Famous People

Christopher Columbus
Pre-Reading
A. Warm-Up Questions

1. Do you know where Christopher Columbus was from?

2. Who do you think paid for his journeys to America?

3. Do you know the names of his three ships?

4. Where do you think he first landed?

5. W
 hy did Columbus call the native people
that he met in America “Indians”?

B. Vocabulary Preview

Match up as many words and meanings

as you can. Check this exercise again after
seeing the words in context on page 2.

1. weaver a)  a trip

2. lad b)  to take by force
3. support c)  to destroy, to ruin, to cause destruction
4. royal d)  a boy, a young man
5. journey e)  rich
6. court f)  a person who makes cloth
7. exist g)  a person born in a place, an original inhabitant
8. set foot (in, on) h)  to be, to be real
9. claim i)  looking for
10. wreck j)  to help, to give money and other necessities
11. settlement k)  to go to
12. capture l)  related to a king or queen
13. native m)  an officer in the navy
14. in search of n)  a place where a king or queen lives
15. admiral o)  to say that someone owns something
16. wealthy p)  a new place where people start to live

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 Christopher Columbus
Famous People

Reading
1. C
 hristopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451 into a family “You can never cross
of weavers. As a child he helped his father, and then as a young lad he the ocean unless you
went to sea. He became an experienced sailor and moved to Portugal
to find support for a journey he was planning.
have the courage
to lose sight of
 olumbus did not have ships or money. He visited the courts of the
2. C
kings and queens of Europe, asking for help. Finally Ferdinand and
the shore.”
Isabella, the king and queen of Spain, agreed to give him money and —André Gide
three ships, the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa Maria. The ships were
small and could carry 90 men between them.

3. C
 olumbus believed the earth was round and that by sailing west he
would find a quicker route to the East. He also believed the earth
was smaller than it is and had no idea that America existed. In 1492,
Columbus sailed from Spain with his three ships to find a route to India.

4. A
 fter ten weeks on the Atlantic Ocean, they sighted land and arrived
on a small island in the Bahamas. Columbus named it San Salvador
and claimed it for the king and queen of Spain. Columbus called
everyone he met on the islands “Indians” because he was sure he had
reached India. But he was wrong. He had reached a group of islands
near America.

 n Christmas Day, 1492, the Santa Maria was wrecked on a rock.

5. O
Columbus transferred to the Niña and left 39 crew members of the
Santa Maria on the island of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic)
to start a new settlement. He returned to Spain in March 1493,
taking captured natives to prove he had reached the New World.
He was warmly received by the royal court and made Admiral of the
Ocean Sea and Governor of the Indies.

6. C
 olumbus made three more journeys across the Atlantic Ocean to
the Caribbean, still in search of India and the wealthy cities that he
believed were nearby. Although he landed on the South American
mainland, he never set foot on the mainland of North America.

7. He died in 1506.

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 Christopher Columbus
Famous People

Comprehension
Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner.
Then write the answers in your notebook. Use complete sentences.

1. What did Columbus do before he became a sailor?

2. Why did he move to Portugal?

3. What was the purpose of Columbus’s journeys?

4. How did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella help Columbus?

5. Why did Columbus call the people he met in America “Indians”?

6. Why did Columbus take Native Americans back to Spain with him?

7. What kind of reception did he get when he returned to Spain?

Vocabulary Review
Choose the correct word from the list on page 1
to complete the following sentences.

