Third graders listen to read-alouds and participate in extension activities about European Explorers—Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, John Cabot, Henry Hudson, and Samuel de...

What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...

Sail with Christopher Columbus on a biographical reading adventure. Young explorers learn about the life of Sir Columbus as they hone their comprehension skills through guiding questions, shared reading, and fluency practice. Included in...

Students engage in a Jeopardy-style PowerPoint presentation on the life of Christopher Columbus. The categories are Columbus, Santa Maria, Nina, Pinta, Parts of a Ship. This excellent resource should lead to a firm understanding of...

By providing an in-depth and interesting overview of European exploration in the New World, this presentation would be a wonderful complement to a unit on this topic. The 17 slide presentation is both thought-provoking and informative....

"Columbus Day"? Indigenous Peoples' Day"? "Native Americans' Day"? The controversy over what to call the federal holiday celebrated on the second Monday in October is the focus of a lesson that asks high schoolers to consider various...

A read-aloud anthology focuses on Columbus and the pilgrims. Young scholars listen to several stories covering Christopher Columbus, the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, pilgrims, meeting Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving. Nine...

How would the story of the discovery of America be different if indigenous people told it through their eyes? Individuals compare the conventional account of this moment in history to an account given by one of the native peoples. After...

Scholars compare statues of Columbus and discuss how each memorial captures his personality. Academics also complete a worksheet and discuss how some people have called to remove statues honoring Columbus. 

Scholars use their reading comprehension skills to answer questions about a short informative text regarding Christopher Columbus. A progress report follows eight questions—multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank. 

What are we really celebrating on Columbus Day? The resource explores the narrative behind Columbus Day and ways for people to change the perception. Scholars also review vocabulary terms associated with the topic and how attitudes have...

What is the connection between greed and mercantilism? Historians consider this question by analyzing a fairy-tale like story about King Midas from the nineteenth century. The background information and excerpt help pupils understand the...

What did it take to embark on a journey to unknown lands? Perhaps ambition, but also money! Christopher Columbus had to approach more than one European monarch for financing before he could sail the ocean blue. A read-along play and...

Who was Zheng He and why haven't we heard of him? Scholars consider the question as they compare his vast expeditionary force to that of Christopher Columbus. Young historians then ponder the intersection of science, economics, and...

Did you know that horses have two sets of teeth?  There is much to learn about horses, of course, and those interested in equine science will learn much from a 10-lesson agricultural science course that covers not only equine dental and...

Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.

Looking for resources that explore alternative perspectives of the Christopher Columbus story? Check out the images, videos, cartoons, primary source documents, and other texts in a packet designed to spark debate.        

What did Christopher Columbus have to say about his exploration of the Caribbean? Young historians have a chance to examine Columbus' own words about his voyage to Cuba and Santo Domingo. After reading Columbus' report, pupils respond to...

Native peoples established civilizations all over Central and North America. Introduce native civilizations with a unit that promotes discussion, reinforces map skills, enhances reading comprehension, and exposes young historians to the...

Christopher Columbus did not have a lot of evidence to prove that he was in India, but language arts pupils have plenty of evidence to prove that he wasn't. Delve into the world of European exploration with a reading activity about...

Learn the life of Christopher Columbus with the help of a timeline. Young historians interpret Columbus' life story from birth to death, and answer questions to reinforce comprehension. 

Reinforce historic knowledge of Christopher Columbus with an activity book compiled of a variety of coloring pages, puzzles, questions that spark discussion, and learning games. 

Get the inside scoop on the European explorer, Christopher Columbus, with a response to reading activity that requires scholars to answer who, what, why, when, and a variety of other questions about the word crew.  

Sometimes the most important details of an informational text aren't within the text at all. Teach your class how to read timeline with a set of activities that prompts them to find specific dates and events on the timelines, as well as...