Teaching Ideas • Study Guide for Ender's Game   - April 2004 • Speaker for the Dead - Study/Discussion Questions Submitted by Becci McDaniel   - January 2004 • Ender's Game Teaching Ideas Submitted by Britt Kaufmann   - March 2004 • Christopher Columbus - Submitted by Natasha Margulis, European History Teacher   - October 2003 • Ender's Game novel study - Submitted by David Summar, Eighth Grade Teacher   - March 2003 • Teaching Ender's Game - Submitted by Roxanne Lovelette, High school teacher   - February 2003 • Reader's Discussion Guide for Ender's Game - Submitted by D. Schoeneman, teacher   - January 2002 • Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology   - April 2001 • Idea submitted by John S. Nickels   - November 2000 Teaching Idea Links • Teaching Ender's Game - Mary Kim Schreck   (Large PDF file) • Teaching Ender's Game - Ryk Stanton

I have used Pastwatch when teaching European History (1500-1800) with great success. I coupled a chapter from Pastwatch with a letter from Christopher Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabel. The students reacted very positively towards this information ­ in fact, none of them knew that what they had read from Pastwatch was a work of fiction.

Pages from Pastwatch 173-179
Letter from Columbus to Spain

The students came away with a clearer understanding of Columbus’s motives for undertaking his journey. Instead of condemning him for his actions, as recent trends in society and history have tended to do, they were able to critically analyze his motives, which were given in his letter to the Spanish monarchs. The discussion that came out of these writings was exciting, as it touched on religion, exploration/colonization, and power.