Reading Amadas and Barlowe

This lesson was designed to be used with students who have not had much practice in using primary source documents in the classroom. While the lesson is written as a small group activity, the worksheet can be done individually or in small groups. It can also be a teacher-directed lesson in which the teacher asks the questions and the students/groups answer orally.

One of the objectives in using primary source documents in the classroom is to begin to get students to read and think critically. We need to encourage our students to question source material and realize that the past was experienced in different ways by different individuals, and that there are different interpretations and multiple perspectives for any historical event.

For classes that have had practice with using primary source documents, the teacher may choose to use fewer of the available questions.

Learning outcomes

• Students will read about the Amadas and Barlowe exploration to coastal North Carolina in 1584
• Students will analyze a primary source document
• Students will engage in critical thinking

Teacher planning

Materials needed

• Computer with internet access for each student or group or
• LCD projector with computer with internet access or
• Copies of Amadas and Barlowe Explore the Outer Banks and the section "Hopeful Explorations" from Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony for each student (or several copies of each for each group.)
• A copy of the "Reading Amadas and Barlowe" worksheet (below, and linked from the sidebar as a PDF) for each student or group

Time required for lesson

1 hour to 90 minutes

Procedure

Small group lesson

1. Put the class into groups of three.
2. Give each group a copy of the "Reading Amadas and Barlowe" worksheet.
3. Have each student access "Amadas and Barlowe Explore the Outer Banks" online or pass out paper copies. Do not hand out the "Hopeful Explorations" section at this time.
4. If using paper copies, explain to the students that at a certain point in their work, they will need another reading. Instruct them to get that from the teacher at that time.
5. Allow each group to work through the worksheet while the teacher moves between the groups.
6. At the end of the period, either go over all of the questions together or go over questions 23 through 30 and question 33.

Teacher-directed lesson

1. Have each pair of students access "Amadas and Barlowe Explore the Outer Banks" online or pass out paper copies. Do not hand out the "Hopeful Explorations" section at this time.
2. Using the teacher's guide to the Amadas and Barlowe worksheet, go through the questions allowing the students time to read the required paragraphs.
3. At question 30, either have the students go to Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony" on their computers or hand out paper copies of the "Hopeful Explorations" section from that page.

Assessment

If you conduct this as an individual or small group lesson, the assessment will be a completed, accurate worksheet (see the teacher's guide to the "Reading Amadas and Barlowe" worksheet for answers -- some will vary).

If you conduct it as a teacher-directed lesson, the assessment is student participation.

One of the major outcomes for this lesson is to begin to encourage students to think critically about primary sources.

	Reading Amadas & Barlowe Worksheet
	Reading Amadas & Barlowe: Teacher's Guide