LEIF LUCKY
THE
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The Family Business
You’ve probably
heard the saying,
“In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed
the ocean blue…”, but did you know that Christopher
Columbus was NOT the first European to discover
North America?
Viking explorer Leif Erikson (Eriksson, Ericson, Ericsson)
set foot on the North American shore nearly 500 years
before Columbus!
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Leif Erikson (approximately, 970 A.D. – 1020 A.D.) came from a long line of
explorers. Leif’s great-great-great uncle, Nadod, discovered Iceland in about
861 A.D., and Leif’s father, Erik Thorwaldson (Erik the Red), established the
first European settlement called Erikholm in Greenland around 980 A.D.,
after he was exiled from Iceland.
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Activities
Explore the world with the newspaper!
Make a list of the different countries
you discover in the stories you read
in today’s newspaper. Use a globe
or map to locate the countries
you have discovered.
Comprehension Questions
Who discovered Iceland? ___________ __________________________________
In what year did Erik the Red
establish Erikholm in Greenland?
___________________________________
Where did Leif Erikson go on his first
voyage without his father?
___________________________________
What is the translation of Helluland?
___________________________________
___________________________________
What 3 places have scholars named
as possible locations for Vinland?
__________________________________ ,
___________________________________
and_______________________________ .
Use a dictionary to define the
following words. Write sentences
using each word on a separate
sheet of paper.
discover____________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
explore ____________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
establish_ __________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
journey ____________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
settlement _________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
timber _____________________________
___________________________________
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Leif’s love of the sea was probably learned early. As a boy, he would watch
ships come into the harbor and listen to the sailors tell stories of adventures
and far away lands that Leif had not seen.
At around the age of 20, Leif joined the family business of exploring. On his
first voyage without his father, Leif sailed from Greenland to Norway to take
gifts to a great Viking, King Olaf. During this voyage, Leif sailed to Norway
without stopping in Iceland, like all the other explorers had done before him,
and learned about two unexplored lands. One of the lands was well-forested
and the other was an icy, mountainous island. After these exciting discoveries,
Leif had a craving to do more exploring.
Discovering the New World
Around the year 1000 A.D.,
Leif set sail with a crew of men
and first landed on Newfoundland, which he named Helluland (Land of the
Flat Stones). He then sailed to the well-forested land, Nova Scotia, which he
named Markland (Wood-land).
Leif and his crew sailed for
a few days until they saw an
island and a ness, which is a
cape or headland. Leif was
so anxious to get to the land
that he ran his boat ashore
and boarded a smaller boat
to continue the journey.
Leif and his crew then sailed
up a river and into a lake.
Once they reached land,
the men built large, sturdy
houses and began to explore. One night, Leif’s friend Tyrk returned to camp
with grapes in his hand. The grapes inspired Leif to name the new land
Vinland (Wine-land). The precise location of Vinland is unknown, but scholars
have named Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New England as possibilities.
Leif and his crew stayed in Vinland for the fall and winter. The next year, they
cut timber and gathered grapes to take back to Greenland. On their trip back
to Greenland, Leif noticed a group of shipwrecked men on an island. Leif rescued
them and took them back to Greenland with him, and earned the title
“Leif the Lucky”.
Leif Erikson Day – October 9
In 1964, Congress
authorized and
requested the President to create the observance of “Leif Erikson
Day” through an annual proclamation. Lyndon B. Johnson and
each President since have done so. Presidents have used the
proclamation to praise the contributions of Americans of
Nordic descent and the spirit of discovery.
Text sources: www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b2eriksonleif.htm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Erikson;
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558409/Eriksson_Leif.html; http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/v_lief.htm;
www.americanjourneys.org; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Erikson_Day.
Photo sources: (clockwise from top) © Photographer: Lukas Hejtman | Catsi | Boguslaw Kupisinski | Prestong |
Grethe Bjornas | Carole Nickerson | Chris Vika | Johanna Goodyear – Agency: Dreamstime.com;
http://lifeboat.com/images/leif.erikson.jpg; http://www.lost-civilizations.net/images/vikings/vikingmap.gif;
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&q=+viking+ship&btnG=Search+Images
voyage _____________________________
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October 6 & 7
Dayton
Convention
Center
DaytonDailyNews.com/womensexpo
COMING ATTRACTIONS
kidsINK | October 16: 40 Developmental Assets
Each Tuesday | Robyn Reports: The Nutty
Neighborhood block party
Today | Chapter 5, Bake Sale Disaster
October 9 | Chapter 6, Time to Spit
STANDARDS SPOTLIGHT
SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY | Use map
elements or coordinates to locate physical features
of North America.
LANGUAGE ARTS | Use multiple resources to
enhance comprehension of vocabulary.
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