Christopher Columbus Lessons

I visited two classrooms and observed global lessons. Each experience was different but offered me incredible insight. Both classrooms were learning about Christopher Columbus's voyage due to the close proximity to Columbus day. The two teachers used different approaches to teach their topics and had different classroom management styles. Both teachers were effective and had their class engaged for the duration of the lesson. The first classroom I visited was a geography class. The topic of the week was Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. The teacher began the class with a welcome and a review of their homework. They went over the homework as a class and reviewed the material. The teacher used a powerpoint with discussion questions

The class was also learning about the arrival of Christopher Colombus and the collision of two worlds. The class began by discussing the agenda of the day. They reviewed homework with a partner, which consisted of a primary document account of Christopher Colombus describing his first encounter with the Native Americans. After the discussion, the teacher read them a story. The story was ‘Encounter’ by Jane Yolen. This book allowed them to understand the point of view of the Native Americans with the arrival of the Native Americans. Then they compared the two readings and completed a chart about similarities and differences from the two perspectives about the encounter between the Europeans and the Native Americans. This allowed the students to understand the point of view of both perspectives. The students then answered discussion questions about the reading with their partner and they went over them as a class. The class ended with an exit ticket. The exit ticket asked their opinion on whether Columbus day should be celebrated as the discovery of a new world or in remembrance of the Native Americans who lost their lives. They had to make a claim and defend their point of view. This allowed them to use critical thinking skills to describe their own point of