My unit is primarily focused on reading for information and on the related writing skills which are required by the English curriculum. It is appropriate for College English 3, College English 4 and AP English Language and Composition. The unit will start with the following essential questions: Who first reached America: the Vikings, the Chinese Admiral Zheng He or Columbus? What were these travelers looking for? What did they actually find and what benefits did they get? It will consist of three parts, each covering the travels of the Vikings, Zheng He to the eastern side of Africa and Columbus to the discovery of America (I will use the word "discover" but the students will learn that it is problematic since the Amerindians were the native population and knew about America), and will take a period of five or six weeks. The unit will analyze visual and written texts in order to understand, to compare and contrast, to synthesize, and to evaluate causes and effects. It will also require various writing activities throughout the entire unit together with a final project that will be in the form of a documented essay and a presentation, or a simple documented visual for those students who have special needs.
