Lesson Plan - The Mystery of Roanoke
Learning Objective
Students will learn about a discovery that may help explain what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke.
Content-Area Connections
U.S. History
Standards Correlations
CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.5, RI.3.7, RI.3.10
NCSS: Time, Continuity, and Change
TEKS: Social Studies 3.1
Text Structure
Chronology
1. Preparing to Read
Watch the Video
Build background knowledge about Roanoke and other history mysteries by watching the video “The World’s Most Mysterious Places.” Discuss: Which place do you find most interesting? Why?
Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.
Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them think about what could have happened to the people of Roanoke.
2. Close-Reading Questions
1. Why did some Native people around Roanoke not trust the English colonists?
One reason some Native people around Roanoke did not trust the English colonists was that one Native tribe had been attacked by an earlier group of English explorers.
(RI.3.8 Cause and Effect)
2. Why did John White leave Roanoke to go back to England?
John White left Roanoke to go back to England to get food and supplies.
(RI.3.2 Main Idea and Key Details)
3. Why does Scott Dawson say the iron flakes found on Hatteras Island help prove that the colonists moved there?
Scott Dawson says the iron flakes found on Hatteras Island help prove that the colonists moved there because the flakes come from blacksmithing. Native people in that area at that time did not know how to blacksmith, but the colonists did.
(RI.3.1 Text Evidence)
3. Skill Building
FEATURED SKILL: Text Evidence
Distribute the skill builder “Find the Clues” and have students use evidence from the article to support or refute the series of claims.
(RI.3.1 Text Evidence)
