Discovering New Worlds

Read Columbus’ journal entries at http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/columbus.htm .

Pick one problem that Columbus faced during his journeys to the “New World.” Write a letter to King Ferdinand describing the situation and how the problem was solved.

Scoring Rubric

4	Student has all parts of a letter and include problem and solution with details.
3	Student has all parts of a letter with some information missing.
2	Some parts of the letter are missing and/or the student did not include problem and solution.
1	Student has not written in letter form and parts of problem or solution are missing.
0	Answer does not pertain to question.

· Parts of a letter include: Date, Greeting, Body, Closing, and Signature.

Kentucky Learning Goals and Academic Expectations:

1.2 Students make sense of the variety of materials they read.

1.11 Students write using appropriate forms, conventions, and styles to communicate ideas and information to different audiences for different purposes.

2.20 Students understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspective.

5.2 Students use creative thinking skills to develop or invent novel, constructive ideas or products.

6.3 Students expand their understanding of existing knowledge, by making connections with knowledge, skills and experiences.

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