Culture Clash! Understanding the Perspectives of European Explorers and Natives

This week in Individuals & Society, we focused on identifying the perspectives of European explorers and natives during their interactions with one another. We began our work by reading two articles that discussed how the cultures clashed with one another. Students worked in pairs to identify perspectives particular to trade, slavery, disease, customs, and power.

After anchoring into the topic, students researched the interactions between their expert explorer and the natives they encountered. We identified quite a few negative aspects of exploration!! Students were then given the opportunity to change history through our "What Would YOU Do" activity. Students stepped into the perspective of their expert explorer and determined what they would do differently to improve interactions between the Europeans and natives. After completing their thoughts, we discussed each topic via a "Chalk Talk". The depth of conversation was incredible. I love how much the classes push their brains and take their thinking to the next level!