Christopher Columbus' Voyage-Amanda Graser

I. Lesson Plan Overview and Descriptions

1. Expected Duration: 45 minutes to an hour
2. Social Sciences: History, Geography, Economics (very small)
3. Concepts (Big Ideas): Exploring the Americas, Christopher Columbus
coming to America, History, Geography, Economics (very small)
4. Vocabulary:
Trade Route: a road or waterway that people travel to buy, sell, or
exchange goods.
Explorer: someone who travels to learn about new places.
5. Skills: Geographic Skills, Reading Skills, Thinking Skills
6. Broad Goals of Lesson: Learn the history of Christopher Columbus
coming to America and his story and use it to create a lapbook for a study
guide.
II. Content Outline:
Houghton Mifflin Social Studies 3rd Grade
I. Explorers Arrive
A. Exploring the Americas
1. Over 1,000 years ago the first Europeans, the Vikings, came
to North America from northern Europe
2. 1400s: different Europeans made their way to North America
in search of Asia
a. These sailors were looking for new trade routes to
Asia
i. Vocab: Trade Route: a road or waterway that
people travel to buy, sell, or exchange goods.
B. Looking for Asia
1. 1492-Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed west from
Spain looking for a better route to Asia.
2. After hearing of Columbus's adventure, other explorers from

Spain, Portugal and France also sailed to the Americas.

a. They were also looking for a new route to Asia as well
as for gold.
i. Vocab: Explorer: someone who travels to learn
about new places.
Excerpts from Meet Christopher Columbus
III. Standards
PDE SAS8.1.3.A.= 8. History. 1. Historical Analysis and Skills Development. 3rd
Grade. A. Identify the difference between past, present and future using
timelines and/or other graphic representations.
8.1.3.B= 8. History. 1. Historical Analysis and Skills Development. 3rd Grade.
B. Identify fact, opinion, multiple points of view, and primary sources as
related to historical events
8.1.3.C.= 8. History. 1. Historical Analysis and Skills Development. 3rd
Grade. C. Conduct teacher guided inquiry on assigned topics using specified
historical sources. (Reference RWSL Standard 1.8.3 Research)
8.3.3.A.= 8. History. 3. United States History. 3rd Grade. A. Identify and
describe the social, political, cultural, and economic contributions of
individuals and groups in United States history
8.3.3.B.= 8. History. 3. United States History. 3rd Grade. B. Identify and
describe historical documents, artifacts, and places critical to United
States history.
8.3.3.C.= 8. History. 3. United States History. 3rd Grade. C. Identify and
describe how continuity and change have impacted U.S. history.

Belief systems and religions

Commerce and industry

Technology

Politics and government

Physical and human geography

Social organizations

8.3.3.D.= 8. History. 3. United States History. 3rd Grade. D. Identify and

describe how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations have
impacted the history and development of the US.

Ethnicity and race

Working conditions

Immigration

Military conflict

Economic stability

NCSS Themes
I.d.= I. Culture. d. Compare ways in which people from different cultures
think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions;
II.b.= II. Time, Continuity, and Change. b. Demonstrate an ability to use
correct vocabulary associated with time such as past, present, future, and
long ago; read and construct simple timelines; identfy examples of cause and
effect relationships;
II.c.= II. Time, Continuity, and Change. c. Compare and contrast different
stories or accounts about past events, people, places, or situations,
identifying how they contribute to our understanding of the past;
II.d.= II. Time, Continuity, and Change. d. Identify and use various sources
for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps,
textbooks, photos, and others;
IV.h.= IV. Individual Development and Identitiy. h. Work independently and
cooperatively to accomplish goals.
VII.a.= VII.Production, Distribution and Consumption. a. Give examples that
show how scarcity and choice govern our economic decisions;
IX.b.= IX.Global Connections. b. Give examples of conflict, cooperation and
interdependence among individuals, groups, and nations
IV. Objectives
1. Students, as a class, will give details about Christopher Columbus from the
portion of the chapter that they read in order to make a graphic organizer
2. Students will answer questions while we read a book, Meet Christopher
Columbus, as a class
3. Students will use the information found in the book to create a lapbook
V. Teaching Procedures
1. Introduction/Anticipatory Set
As students come in there will be pictures and a bulletin board about
Christopher Columbus and his travels to pique their interests. The bulletin
board will be pictures of the three ships that contianed Columbus' crew. There
will be numbered pieces of paper on the ships with questions covering the
answers. We are starting a new unit today and we are starting with this man
here. Take a look at the pictures. Does anyone know who this could be and
what he did? Talk to the people in your table group and come up with one

