Conquistadors Lesson Plan: Change, Continuity, and Context

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Conquistadors, and supports the standard of analyzing connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Ask students:

• What might have been some reasons people explored new land throughout history?
• What do you imagine the arrival of explorers was like for indigenous peoples?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Conquistadors topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Conquistadors Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about conquistadors while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary explaining factors that enabled the conquistadors to conquer Mayan, Incan, and Aztec civilizations.
• Make-a-Map: Create a timeline identifying the impact of the Conquistadors on indigenous peoples of the Americas.
• Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring artifacts and figures to represent the history and impact of conquistadors.

More to Explore 

Time Zone X: Conquistadors: Place historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game. 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of conquistadors and their impact with these topics: Aztec Civilization, Inca Civilization, Mesoamerica, and Columbian Exchange.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.