This lesson is designed for fourth graders to both explore early Delaware history resources on the web and develop writing skills, specifically in the areas of letter writing and descriptive writing.

Off-line preparation

• This lesson is designed as one of several lessons about early Delaware history. Before beginning this lesson, students should have an understanding of the early settlement of Delaware and be conversant with terms such as Lenni Lenape, Swedes and Dutch.
• Each student should receive a copy of the worksheet.

Prior skills

• Students should be familiar with the mechanics of letter writing.
• Students should be able to follow links on a web page and return to their starting location.

This lesson

• Make sure to distribute sheets to students beforehand.
• Students should work individually or in pairs. During the time at the computer, students should be able to complete the information gathering. Teachers may want to help students settle into a particular site quickly. They may also want to direct certain students to sites that match their reading abilities.

After this lesson

• Students will need time to create their letters.

The student rubric for the letter is from an adaptation of the Delaware standards developed by Jennie Smith Elementary School in Newark, DE.

No separate evaluation is provided for the information gathering, although teachers may want to check this for completeness.