Ideas to teach about Columbus Day in your ESL class

Why is Columbus Day celebrated?

Columbus Day remembers Christopher Columbus' arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492.
Columbus Day honors the explorer Christopher Columbus, who first landed in the New World on October 12, 1492. While Columbus's nationality has never been positively identified, many believe he was of Italian descent, and throughout the nineteenth century, Italian-Americans held celebrations in cities across the United States to honor his memory. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 Columbus Day. President Richard Nixon later declared Columbus Day a national holiday to be observed the second Monday of each October.

Since Columbus Day is a controversial holiday, it is important to be respectful to all cultures when teaching about it. Some ways to do this would be to focus on the historical events surrounding the holiday, teach about the different perspectives of the holiday, and allow students to share their own experiences and thoughts about the holiday.

• Brainstorm with your students what they already know about Columbus day. Write these down on a piece of chart paper or the whiteboard.
• Start with the date that Columbus arrived in the Americas and work your way through the years leading up to the present.
• Discuss the different cultures that were present in the Americas at the time of Columbus' arrival and how they interacted.
• Talk about the impact that Columbus' arrival had on the indigenous people of the Americas and how it has affected their cultures and societies today.
• Use pictures, maps, and other visual aids to help students understand the material.
• As a class, locate and mark where Columbus landed on the map.
• Talk about the three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
• Find resources that explain who Columbus was and what he did.
• Have students read or listen to a story about Columbus.
• Discuss with students the different things that people believe about Columbus.
• Have students write or draw about what they think about Columbus.
  Have the students make a project about Christopher Columbus or their own personal discovery

Sing a song

Columbus Day 

Tune "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

Ocean blue, ocean blue.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

In fourteen-ninety-two.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

Ocean blue, ocean blue.

I enjoy making discoveries, too.

How about you?

The Columbus story is one that should be taught in the ESL classroom because it is a story of exploration, courage, and determination. It is also a story that has been used to justify the mistreatment of Native Americans. However, it is important to teach the story of Columbus in a way that is respectful of Native Americans and that acknowledges the atrocities that were committed in the name of colonization.

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