Columbus Day Activities

Did you ever have an idea for a lesson at the last minute that turned into a treasure?  Well, that's what happened to us the week of Columbus Day.  We read some nonfiction books about Christopher Columbus, made the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria...probably just like every other third grade class.  Nothing too noteworthy, pretty standard until....  we decided that my class needed to do a little creative writing assignment.  We read the book You Wouldn't Want to Sail with Christopher Columbus!  We discussed as we read what it would be like to discover a new land.  Then I gave them the topic of writing a letter to a loved one telling them that they had been shipwrecked.  What would we need to tell our mothers, dads, grandmas?  We talked about what were the things that we really need to survive, using the T.V. show "Survivor" as an example.  They came up with food, clothing, shelter, water, and fire!!  Awesome!  Then we talked about how we could signal our rescuers.  The results were awesome!!