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Description
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will examine four of the first significant Spanish explorers to North America, including Pineda, Cortes, Cabeza de Vaca, and Coronado. Students will be able to identify the regions they explored and the Indigenous people they encountered. They will be able to explain the significance of each explorer and demonstrate cause and effect relationships between them.
LESSON TIME
This lesson will take approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Exact times may vary based on the specific needs of individual classes.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
- What were some of the difficulties of the first Spanish explorers in the Americas, and were they successful at achieving their goals?
Teacher Tools
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Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used
Downloadable/editable versions of this lesson plan, including a step-by-step guide through the lesson. When applicable, a list of primary sources used in the lesson is also included.
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Slideshow
This ready-to-use classroom slideshow presentation contains the warm-up exercise (above), the daily objective, the “We will / I will” statements, and the essential question for the lesson. It guides the class through the assignment providing larger versions of images, visual representations of the directions, and supports for reading, taking notes, and answering questions including sentence stems for in-class responses. It concludes with the exit ticket.
Student Activities
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Warm-up and Exit Ticket
In this printable warm-up / bell-ringer activity, students will list and compare items used in travel today and in the 1400s. Students will speculate how the items available to past explorers might have helped or limited their experiences while traveling.
This allows students to contextualize the difficulties past explorers might have had as a result of less developed resources or technology compared with today.
In this exit ticket, students will write a short-answer response that explains one significant effect of three events discussed in the days lesson including Pineda’s map, Cortes’ defeat of the Aztecs, and Cabeza de Vaca’s claims of “cities of gold.”
The Warm-up and Exit Ticket document includes two warm-ups on the front of the page and two exit tickets on the back of the page. This formatting reduces the number of copies needed, as teachers will cut each printed page in half. Each student will receive a half-page with the warm-up on the front and the exit ticket on the back.
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Grade Level Guided Notes
In this printable assignment, students will follow the notes from the slideshow to read short passages about topics including Pineda’s map of the Gulf of Mexico, Cortes’ defeat of the Aztecs, Cabeza de Vaca’s expedition, and Coronado’s search for gold.
Students will use the readings to complete their guided notes sheet including writing the key information, the significance of each event, and answering an open-ended question about the passage.
Grade Level work involves taking full notes based on information from the presentation, responding to multiple-choice questions about each passage, and some map labeling.
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Foundation Guided Notes
Foundations level work modifies grade level activities and involves taking reduced, fill-in-the-blank notes from the presentation and responding to multiple-choice questions with one answer choice eliminated.
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Advanced Guided Notes
Advanced level work involves taking full notes based on information from the presentation, short constructed-response questions, and some map labeling.
Sources
Previews and links to sources referenced in this lesson.
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![Tarjeta Postal. [Postcard of Fernando Cortés]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
Tarjeta Postal. [Postcard of Fernando Cortés]
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 98
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Route of Cabeza de Vaca.
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Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528-1543.
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