to performing, and encourage them that it is a safe environment to
perform in.
Task:

I will put students in groups to

act out things their assigned
explorer would say and do.
They will review key facts
about their assigned explorer.
After a group is finished acting
out what each explorer will say
or do, the rest of the class will
guess who their explorer is
based on their clues. How the
students respond to the skits
will allow me to assess their
knowledge about the explorers.
I will also be able to assess
their knowledge of the
explorers based on how
students interpret how their
explorers would act.

Diagnostic features:
Support:
I will look for
I could adapt this lesson
students verbally
for students that are not as
mentioning
outspoken in class by
identifying facts
having them complete
for their assigned
skeleton notes with key
explorer. For
facts to see if they have
example; students
learned about the
saying, I am from
explorers.
France, coming to
I will go around to the
colonize the New
groups while they are
World!
preparing their skits to
I will use exactly
clarify questions they may
what the students
have about the explorers.
say in their skits,
I will give groups ideas of
their guesses, and
what to say, to begin the
reasoning for
brainstorming process of
guesses to assess
things to say in their skit.
their knowledge.