answer. Make sure you look at the backgrounds in the pictures so that you
have evidence to back-up your thoughts. Give the students about 2-3
minutes to discuss then have each table share their guess and their reasons.
Those are some good guesses!
2. Lesson Input
Step 1: Now, let me read a part from our textbook to you. What were the
questions we wanted to answer? I will write them on this chart paper and
then as we read I can write our answers.
Step 2: Read the Exploring the Americas portion from the text. When I get to
the part that gives our answers I will announce that I think we found our
answers and write them under the questions. Now that we have read this
section, we discovered our mystery man is Christopher Columbus and he is
an explorer and sailor. Now let's read a story about his life to learn some
more and you, boys and girls will tell me when we find the answers to our
questions.
3. Guided Practice
Step 1: We are going to read this book, "Meet Christopher Columbus", not
the whole thing just parts. If you look at the board behind me at the bulletin
board there are questions we need to answer. While we read we will answer
these questions. (Read the questions so they know what they are listening
for). When you think you hear an answer, raise your hand. I'll ask someone to
tell me which question they have an answer for and then ask for the answer.
Then I will ask the class to raise their hand if they agree with that answer.
Then I will ask if anyone thinks there is a different answer and to tell me what
it is. We will do this for each answer. I have a digital version of the book so
that we can all see the pictures and look for the answers together.
Step 2: Read the portions of the book that will contain the answers for which
we are looking. There will be a list of the chapters or paragraphs that will
contain the answers. As I read and the students identify correct answers, the
piece of paper will come off to reveal the answer. If the students miss a
question go back and re-read a paragraph or sentence and give them hints if
they are still having problems discovering the answers.
4. Independent Practice
Step 1: Now that we have read the story and gotten answers to our
important questions it is time for you to have a resource much like the one
we made here on the bulletin board. This is called a lapbook. On the front will
be a title, most likely Christopher Columbus, and there will be a picture of
Columbus and his ships. Inside there will be pictures with captions and small

snippets of information that you can use to help study later on. You will use
the papers up here to write out the information and then you can color the
pictures. After everything is written and colored, it can be cut out and glued
into the folder.
5. Differentiation
For advanced learners: These students will write their own sentences on their
paper. More accomodations can be made based on each student's personal
needs.
For regular ed learners: These students will get papers with prompts, such as
sentence starters, on them to write the remainder of the information.
For struggling learners: These students will get the papers with information
already on them. These will look like fill-in-the-blank worksheets. More
accomodations would be made based on each student's personal behavioral,
physical, and learning needs.
6. Closure
Ok, boys and girls we are now done our activity for today. Before you can
leave though, I want everyone to take out a piece of paper and put your
name on it. Write 3 facts that you learned about Christopher Columbus today
and hand it to me as you walk out the door.
VI. Teacher and Student Resources and Evaluation of Resources
Resource
Title or
Website
Address

Influence:
Significant
Influence (SI) or
Minor Influence
(MI) in informing
your thinking,
decisions about
the lesson plan

Houghton
Mifflin Social
Studies:
Grade 3

Minor Influence

3+
Accessibility
Overall Rating
Characteristic Access for
and Suggestions
s suggesting teachers or
for current,
that the
others
future use of
source is a
resource
quality
resource,
reliable
material
It is a textbook While the
The
informati provided to the information was
class therefore it accurate it was very
on is
accurate is accessible to vague and there
and easy both the teacher was not a lot of
and the students details to build off.
to
Out of 5 I would rate
understa
it a 3. It works for a
nd for
basic understanding
third
but if more in-depth
graders
facts are wanted
The
this is not the best

Meet
Christopher
Columbus

Major Influence

informati
choice.
on
matches
what is
publically
known
It lists
the
resource
s where
the
author
got the
informati
on
It is accessible I would say that this
The
book is a 5 out of 5.
informati to anyone
through
It has a story to
on is
accurate Amazon, iBooks, back up the
and easy etc. as long as information to make
it more interesting.
to read the reader is
willing
to
pay
for
There are many
This is a
it.
facts to build main
biograph
ideas off.
y made
for
children
to help
understa
nd
history
The
informati
on
matches
what is
considere
d popular
or
common
knowledg
e

VII. Formative and Summative Assessment of Students

Formative Assessment: While the class is participating in the guided practice
formative assessment will be used to gauge how well the students are
learning the information.

Summative Assessment: The exit slip will be a form of summative

assessment when the whole lesson is over. The lapbook will also be
summatively assessed based on the accuracy of their information and the
neatness of their work.
VIII. Technology/Materials/Equipment
Technology: The projector will be used to display the book from the iPad.
Materials:
Teacher Materials:

iPad with connectors

Bulletin Board (using paper, scissors, markers to make)

Markers

Paper

Student Materials:

Paper/Worksheets

Pens/Pencils

Crayons/Colored Pencils

Scissors

Glue sticks

Folders for lapbook

Equipment

Projector

iPad

IX. Reflection on Planning

While looking for ideas on Pinterest, I found the lapbook project that
can be used to affirm information as well as create a study guide for future
use. With the ease of differentiation this makes a great project for an
inclusive classroom. It engages all the students while they are in small groups

and in large group. The creation of the lapbook leaves room for each student
to put their creativity into the project. It also puts an aspect of responsibility
on the student because their lapbook will be used as a study guide at a later
date and the amount of work they put into the information, the better off they
will be when it comes time for the test.