Overview:

This lesson is an introduction to a study of Christopher Columbus and the meeting of the two worlds

Objectives:

1. Students will demonstrate their previous knowledge about Columbus.

2. Students will explore and compare different perspectives about Colombus.

Grade Level: 7-9

Time: 2 Days

Subjects: American History, Geography, Latin American History

Required Materials

1. an adult who is unknown by your students
2.   3 large sheets of paper for group brainstorming
3. "Who Was That Man" by Tod Olson with Catherine Hulbert

Optional Technologies:

Suggested Procedure (Pedagogy):
At the beginning of class, have some busy work planned – collecting papers, taking attendance, handing back papers.

1. Have an adult – unknown to students – run into class and cause a commotion, taking things, saying things, etc. for less than 1 minute and then run out of the room.
2. Tell students that an important moment in history just occurred and ask them to write down what happened for the history books. They need to be as detailed as possible in their account, so that future generations will benefit from their first-hand knowledge of the scene. Students should write silently, not sharing their ideas with each other.
3. After students are done writing, share answers with the class and highlight the differences between their responses.
4. Lead students into a discussion about how history is written and the shortfalls of history books.
5. Explain that the class is going to talk about Christopher Columbus and his role in history.
6. Ask students as a class to brainstorm who Columbus was and what he did. Write their responses on the chalkboard.
7. Use this brainstorming as a lead-in to the reading, “Who Was That Man?”. 
8. Read the introduction together as a class. Then, split the class into 3 groups, each group reading one of the biographies.
9. After students have finished reading, have students meet in their groups and brainstorm on a large piece of paper the characteristics of “their” Columbus.
10. Have a spokesperson from each group share their  perspective with the class. Try to identify these perspectives with the class’ brainstorming before the reading.
11. Explain that we will be learning more about Columbus, so they can see how different people have written this era in history and allow them to make an informed decision about who Columbus was and what he did.

Suggested Assessment: Assess students by their participation in the discussions and brainstorming. Also, assess group brainstorming for the accuracy of information presented.

Credits

Lindsay Gaida, Eden Prairie Central Middle School