A prerequisite to this activity is the completion of the Columbus's Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 1494 Primary Source activity, which should immediately precede this lesson. This Lesson should be implemented after students have explored the motivations for European exploration and the consequences of the Columbian Exchange, through resources such as the First Contacts Narrative, the Columbian Exchange Narrative, and the Should We Remember Christopher Columbus as a Conqueror or Explorer? Point-Counterpoint. This Lesson should be followed by the Cortes's Account of Tenochtitlan Primary Source activity, the Las Casas on the Destruction of the Indies Primary Source activity, and/or the Life in the Spanish Colonies Narrative.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to analyze a primary source to draw conclusions about the effect and legacy of Christopher Columbus.
• Students will be able to evaluate the effect of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World and determine the positive and negative consequences.

• Columbus’s Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 1494 Primary Source Activity
• Handout A: Paideia Seminar Goals and Notes
• Handout B: Paideia Seminar Questions
• Handout C: Paideia Seminar Reflection
• Handout D: Paideia Seminar Rubric
• Handout E: Individual Goal Bank
• Handout F: Discussion Starters
• Extra paper for name tents
• Markers if desired

A Paideia Seminar is similar to a Socratic seminar but is intended to interrogate a single text or a pair of texts. The purpose of this activity is to allow students to discuss their understanding freely and openly in an academic fashion, and to collectively build understanding of a topic.

For this activity, students should be arranged in a circle or a square so that all students can see and hear each other without obstructions. If necessary, students can be arranged in a “fishbowl,” with half the students on the outside circle, who will not speak in the first half of discussion, and the other half on the inside, who will be the main participants in the first half of discussion. Students can then be paired to observe and record a partner’s participation in the discussion and then switch halfway through the questions.

To cultivate civil discourse, it is important that the teacher and students respect the good will of others, regardless of their views and opinions. The teacher should only interject to correct a misconception or understanding, to redirect or refocus the conversation back to the question, or to present a new question to the group. Not all questions need to be asked for the seminar to be successful; the questions asked are up to the teacher’s (and potentially students’) discretion.

The teacher should also keep track of student participation in the discussion using Handout D: Paideia Seminar Rubric and ideally provide this specific feedback to students with specific goals for developing their civil discourse skills in speaking and listening. Because this material is presented near the beginning of the course, this activity can be greatly beneficial to building classroom culture. If students are at first uncomfortable with free discussion, they can be provided with Handout F: Discussion Starters.