Last week, the fifth graders completed two readings in Social Studies, one on French colonies and one on Spanish colonies in the American continents. Yesterday, they took their notes and worked together to organize their information into a Venn diagram – comparing the similarities and differences between French and Spanish colonies. They used question words (when, who, where, why, how….) to prompt some critical thinking and make some thoughtful comparisons.
We will continue to add to these diagrams as we discuss the effects of colonization on the colonists and Native Americans. Ultimately, students will use these diagrams and their notes to write a compare and contrast essay in the next few weeks. Venn diagrams are an excellent example of a way to map/organize information to help understand and draw conclusions from it.
