European Explorers: Age of Exploration, Voyages, New World Discoveries & MORE!
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What educators are saying
Description
Looking for an easy-to-use social studies unit on early European explorers for your third, fourth, or fifth grade class? Look no further! Our unit is designed to take your students on an exciting voyage during the Age of Exploration, where they'll learn about and experience the journeys of early European explorers.
Our engaging hands-on student activities, including learning centers, a review game, and unit assessment, are available in both printable and digital formats, making prep a breeze. Our step-by-step guide takes the guesswork out of planning, allowing you to deliver an interactive, fun, and rigorous learning experience for your students.
Our unit includes everything from anchor slides to printable or digital activities to a unit bulletin board set. Not only will your students learn about the Age of Exploration, but they'll become active participants through hands-on, student-centered learning experiences. Get ready to set sail on an exciting journey with our complete unit on early European explorers!
HOW IT WORKS:
Each lesson is divided into three easy-to-follow components, designed to make your teaching experience a breeze.
- The Introduction portion of the lesson is where you'll review previously learned content and introduce new concepts and content vocabulary. You'll start with anchor slides for the whole group before breaking out into small groups for hands-on practice.
- During the Lesson Activity, students will explore the Age of Exploration and early European Explorers through various hands-on activities, often in partners or small groups. They'll record their learning in one place, in their student activity packet.
- Finally, bring your students back together for the Lesson Reflection. This is where they'll review, share, and discuss what they've learned during the lesson activity. Students can reflect on their learning through journal questions, right in their student activity packet.
With this effortless structure, your students will be engaged, excited, and ready to learn about the Age of Exploration and early European Explorers!
EXPLORERS STUDENT WILL LEARN ABOUT INCLUDE:
- Christopher Columbus
- John Cabot
- Vasco Nunez de Balboa
- Juan Ponce de Leon
- Giovanni da Verrazzano
- Jacques Cartier
- Hernando de Soto
- Samuel de Champlain
- Henry Hudson
CONCEPTS COVERED:
- What was the Age of Explorations (what is an explorer?)
- The Life of an Explorer
- Maps - Major countries involved in the Age of Explorations
- Reasons for Exploration
- Discoveries of New Land
- The relationship between Native Americans and Europeans (both positive and negative)
- Artifacts and Objects used by Early Explorers
- Cause and Effect relationships related to the Age of Exploration
- Each explorer's (listed above) exploration experience (what country sent them, why they were sent, and what they discovered in the new world)
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
- Detailed Teacher Guide with everything you need for each lesson. You can download each teacher and student resources directly from the guide making prep a breeze! Find a unit overview and easy-to-follow detailed daily lesson plans that outline student objectives, materials needed, teacher preparation required, and the steps on how to conduct the lesson. You'll even find sample anchor charts and answer keys embedded right into the teacher guide for seamless instruction delivery.
- Student Explorer Journal - Meaningful student activities to go along with the daily lessons - all in one place! (printable OR digital)
- 31 anchor slides to go along with each lesson to guide you and keep you on pace for each lesson.
- A 60+ piece Bulletin Board set to reinforce learned concepts
- "Searching for Gold" - a fun scavenger hunt activity to kick off the unit
- Exploration Objects and Artifact picture cards for a small group activity (printable and digital)
- 5 learning centers for teaching the Age of Exploration - Topics of each center include: Life as an explorer, maps of involved countries, reasons for exploring, relationships between Natives and Europeans, and life in the new world. With each folder students will work in small groups to learn about each topic and then complete a short activity related to each topic. Students will rotate through each folder. (printable or digital)
- Digital LINKtivity interactive learning guide - an virtual exploration of the journeys of the 9 European explorers (listed above). For each explorer, students will learn background information, the goals for each voyage, a narrative of the voyage, and the results of each voyage. Students will enjoy the story-telling style of each voyage. Students complete a flipbook (printable or digital) while exploring the LINKtivity
- A "Cause and Effect" puzzle activity on the cause-effect relationships of the Age of Exploration (printable or digital)
- "The Race Around the World" - Unit Review Game
- Formal Unit Assessment (printable or digital)
WHAT OTHER TEACHERS ARE SAYING...
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ashley C, 4th grade teacher says, BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE CREATOR!! This is actually the third year I have used this resource in my classroom. Not only is it engaging but the kids have fun. What I really want to say is thank you! This year with everything going online and so many students having to do it virtual it has been overwhelming. She has done EVERYTHING in Google!!! I didn't have to go and create slides and quizzes because she did it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cool to Be Kinder, teacher says, This product is AMAZING!!!! Absolutely phenomenal I wish I could give it A+. Everything you need for a great unit of Early Explorers. My kids loved everything from the PowerPoints to gold search to the stations. Rachael--If I could hug you, I would! THANK YOU! Keep doing what you're doing!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ MissMiniMills, 4th & 5th grade teacher says, This had EVERYTHING I needed to teach explorers. It was so helpful and detailed. I really loved the explorer Google Classroom activity and my students found it so engaging. Thank you so much for such a great and comprehensive product!
Take a look at the extensive sample to get a sneak peak of the unit!
MORE SOCIAL STUDIES UNITS:
Native Americans of North America
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