1. Columbus Day – Close Reading Primary Grades

2. Title: Christopher Columbus
Date Created/Published: [no date recorded on caption card]
Summary: Portrait, bust, 3/4 facing right.
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ (b&w film copy neg.)

3. Columbus Day is a holiday in October to honor the explorer Christopher Columbus. Columbus lived in Europe. In 1492, he was hired by the queen of Spain to find a new route to Asia. He never made it to Asia, but he did make it to the new world. Although he is known for discovering the new world, Columbus was not the first to land in the Americas. He made four trips to the and told everyone about the new land.

4. 1ST READ ( READ TO, OR ON THEIR OWN)
Read the passage all the way through.
Partner Talk
Model and set expectations for partner
sharing. ..Turn to your elbow partner and talk
about your what you read.
Listen for level of engagement.
Share Out

5. 2nd Reading (read with a pencil)
Read the passage again, stopping to model
confusing parts or comprehension. Model how
to ..read with a pencil. Pick one or two code to
practice.
Example: ..I didn’t know that queen of Spain
gave Christopher Columbus the money for his
journey, so I am going to write an exclamation
mark next to this sentence... New information
Example: ..I am not sure what the word “known” means, so I am going to put a question mark next to it.

6. After 2nd read, ask some text dependent questions.
Such as: Why do we celebrate Columbus Day ? Where was Columbus trying to go when he found America? “ Why do you think the Queen choose Columbus to make the voyage? “I could infer” What year was it when Columbus was asked to travel?

7. Text Evidence Sentence starters
Have students get used to answering with these starters…
The author said...
On page ___, the author said ____
According to the text...
Based on what I read...
The illustration shows...
I can infer from...
For example...

8. Sample questions …… (text dependent)
What is the main idea of this passage?
Retell the facts you learned about Columbus Day?
How did the author help us understand what explorer
means?
What did the author feel was important for the reader to
know?
Why do you think the Queen of Spain gave Christopher
Columbus the money for his journey?
Do you think the author did a good job explaining why we
celebrate Columbus Day?

9. Final reading Read the passage again. Reading response
Complete the Graphic Organizer- Question It or
answer the questions who, what, when, where,
how, and why in reading journals.

10. GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
WHO?
WHAT?
WHERE?
WHEN?
WHY?
HOW?

11. Journal Response What would Columbus have written about his
trips to the Queen ?