Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
In our class, we have been learning about Christopher Columbus by reading books from different historical perspectives. We read "Morning Girl," a novel from the Taino perspective by Michael Dorris, and "Encounter" by Jane Yolen, a picture book that is also from the Taino perspective. From the European perspective, we read "Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World" by Sandra Markle and "Columbus" by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire. We also saw part of a film called "When Europeans Ruled Europe." We then went on an imaginary trip back through history and changed ourselves to someone who lived then to write journal entries about how we feel about the events on October 12, 1492.
Nathan chose the point of view of a person from Spain:
If I was ever on a ship I would freak out and demand to turn back because I would not want to die, starve to death, or drink water that is in a bucket that is almost stale. The people that went with Christopher Columbus are crazy. They are going to fall of the edge of the earth. That is why I stayed behind. Nathan
The sailors were Sam, Jodie, Ian, and Christian:
I am happy we found land because I was getting seasick and hungry. I think we hit India because there are Indian people here. They have gold, parrots, and spears. I am going to be rich. Woohoo! Sailor Sam
We've been traveling for so long and finally our captain calls "Land!" So today, we are landing. We are putting down our anchor and getting into our row boats. We are rowing to land to get those beautiful spices and silk. Now we have hit land, and we are getting out of our boats. But wait! The people on land look different than before. They've got not clothes on! They have got tons of colorful birds. Their skin is more dark than ours. Our captain is starting to trade our beads for those birds. We are taking away some people to take to Spain. Time to eat. They are giving us a nice dinner. Sailor Jodie
I am happy because we have seen fire which means we are close to land. Finally, we get that gold that Christopher Columbus promised. Then we'll be rich. Tomorrow, we are going to pick up gold that have fallen off the golden buildings there. I'll take lots of gold and jewels. Tomorrow, we will really be rich. I'll go back and be a king. Sailor Ian
If I were one of the sailors, I would be worried about getting seasick, and I would be worried about the food getting stale and the ship sinking, and having only dirty water to drink. I would be hoping to find land soon, and I would wonder if there would be people. I wonder what color their skin would be. I wonder if there will be a fire. I wonder if they would be nice. I wonder what they would be doing. I wonder if they're going to be mean. I would be scared. Christian
And Trevor was Christopher Columbus:
Yes, I finally found land! I am hungry. These people traded exotic birds for bells1 The feast was good. These people are rich and they have a lot of gold. I was right!
The native Tainos were Dillon, Mia, Vladimir, and Ananya.
The sailors are not obeying the rules. They are selfish. They only like gold because they think it will make them rich. The cheif says that they are like a parrot. They have no feet, and they can come out of the sky. They have sharp swords that makes me draw blood. They have a thunderstick. They did not trade these things. Their ships are like birds far away. They took me on a big canoe. Talks A Lot (aka Dillon)
Look, look, what is that? A big canoe? I was not sure what that was. It looked like a big canoe. It had big white wings but a different shape. The canoes were full of people. When they reached the land I live on, I welcomed them. They had pale skin and had things covering their feet. They had things covering their pale skin. We had a feast for them. They traded circles with holes through the middle of them. We gave them parrots for the things. When they left, they took some of our tribe with them. I do not know what happened to them, but I told the story for a long time after. Big Smile (aka Mia)
I am Indian and we saw pale faces. I thought they came from the sky, and they looked like parrots because of their clothes. When I touched one of the swords, I got blood on my hand. We thought they might have tails under their clothes. I saw that the pale faces got some of our people. Likes Bugs (aka Vladimir)
Today, strange birds glided across the ocean, getting closer to the beach we live on. They make a loud noise. Then stranger birds came out of the strange birds. When they landed on our shore, men like us came out of the boats, and they put sticks with colors on the top in the sand. Our men and I came up to them with things to trade. They gave us metal balls with smaller metal balls in them that made a musical sound. They had sticks that looked like our spears that were sharp and hurt. We gave them beads, seeds, and parrots, and we held a feast to welcome them. They seemed to like our gold arm rings. Wneh they left, they took of our men. Then their ship crashed into a coral reef. Even though they had captured our men, we went to help them. They left some of their men here because there were now only two ships left and too many people to carry. I hoped some of our men escaped. The men who were left were greedy and ate too much food. The chief of our tribe drove them out of our village and in the direction where the sun sets. Truly, Red Tail, a Taino girl (aka Ananya)
Georgia wrote this dialogue between two Taino people.
"Look, look, captain! Look! Guests! We must welcome them. Get a fire prepared. Gather things to trade. Oh, wake up, would you!"
"What is it? Can't you see I'm sleeping!"
"Sorry, sorry. But look!"
"Oh! Why didn't you tell me. We must get a fire ready fast, and we'll get things to trade."
"Okay, okay, I get the point. Oh, look, here they come. Welcome, welcome. Please accept my, oh I mean our, gifts. We will feed you over an open fire. Wait! Do you have tails?"
"No they don't! Look at the eyes. They have eyes of a GOD!"
"That loud noise hurt my ears. Did that stick that one has make that sould like thunder?"
"Look what you did. You scared them off, and they took one of my men!"