Undercover Explorers

Teacher Directions

1. Assign one of the explorers on the following pages (page 4) to each student. If some students are doubled up on an explorer, that is fine, but they are not researching together.

2. Give the students the instructions paper (page 3) and 1-2 weeks to research their explorer. I mostly have them do this at home. Below is a list of sites that may be helpful for research:

http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0306-exploration-expansion.php

http://www.kidinfo.com/american_history/explorers.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/

3. As students research, they need to keep a list of details to remember such as birth date, what the person did as a child, what was their adult life like, etc. Remember, they are going undercover as if they were that explorer and have to talk in first person (using “I” instead of “he”).

4. Assign students in partners and have one person be the journalist to ask questions and take notes while the other person is the explorer and presents. The journalist has to keep asking questions as long as time remains (usually 3-5 minutes). Later, they will use the notes to write a short news article about that explorer, so they want to ask good questions and take detailed notes.

5. During this time I have let my 5th graders use a small note card with one side filled out with facts. I find that sometimes there is so much to remember that this helps give them a start.

6. After the interview is done, have them switch roles and the journalist becomes the explorer and the explorer becomes the journalist.

7. Some students do not prepare well for their explorer and that leaves the journalist at a disadvantage since their news article has to be written using only the information presented in the interview. To avoid this problem, and to give students more practice, I have them interview 3-4 people and present 3-4 times. Then for the grades, I average the rubrics together.

8. After students present, have the journalist grade the explorer on the presentation (page 6). I usually copy a paper that has 4 presentation rubrics on it (print it so there are two to a page) so that each person has all four grades on one paper.

9. To complete the rubric, have students circle the entire box in which the students scored. Next, they need to multiply the top number by the weight of the score and write the amount in the score box. Then add the total score points to get a final score.

10. Finally, hand out the News Article Rubric (page 5) and assign students to write their article about one of the explorers they interviewed using only the notes they took in class.

Going Undercover to Discover the Explorers

As you may know, when a person goes undercover in any position they must know their story very well down to the details of where and how they were born and who their current family is. You will be traveling back in time to Renaissance Europe (1400-1600 A.D.) where you will be undercover as one of the explorers.

Your assignment is to research your character well enough to impersonate him/her and answer questions to a reporter who will interview you. Each of you will have the opportunity to be interviewed as well as be the reporters who ask questions.

Here are some questions that may help begin your research:

1.  Where were you born?

2.  How did you become interested in exploration and ships? At what age?

3.  What are some of your greatest accomplishments?

4.  Who paid you to explore? What countries did you represent?

5.  Tell me about your family.

6.  Where do you currently live?

7.  What challenges have you faced during your life?

8.  What advice do you have to offer those who seek to follow your steps?

Grading will be as follows:

1.  How well you represent your character (answering questions confidently without notes)

2.  How well you interview someone else (asking appropriate questions, taking notes, newspaper article write-up)


Explorers

1.  Vasco de Gama

2.  Christopher Columbus

3.  Ferdinand Magellan

4.  Leif Erikson

5.  Marco Polo

6.  Francisco Pizarro

7.  Prince Henry

8.  Bartolomeu Dias

9.  Amerigo Vespucci

10.  John Cabot

11.  Sebastian Cabot

12.  Ponce de Leon

13.  Vasco de Balboa

14.  Hernando Cortes

15.  Sir Francis Drake

16.  Samuel de Champlain

17.  Henry Hudson

18.  Jacques Cartier

19.  Francisco Coronado

20.  Hernando de Soto

21.  Pedro Cabral

22.  Cabeza de Vaca


Name ______Date ______

Explorer Article Write-up Rubric

1.  Write a newspaper article write-up from your interview with another explorer.

2.  Length is at 1-2 paragraphs with details about the character’s life, skills, and how they influenced society.

3.  All notes in article must come ONLY from the interview- no outside research can be involved.

4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / Weight / Score
Accuracy of Information / All information is complete and accurate including a description of the questions about the assigned topic. / Most information is accurate and complete. / Information lacks important details and many pieces of information are not accurate. / Information is incomplete or inaccurate. / x7
Quality Work / All writing is neat and legible. Presentation represents student’s best work and is free from smudges. / Writing is neat and legible. Presentation has some smudges or paper edges are not cut. / Writing is legible but not neat. Presentation is not neat. / Writing is illegible. Presentation is of poor quality. / x5
Grammar / Student has no errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling. / Student has 1-2 errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling. / Student has 3-4 errors in grammar, punctuation, or spelling. / Student has 5 or more errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling. / x 5
Format / Article is written in a correct paragraph format with excellent details about the character’s life and talents.
Title is creative, describes the article and uses 7 words or less
Language is appropriate for an article and is free from slang or unneeded phrases. / Article is mostly written in a correct paragraph format with details about the character’s life and talents.
Title uses 7 words or less and describes the article
Language is mostly appropriate for an article and is free from slang or unneeded phrases. / Article is somewhat written in paragraph format with facts about the character’s life and talents.
Title uses more than 7 words or does not describe the article.
Language is informal and uses slang or unneeded phrases. / Article is not written in paragraph format but resembles a list of facts. Character’s life and talents are not clearly described.
Title is not present.
Language is inappropriate for a report. / x6
Participation / Assignment is completed on time. / Assignment is one day late. / Assignment is two days late. / Assignment is more than two days late. / x2
Total / Percent / Grade


Presenter ______Grader ______

Explorer ______

Undercover Explorer Presentation Rubric

4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / Weight / Score
Information / All questions on the topic are effectively answered and correctly. Student knows his/her character well and represents him/her well. / All questions are answered adequately. Student knows the character and mostly represents him/her. / Most questions are answered adequately. Some may have been incorrect. Student does not know the character well. / Questions are not answered adequately and student does not know the character at all. / x7
Stand up / Student is standing straight with good posture all the time. / Student is moving a little, hands are in pockets. Posture is good most of the time. / Student is moving a lot, hands are in pockets, or is standing with poor posture most of the time. / Student is moving a lot or needs to improve posture greatly. / x5
Speak up / Student speaks loud and clear all of the time. / Student speaks loud and clear most of the time. / Student speaks loud but not clear, or clear but not loud. / Student is not speaking loudly or clearly. / X 5
Look up / Student is looking at the audience or the back wall with minimal glances at their paper. / Student is looking at the audience most of the time, but still focuses some on their paper. / Student is looking at the audience sometimes, but focuses mostly on their paper. / Student does not look at the audience. / x5
Participation / Assignment is completed on time. / Assignment is one day late. / Assignment is two days late. / Assignment is more than two days late. / x3
Total / Percent / Grade

1