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Chris Cole
A
Role Play
September will be here soon than we think and
how are we going to teach Christopher Columbus this year,
on the 500 anniversary of the controversial journey. Everybody
is telling us to rethink Columbus. Maybe I should try a role
play. Maybe a role play would make the children in the fifth
grade class room feel like a part of Christopher Columbusí
experience of trying to optain the ships to even make such
a voyage. That is what Iíll do. A roleplay so the students
will be able to comprehend what Columbus, Ferdinand and Isabella
had to come to grips with in order to furnish Columbus for
the journey.
What in current society would correlate to
the experience that Christopher Columbus had to go through
to procure the three ships from Queen Isabella? A space ship
to fly to Mars should work nicely because we have already
landed on the moon.
After selecting the role and obtaining background
information on the requests Christopher Columbus made to Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand (Herring, 1968), I am ready to
prepare for Chris Coleís, (our present day Christopher
Columbus) meeting with the President of the United States
and the First Lady. (I also have used the President and the
First Man and the President and Vice President). To prepare
the student who is to play the role of Chris Cole, I must
inform Chris of the beliefs and the rewards of Chris Cole.
The following information on beliefs and rewards is given
to the student who plays the role of Chris Cole:
You are Chris Cole, smart, imaginative, a
young scientist and an astronaut. You are meeting the President
and the First Lady to tell them what you want to do and to
receive their financial support. The amount that you ask for
is totally up to you. The amount that I suggest is at least
$500 billion dollars. I will introduce you to the President,
First Lady and the rest of the class. The class is the Senate
of the United States. The class provides audience participation
(Woolever, 1988), and asks questions after the President and
the First Lady have completed their interview. As your teacher,
I will act as your press secretary helping you field and answer
any questions. This is the teacherís way of guiding
and controlling the climate of the role play (Woolever, 1988).
The following are Chris Coleís beliefs.
He will present them to the President and the First Lady.
1. Chris has and can sail to Mars in four
days.
2. Chris has discovered gold, oil, silver, and uranium on
Mars.
3. Chris will start a colony on Mars for the United States.
4. Chris will lay claim to Mars for the United States.
In return for the above mentioned gains for
the United States, Chris Cole requests the following rewards:
1. Chris will be lifetime governor of Mars
which will be hereditary.
2. Chris will be a general in the Army and have 5000 people
under his command.
3. Chris will be commander of the air ways around Mars.
4. Chris will have nuclear weapons on Mars to defend Mars
and the United States from enemies.
5. All minerals mined on Mars will be divided in the following
manner, 1/3 to the United States, 1/3 to the Men and their
families on Mars, and 1/3 to myself
(Chris Cole).
* These beliefs and reward for Chris Cole
are given to the person who is playing the part of Chris,
I will use a 3 * 5 card, so they may refer to the notes if
needed.
After Chris Cole has presented his proposal
to the President and the First Lady, they have the option
to ask Chris questions. After the questions have slowed down,
open the floor to the Senate for the questions. This is the
point that the teacher can include the audience participation
and is able to keep the role play in the classroom in a safe
climate (Woolever, 1988). When the questions are exhausted
or you feel that the Senate is finished, write "YES"
and "NO" on the board and ask the President and
the First Lady to vote. Then open the voting to the Senate
for their vote. NOTE!! (In the twelve years that I have used
this role play not one class has voted to send Chris Cole).
I thank the students who performed the role
play and ask them to return to their seats. I then proceed
to question the students. Can you compare what you have just
seen to any event in history? It is amazing some students
never do make the association between Chris Cole and Christopher
Columbus until it is mentioned in class. Now the discussion
can be centered on the history of Christopher Columbus and
the students can relate the role play to the problems encountered
by Christopher Columbus. The debriefing is only limited by
the ability of the teacher.
After writing the role play again with my
Secondary Social Studies Methods class we decided to demonstrate
the role play in a Foundations of American Education class.
It is amazing, after the methods class understood the elements
of a role play and played the roles, how many role plays I
receive from my class in their unit plans. I have received
role plays over the first Thanksgiving, Fire prevention, George
Washington at Valley Forge, and Cortes meeting Montezuma.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Armstrong, David G. Social Studies in the
Secondary School. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.,Inc.
1980
Herring, Herbert. Latin American History:
From the Beginning to the Present. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
Third Edition, 1968.
Jarolimek, John. Social Studies in the Elementary
Education. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1991.
Kaltsounis, Theodore. Teaching Social Studies
in the Secondary School: The Basics For Citizenship. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1979.
Shaftel, Fannie R. and Shaftel, George. Role
Playing in the Curriculum. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1982.
Woolever, Roberta M. and Scott, Kathryn P.
Active Learning in The Social Studies: Promoting Cognitive
and Social Growth. Boston: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988.
Dr. Randall E. Smith is an Associate Professor
of Education at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
in the School of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
in Edwardsville, Illinois 62026-1122.
Dr. Smith taught nine years of Social Studies
in Missouri, where he attended the University of Missouri-Columbia.
This role play has been used in the classroom successfully
by Dr. Smith and many of his Social Studies teachers.
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