Working in pairs, students research the life of Champlain using a variety of texts, biographical printed data, and electronic encyclopedias to create a personality profile. Read Champlain's Letter , Appendix 1.1, a fictitious letter from Champlain to the King of France. Students discuss information provided about the establishment of settlements and the connections to the fur trade. On a large map, students locate Lake Champlain, Acadia, Richelieu River, and the St. Lawrence River. Provide students with European and Aboriginal Settlements in the Early Seventeenth Century , Appendix 1.2.
Students locate and label the areas identified on the large map.
Using historical atlases and texts, students locate and label European and Aboriginal settlements in the early seventeenth century. Small groups of students use chart paper to create a vocabulary word web pertaining to the entrepreneur. Each group displays a completed Vocabulary Word Web , Appendix P.2. Students use dictionaries to define the words in their notebooks and then share their definitions orally. Students may include the events of the day, detailed descriptions of the environment, the number of furs they obtained, and the goods they traded.