Need a new way to teach students about explorers? Mrs. Ridgeway has her students make their own trading cards featuring facts about those they are studying. To begin, she gives them a list from which they choose five people, each from a different country. Then, her students do the research to find out all the information they need to add to the card. Students become quite knowledgeable on these five explorers and then swap cards with a partners to learn about more.
Differentiate this lesson by giving some students “cheat sheets” with facts that can be used or by providing them with cards that are partially completed. You can also ask some students to be responsible for a larger assortment of cards than others.
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