1. To motivate students for this lesson, tell students that they are going to enter a time capsule and will be beamed back to the year l492. They will find out what else was happening in this historic year--did anyone know they were living in historic times? Was anyone thinking: "Boy, this is going to be an extraordinary year!" The classroom will become the world of the l5th century as students research, illustrate, and present reports on various aspects of European culture. Bulletin boards should display maps of 1492; display the kinds of things the explorers were trading in the east--spices, silks, jewels (costume jewelry and old silk scarves will do). These articles should be displayed in a setting that includes books on the explorers and other available pictures and materials. Students will use their understanding of the term
culture
and the research skills learned in the previous unit to accomplish their task.
2. Use the book entitled,
If You Were There in 1492
, by Barbara Brenner as a read-aloud to motivate students as they do their own research. This book contains sixteen chapters that deal with everything from "Food and Clothing" to "Crime and Punishment" in the year 1492. Brenner's vivid description of little-known facts will help students imagine what life was like as events were happening that changed life in a most incredible way.
3. The teacher and students will generate a list of questions about life in 1492:
What kinds of food did people eat in 1492?
What did houses look like in l492?
How did people travel in 1492?
What did people do for entertainment in 1492?
How were people educated in 1492?
How did people dress in 1492?
What did people do for a living in 1492?
How were countries governed in 1492?
These generated questions should be copied and distributed to the students as a guide for their research.
4. Before beginning the research, the librarian will review research skills with students. As was suggested in the previous unit, the librarian and/or students may want to create a display around the 900 section where the explorers/exploration material is found (e.g., pictures of period sailing vessels, maps, spices, silk scarves, gold costume jewelry, compasses, star charts, etc.).
5. Students will next choose a topic pertaining to life in 1492 that was particularly interesting to them--food, shelter, clothing, science, math, art, music, etc. They will write a paragraph on the topic and illustrate it in some way (drawing, diorama, etc.). The teacher should schedule a time when students may present their topics to the class.