1. The sailors must follow the orders of the                .

2. C
 hristopher Columbus was born in Italy, but he               
the land he found for the king and queen of Spain.

3. Many ships were                in the terrible storm.

4. His parents have promised to                him while he is at university.

5. He is a very                man. He owns three houses, five cars, and two boats.

6. The police                the bank robber three blocks from the bank.

7. The                family of England lives at Buckingham Palace in London.

8. She is a                of England, but now she lives in Canada.

9. After their terrible fight, she said she would never                his house again.

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 Christopher Columbus
Famous People

Nationalities
Christopher Columbus incorrectly Ex. A person from Australia is an Australian .
called the people in the Bahamas
Ex. A person from Bahamas is a Bahamian .
“Indians” because he thought they
were from India. Do you know 1. A person from Canada is a .
the English word for a person
2. A person from Brazil is a .
from the countries to the right?
Work together to complete the 3. A person from Britain is a .
sentences below. Don’t forget
4. A person from China is a .
to use a capital letter for these
proper nouns. 5. A person from Finland is a .

6. A person from France is a .

7. A person from Greece is a .

8. A person from New Zealand is a .

9. A person from Peru is a .

10. A person from Portugal is a .

11. A person from South Africa is a .

Discussion
1. Why do you think King Ferdinand supported Columbus in his journeys?

2. Why do you think Columbus was so eager to find a route to India?

3. What characteristics do you think the early explorers must have had?

4. What kind of difficulties do you think they experienced on their journeys?

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 Christopher Columbus
Famous People

Answer Key
LESSON DESCRIPTION: LEVEL: Low Int – Int

Students read and discuss a short biography of Christopher TIME: 1.5–2 hours
Columbus. They review vocabulary and nationalities.
TAGS:  famous people, history, Christopher Columbus,
nationalities, explorer, exploration

Pre-Reading Comprehension

A. WARM-UP QUESTIONS 1. Before becoming a sailor, Columbus

worked in the family business of weaving.
Discuss as a class, in pairs, or in small groups. Answers will vary.
2. Columbus moved to Portugal to find
support for a sailing journey he was planning.
B. VOCABULARY PREVIEW
3. Columbus believed the earth was round and that by
1. f 5. a 9. o 13. g sailing west he could find a quicker passage to India.
2. d 6. n 10. c 14. i 4. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
3. j 7. h 11. p 15. m helped Columbus by giving him money and
4. l 8. k 12. b 16. e three ships: the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa Maria.
5. Columbus called everyone he met on the islands

Reading “Indians” because he was sure he had reached India.

6. He returned to Spain in March 1493, taking captured

The quote is often attributed to Christopher Columbus. It’s actually natives to prove he had reached the New World.

from a novel by André Gide. Discuss this metaphor. You may also 7. Columbus was warmly received by the royal court and

want to discuss how quotes are sometimes misattributed and why made Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Governor of the Indies.

it’s useful to check a few different sources before using a quote.

Vocabulary Review

1. court 4. support 7. royal

2. claimed 5. wealthy 8. native
3. wrecked 6. captured 9. set foot in

(continued on the next page...)

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 Christopher Columbus
Famous People

Answer Key cont.

Nationalities

If you teach in a multicultural classroom, you may want to use

your students’ countries rather than the examples provided.
Remind your learners that the adjective form of a person is
usually (but not always) the same as the noun form. Some
exceptions include: Poland (Polish/Pole), Denmark (Danish/Dane),
the Philippines (Philippine/Filipino), Spain (Spanish/Spaniard),
Turkey (Turkish/Turk).

1. Canadian 7. Greek
2. Brazilian 8. New Zealander
3. Briton / Englishman 9. Peruvian
4. Chinese 10. Portuguese
5. Finn 11. South African
6. Frenchman / woman

Discussion

Have a class discussion using these questions.

You could also use one of these questions as a writing prompt.

SPELLING NOTE:

This lesson shows the American spelling of the word Practice.

Most other English-speaking countries spell it this way: Practise
(when used as a verb; Practice when used as a noun). Make it a
challenge for your students to find this word in the lesson and
see if they know the alternate spelling.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

You may also be interested in our Columbus Day lesson from

our Holidays & Events section. Not everyone thinks an annual
party should be thrown in Christopher Columbus’s name. In this
lesson, students practice word stress, summarizing, and giving
an opinion. https://esllibrary.com/courses/93/lessons/1896

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