Cyberspace explorer: Getting to know Christopher Columbus
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=126
A lesson plan for Grade 5 Social Studies and English Language Arts
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 5
- Subjects
- English language arts (writing), social studies (American Indians, Central America, geography, United States history), thinking skills (critical literacy, information literacy, research skills), diverse learners (multiple intelligences), education technology (computer/technology skills, integrating technology)
- Provider
- IRA/NCTE
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
In this lesson, students participate in a cyber scavenger hunt to find information about explorer Christopher Columbus. After the teacher engages students in a discussion about their knowledge of the explorer, the class suggests other questions they would like to answer. Once the teacher has modeled how to complete the online activity, students complete the cyber scavenger hunt. In the second session, students review the material from the previous lesson and then complete the online interactive timeline using at least five key dates or events collected during their cyber scavenger hunt. Finally, as a culminating activity, students individually create a summary report of the activity. Readwritethink provides links to several web resources that provide information on the life of Christopher Columbus, guidelines for an online scavenger hunt, and step-by-step instructions for the teacher to use when creating a report. The lesson also suggests extension activities that challenge students to think critically about the information from the perspective of Native Americans
.North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 5
- Goal 1: The learner will apply key geographic concepts to the United States and other countries of North America.
- Objective 1.07: Analyze the past movement of people, goods, and ideas within and among the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America and compare it to movement today.
- Goal 4: The learner will trace key developments in United States history and describe their impact on the land and people of the nation and its neighboring countries.
- Objective 4.02: Explain when, where, why, and how groups of people settled in different regions of the United States.
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 5
- Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
- Objective 2.02: Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by:
- making predictions.
- formulating questions.
- supporting answers from textual information, previous experience, and/or other sources.
- drawing on personal, literary, and cultural understandings.
- seeking additional information.
- making connections with previous experiences, information, and ideas.
- Objective 2.03: Read a variety of texts, such as:
- fiction (tall tales, myths).
- nonfiction (books of true experience, newspaper and magazine articles, schedules).
- poetry (narrative, lyric, and cinquains).
- drama (plays and skits).
- Objective 2.07: Evaluate the usefulness and quality of information and ideas based on purpose, experiences, text(s), and graphics.
- Objective 2.09: Listen actively and critically by:
- asking questions.
- delving deeper into the topic.
- elaborating on the information and ideas presented.
- evaluating information and ideas.
- making inferences and drawing conclusions.
- making judgments.
- Objective 2.02: Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, and viewing by:
- Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
- Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
- analyzing word choice and content.
- examining reasons for a character's actions, taking into account the situation and basic motivation of the character.
- creating and presenting a product that effectively demonstrates a personal response to a selection or experience.
- examining alternative perspectives.
- evaluating the differences among genres.
- examining relationships among characters.
- making and evaluating inferences and conclusions about characters, events and themes.
- Objective 3.06: Conduct research (with assistance) from a variety of sources for assigned or self-selected projects (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks).
- Objective 3.01: Respond to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama using interpretive, critical, and evaluative processes by:
- Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
- Objective 4.10: Use technology as a tool to enhance and/or publish a product.
