Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portugese sailor who led the first successful expedition to sail around the world. While other explorers were looking for water routes through North and South America, Magellan led his team south around the tip of South America. Magellan was killed in a battle with natives in the Phillipines, but one of
his five ships eventually made it back to Spain.










Here's a fun video about Magellan:

New Netherlands Act-It-Out

Our final act-it-out for Unit 2: European Exploration and Settlement, was on the surrender of New Amsterdam to the English.
One student from each class portrayed the colony's Dutch governor Peter "Peg Leg Pete" Stuyvesant, while others played the roles of Dutch colonists trying to persuade him to surrender (as usual, I played the on-the-scene reporter).
Governor Stuyvesant was prepared to defend his colony, until he was informed that his supply of gun powder was damp and useless. Without a shot being fired, New Amsterdam was handed over to the British who renamed the colony New York.

Kermit the Frog Interviews Christopher Columbus

The True Story of Pocahontas

In our discussion of jamestown last week we briefly
touched upon the importance of Pocahontas. I
mentioned how the Disney movie is not an accurate
depiction, but I was not able to go into much detail.
Here is a link to the the true story of Pocahontas

Act-It-Out: New France

Sept. 20th, 2006

We are currently learning about how European countries claimed and settled lands in the "New World." We have been creating "act-it-outs" to help us better understand what the settlers and Native Americans went through.

In the New France "act-it-out", students were chosen to portray French fur trappers settling in what's now Canada, Huron Indians (allies of the French), or Iriquois Indians (enemies of the French and Huron).

Blind Passage

Sept. 12, 2006

As our Preview for Unit 2: European Exploration and Settlement, students participated in an activity called Blind Passage. In this activity, students would have to walk through a field of obstacles, blindfolded, in order to earn extra credit for their team.

After the activity, we compared what the students did with what early European explorers experienced in their search for new trade routes.
After the activity, we compared what the students experienced with what early European explorers went through while searching for new trade routes. We discussed their goals, challenges, risks vs. rewards, and the role that competition played.