Rethinking Columbus
The Rethinking Columbus curriculum encourages teachers to reconsider the traditional or standard story/history of Christopher Columbus, and the ramifications that Columbus' explorations had on the Americas and its people. The teacher resource book Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Rethinking Schools, Ltd, 1998) was the foundational influence behind the curriculum. Many of the activities are taken directly from that book or are expansions of topics discussed in it. The curriculum is designed so that all of the activities can be used in their entirety, or teachers can pick and choose the activities that best meet the needs of their curriculum and students. The majority of the activities can be adapted so that they can be used for all ages. The materials were produced for the first "Rethinking Columbus" workshop held by the LAII in Fall 2011.
Curriculum
The complete guide is available for download or preview. We have also separated the individual lessons plans (below) for quick reference.
- About
- Introductory Activities
- Content Activities
- Book Study: Morning Girl
- Book Study: Encounter
- World Map: Pictorial Input Chart
- Columbus and a Taíno Person
- Textbook Detectives
- Accurate Account of the Columbus/Taíno Encounter
- Imagining the Taínos
- Columbus' Diary: A Primary Source
- Bartolomé de la Casas
- Cooperative Sentence Strip Paragraph on Columbus and the Taíno
- Dialogue Poem
- Point of View Journals: Columbus and the Taíno
- The Song "1492": Discussion and Analysis of Lyrics
- Illustrate a Big Book: Christopher Columbus Narrative: Early Years in Portugal
- David Alfaro Siquieros: Collective Suicide(This is a *NEW* resource added in September 2014).
- Closure Activities
- Middle and High School Activities
- Curriculum Standards
- Resources
