Before You Watch
Respond to the following questions:
- What challenges have you faced in teaching the sometimes controversial topic of early explorers in America? How have you addressed those challenges?
- How are essential questions useful teaching tools?
- What differences do you notice among your students' learning styles, and which strategies do you find most effective in addressing the different styles?
- Describe a rubric you have designed to establish criteria prior to an assignment. Did you develop the rubric by yourself or with the help of your students? What are the advantages of each method?
- What types of assessment tools do you use, and what is the purpose and the strengths of each?
Watch the Video
As you watch "Explorers in North America," take notes on Mr. Cuddi's instructional strategies, particularly the way he uses essential questions. Write down what you find interesting, surprising, or especially important about the teaching and learning in this lesson.
Reflecting on the Video
Review your notes, then respond to the following questions:
- What struck you about the classroom climate, background, preparation, strategies, and materials used in this lesson?
- How is this class different from yours? How would you introduce your students to the impact of European explorers on Native Americans?
- How have state and national standards influenced Mr. Cuddi's lesson plans?
- How does Mr. Cuddi engage and maintain students' interest throughout the lesson?
- Describe the various parts of the lesson and how each part helped build students' interest.
- What role do the essential questions play in developing a student's view of history?
- How do Mr. Cuddi's instructional and assessment strategies accommodate different learning styles?
Looking Closer
Let's take a second look at Mr. Cuddi's class to focus on specific teaching strategies. Use the video images below to locate where to begin viewing.
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