Explorers class was a class that focused on a key question throughout the entire unit which was; did the explorers explore, encounter or invade the land they found? This question was asked

many times throughout the unit. We read a book on Christopher Columbus called Encounter, after we read the book the vote was unanimous that Columbus actually invaded the land he found because he harmed the natives of the land. This class involved geography, Visual thinking strategies, building shelters with raw materials, research, learning about chronological order, and creating timelines.

At the end of the unit the students were asked the explore, encounter, or invade question about the specific explorer they were assigned to research and learn more about. The students wrote a paragraph about what they thought and provided details from their research to help explain why they chose what they did.

The students also had the create a timeline with the five specific dates they had to find during their research. The students presented both their paragraphs and their timelines to the class. The students were really creative with their timelines, the end results were amazing.