Lesson Plan

Christopher Columbus Commemorative Coin

Main Subject Area: Language Arts

Additional Subjects: Social Studies

Duration of Lesson:  45 minutes

Keywords:

• America
• Christopher Columbus
• Coins
• Commemorate
• Discovery
• Explorers
• Persuasive Writing

Brief Description:

Students will research and write position papers in support or against the creation of a coin to commemorate the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus.

National Standard(s):

• Demonstrate competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process
• Gather and use information for research purposes
• Use grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions

Additional Subject Area Standard(s):

• Civic Ideals and Practices
• People, Places, and Environment

Objectives:

Students will research various contemporary views on Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America, including more controversial ones.

Students will write a persuasive paper to support an opinion.

Materials (online):

Online resources about Christopher Columbus:

Description of Columbus Coins -

http://www.pngdealers.com/coin/coin-1001.htm

Links to sites about Columbus -

http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/columbus.html

Materials (offline):

Pencils

Writing paper

Coins Used in Lesson:

U.S. Commemorative Coins

Grade Level(s):   6-8  

Procedures (online):

Instruct students to use the Internet to research various views of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America, including any potentially controversial ones, to obtain different perspectives.

Procedures (offline):

1. Ask students what they know about Christopher Columbus and if they are aware of a controversy about his accomplishments. Tell students that they are going to research Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America, to find various views on it.

2. Introduce the students to the United States Mint’s practice of creating coins that commemorate important historical figures. Explain that they will “act as if” they are the committee researching Christopher Columbus to recommend if he should be recognized with a commemorative coin.

3. Divide class into groups of 5 or 6 students.

4. Instruct the students to research all sides of any controversy they discover and prepare a written summary for each side using supporting research (note: they may only be able to find speculative materials and not real factual “support” ) for each side.

5. As a group the students must decide to recommend or not recommend the creation of a Christopher Columbus Commemorative Coin.

6. Each group will develop a written report present their final recommendation to the class in the form of a written report that will include the major reasons and support for why they made their decision.

7. The groups will each share their reports with the rest of the class and should be prepared to answer questions from the class about their final decision.

Assessment / Evaluation:

Students can be evaluated on their summaries for each side of the story. They can also be graded on their final paper and presentation to the class.

Differentiated Learning Options:

N/a