Lesson Title: European Explorers

Name: Courtney Elders

Grade Level: 5
Concept to be taught: Early European explorers
Lesson Goals: Increase students' knowledge about early European explorers
Prerequisite Skills and/or Concepts: Knowledge of early America
Alabama Course of Study Reference: 5.4 Determine the economic and cultural impact of European
exploration during the Age of Discovery upon European society and American Indians.
National Standards Reference(s): Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) website
Accommodations:
SPE: Students will be strategically grouped throughout the activities. The pictures during the PPT will help
to solidify learned knowledge.
ELL/ESL: Students will be strategically grouped throughout the activities. The pictures during the PPT will
help to solidify learned knowledge. Students will have access to dictionaries and thesaurus as needed.
Early Finishers: Students will have the opportunity to write a journal entry as if they were a European
explorer who has just found the new world.

Exploration: (Contains student activities that engages and diagnosis students prior learning.)
Objective:
Procedures:
Assessment:
Students will identify key facts
1. The teacher will engage the
The teacher will assess
about early European explorers.
students by saying, European
the students' responses
explorers were some of the first
from the KWL chart they
Materials:
people to see America besides the
have created using their
1. Macbooks
Native Americans. How do you
Macs (know and want to
2. Link to KWL Creator (will think they felt when they first
know parts)
be accessible through class
stepped off their boats? What do
Blackboard page)
you think they saw?
2. The teacher will ask the
students to get out their Macs.
3. The teacher will ask them to
log on to their Blackboard page.
4. The students will find the link
under the social studies tab
http://www.readwritethink.org/fil
es/resources/interactives/kwl_cre
ator/
5. The students will complete the
K and the W sections, and
minimize the window for the
closure the lesson.
Invention: (Contains student activities that are appropriate and meaningful. These provide multiple
explanations and examples, primary source(s), and an appropriate closure.)
Objective:
Procedures:
Assessment:
Students will identify key facts
1.The teacher will strategically
The teacher will assess
about early European explorers.
place the students in groups.
the student created
Once they are seated she will tell
posters to determine if
Materials:
the students that they need to pay
the students can identify
1. PowerPoint
close attention to the PPT because
key facts about the six
2. Projector
they will use this information to
early European
3. Macbooks
finish their KWL chart.
explorers discussed.
4. Chart paper
2. As the teacher goes through the
The teacher will assess

5.
6.
7.

Pencils
Markers/Crayons
Explorer handout

PPT she will stop to ask questions

and check for understanding. The
students will be asked to
recognize geographical areas on a
map. (North America and
Europe) Students will be asked to
talk at their tables about what
they think an explorer did/was.
Students will view the primary
source paintings of European life
and explorers on slide three and
be asked to make inferences
based on what they see.

the students' responses

from the KWL chart
they have created using
their Macs (what I
learned part)

3. The teacher will ask the

students to go to Blackboard and
find the European explorer
biographies under the Social
Studies tab. Each table will be
assigned an explorer to read
about. The students will work
with their table mates to pick out
information from the text that
they think is most important.
4. After the students have their
facts ready, the teacher will
supply each table with chart
paper, markers, and crayons. The
students will work at their tables
to create a graphic organizer
which tells about the explorer
they have just researched. Each
table will select a person to share
their poster with the class.
Students will be asked to write at
least three facts about each
explorer on the explorer handouts
given to them.
Closure: To close the lesson the
teacher will ask the students to
refer back to the KWL charts they
created at the beginning of the
lesson. The students will now fill
in the L portion of the chart with
three things they have learned.
Expansion: (Contains student activities that provide application in a new and relevant setting.)
Objective:
Procedures:
Assessment:
Students will identify key facts
1. The teacher will tell the
Student journal entries
about early European explorers.
students that they will pretend as
though they are one of the six
Materials:
European explorers we have
1. Social Studies journals
discussed.
2. Pencils
2. The teacher will tell the
students that they are to create a
journal entry which describes

their thoughts and feelings upon

coming to the new world.
3. They will use the knowledge
they have gained during the
lesson to accurately describe
situations the explorer would go
through.
4. They will record this entry in
their Social Studies journal.
Lesson Plan References:
http://alex.state.al.us/
www.enchantedlearning.com
www.readwritethink.org
Power Point, Student Handouts, Rubrics: Include copies of a PowerPoint if it is used in the procedure.
Also, student handouts, rubrics and similar materials mentioned in the procedure must be included with
the lesson plan.