An Acrostic Poem

Introduction: Take a poetry break with middle school students during history class and share J. Patrick Lewis' poem Christopher Columbus. First, introduce the poetry book, A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme. Locate the Columbus poem and show Alison Jay's illustration. Select a reader and have them share the peom in front of his peers. After the first reading, ask the selected reader to use his own creative tone to read the poem. Allow a few more students the opportunity to share the peom in their tone.

Christopher Columbus

Spain dispatched three ships

Across the Atlantic on a

Navigator's hopeless dream of

Traveling westward to Asia

All dreams end in suprise.

Morning, October 12, 1492:

Ahoy! In the Bahamas, he had

Reached the wilder shores of

Inhabitation, lost in the future,

Anchored at the far end of destiny.

Extension: Ask the class what form J. Patrick Lewis wrote the Columbus poem. Pass the book around or walk around the classroom so that all students can see the poem and point out the name of one of Columbus' ships, Santa Maria. Wait for the correct answer: Acrostic - Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence.

Activity - Internet search on Christopher Columbus! Have each student find the answer to a specific Columbus trivia question.
* When was Columbus Day first observed as a holiday?
*Find the name of a city and state of where there is a statue or monument of Columbus.
*If Christopher Columbus had children, what where their names?
*Which voyage was longer - the first or the second?
*Locate the name of an author who has written about Columbus' life. What is the title of the book?

Lewis, J. Patrick. A World of Wonders: Geographic Travels in Verse and Rhyme (Illustrated by Alison Jay). New York: A Dial Book for Young Readers, 2002. ISBN: 9780803725799