In the United States, Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Columbus Day is a time to remember the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. There are diverse views and opinions about the landing of Columbus. The lesson plans below offer different perspectives regarding this historical time.
The Holiday Zone
http://www.theholidayzone.com/columbus/
The Holiday Zone contains a wide selection of resources for creating a Columbus Day lesson plan. The activities available on the website are for children of all ages. Printable coloring pages are included along with discussion ideas. While some art activities are geared towards younger children, there are also art projects for older kids, such as creating various versions of the ships that participated in Columbus’ voyage. There is a section on the website titled, Language Activities for Columbus Day, which includes information that is appropriate to use when planning lessons for older children.
There are over a dozen interesting discussion questions to use in your lesson planning as well. The material covering the history of Columbus Day includes great questions to review with your students, such as:
– What is Columbus Day all about?
– How did Columbus Day become a Holiday?
– Who was Christopher Columbus?
– How important was his discovery?
– What makes Columbus controversial?
Songs, finger plays, poetry, puzzles, and a recommended book list are also available on the website.
Lesson Plan – Columbus Day
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/columbus.html
This website provides lesson plan ideas for Columbus Day from a Native American perspective. The lesson plan is intended for students in the 4th – 5th grade. The activities included can be completed in one week’s time. In order to prepare for the week of activities, the author has inserted a list of recommended resources.
The author, Jamie Huggard, has written an in-depth background of Christopher Columbus and his voyage, as well as the sources to the information. A few of the objectives of this lesson plan are:
– recognize how Columbus’ discoveries affected the Native Americans
– students will be able to place the events of Christopher Columbus’ life and voyage in order on a time line
– students will be able to write a story about Columbus’ first step on American ground from the Native American point of view
– students will recognize the characteristics of Columbus by completing a character sketch of him
– students will be able to write a letter with correct grammar, punctuation and spelling
Apples 4 The Teacher – Columbus Day
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/columbus-day/
The Columbus Day activities on this website are suitable for elementary age children. A brief history of the holiday is given along with Columbus Day short stories. Other helpful ideas for you Columbus Day lesson plans are the recommended reading list, poems, facts about Columbus’ ships, and a chapter book that can be printed out to read to the children. There are also literacy ideas to combine with the printable coloring pages.
Additionally, there is an interactive three scene play about the discovery of America. The skit is called, Christopher Columbus and is written by Augusta Stevenson. Each of the three scenes of the skit contain the setting information, the characters, and the dialogue.
