Kindergarten Unit Three: Helping Kids Find Their Place in the World Sarah Blascovich Brown Teacher on Assignment

Some things you’ll find in Unit Three

Misconceptions in Unit Three Columbus discovered America. Columbus discovered that the world was round. Really – people already lived there. Most educated people already knew this – they simply didn’t understand the arrangement of the continents & oceans. The Arawaks’ beliefs did not mesh with Columbus’s ideas of ownership. The Native Americans Columbus met were hostile warriors.

Resources (Geography): My Wonderful Word (National Geographic’s initiative to increase geographic learning): The Georgia Geographic Alliance: (click on teacher resources for lessons) The Geography Educators’ Network of Indiana: (be sure to look at the resources & lesson plans) Roundup of “upside down maps”: (list of different nations’ typical map perspectives is listed at the bottom) List of K-2 lesson plans & resources:

Resources (Columbus): Columbus & Columbus Day from the Library of Congress: Basic information from the UK’s National Maritime Museum: and-leaders/christopher-columbus and-leaders/christopher-columbus Howard Zinn’s article on Columbus & the Arwak: Columbus’s Book of Privileges at the National Archives:

Resources (Chronology): Video regarding the teaching of chronology: Use clotheslines! – Hang pictures up in chronological order – Use words from standards to organize them Make walkable timelines with events from students’ lives, historical figures, or holidays throughout the school year. Use chronological words as headings for picture sorts

Literacy Resources: A Coyote Columbus Story, written by Thomas King – allegorical story of Coyote creating the world, with some interference from Columbus. A Coyote Columbus Story, written by Mary Wade – probably on the shelf in your media center (Rookie Reader series). In Their Own Words: Columbus, written by Peter & Connie Roop. Uses excerpts from Columbus’s journals to tell the story of his life – good for REFERNCE. Rethinking Columbus, edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson – if you’re interested in learning more about what really happened in 1492, and after.

Teaching Unit Three:  Location  Discuss North American continent (use a map!)  Work with maps and globes to help students learn the difference  Help students see how water and land are often colored similarly on a variety of maps to help people understand them  Discuss who Columbus was  Discuss Columbus’s contributions, and their effects on other people – make sure to treat this story accurately!

Teaching Unit Three:  Time, Change, and Continuity  Discuss differences in transportation, clothing, etc., between Columbus’s time and today (extension)  Review “now & long ago”  Review “before & after”  Review “past, present, & future”  For chronological words, be sure to incorporate these into other relevant areas – calendar time is a natural fit.