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Hernando de Soto Arrives and Explores Florida

Objective:

  1. The students will be able to identify the route that Hernando de Soto sailed and how his expedition was different from other explorers.

Sunshine State Standards Benchmarks:

SS.A.1.2.1 - SS.A.2.2.3 - SS.A.3.2.4 - SS.A.4.2.2 - SS.A.6.2.3 - SS.B.1.2.1

Vocabulary:

governor expeditions debt vessel
cavalry bogs wetland currents
mutilated executed provocation  

Suggested Activities:

  1. For vocabulary development, use the C(2)QU (See Two Cue You) method with your students.
  2. Using a map of Florida, have the students locate and mark where de Soto landed and his exploration route.
  3. Identify some of the geographical features of Florida that the explorers discovered on their expeditions. Draw these features on a map of Florida. Some examples would be a bog, swamp, wetland, palmetto trees, waterways, etc.
  4. Have the students create a Character Frame for Hernando de Soto.
  5. Complete and review FCAT questions.

(Note: Actual FCAT practice passages are wrtten at the students' independent reading level. These Florida History selections are written at the students' instructional reading level. Therefore, students should not be asked to complete the questions until after receiving class instruction on the vocabulary and content of the passage. Students should also read the Florida History selection independently before answering the FCAT questions and be permited to return to the selection for rereading as they answer.)

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Exploring Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2002.