Does that saying ring a bell? If so you might be a teacher! Teaching kindergartners or other littles about a guy who died a long time ago, sailed across the Atlantic ocean and discovered America, but didn't really discover America, and began centuries of transatlantic journeys across the vast ocean, and so on and so forth is not an easy task. Here are some ways to help you teach about Christopher Columbus today.
When I was a teacher, I always began the day with two pictures of Christopher Columbus, one real life and one in cartoon (the cartoon one I used was generally the one used in my worksheets and activities for the day. This way when they saw him they knew exactly who he was.) I would discuss them after Calendar when we have discussed that today is Christopher Columbus Day. We would talk about how one is a photograph (or for more advanced students, talk about how it might be a portrait painting since cameras were not 'alive' back then) and the other is a person's drawing.
After showing the pictures, I usually would either read a book or two about Columbus or watch the fictional book on BookFlix and then read the nonfiction book paired with it. Don't have access to BookFlix? Catch some videos on YouTube for free! Here is a cartoon video over his life and voyage, about 27 minutes long. Need something not as long? This video is about 6 minutes and is a quick biography with nice pictures! Brain Pop Jr. also has a great short video over Columbus. You have to subscribe to Brain Pop Jr. but they normally offer their videos for free on days like Christopher Columbus day, etc. You can also buy Columbus children's books for your classroom/ homeschool library from Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.
If you plan on using your entire day to discuss Christopher Columbus, my AHOY! It;s Christopher Columbus Day! Math and Literacy Worksheets packet might work well for you. It is on sale for a limited time. It has worksheets that are themed for Columbus Day but also hit your Common Core standards.
Need more ideas? Check out my Pinterest board over Christopher Columbus Day! Enjoy!
