This hyperlinked PDF is designed to be used on a computer or tablet (perfect for iPads or Chromebooks) while reading Pedro’s Journal. Questions and activities have been developed to aid and deepen comprehension and spark critical thinking—all in line with Common Core. More than 20 links are embedded in this PDF document so your students are just click away from activities, additional research, non-fiction texts, videos, games, and more. This project can be used individually or as a class; use all or part of it; ideal for early finishers and homeschoolers. This is also an excellent resource for distance learning and can easily be adapted to a digital notebook format instead of a paper one as described in the directions.

This provides the perfect platform for doing an in-depth, cross-curricular novel study combining language arts with social studies and even science: history of the Americas, explorers, Columbus, the effect of colonization on native peoples, figurative language, character study, vocabulary, displacement, animal study, motion sickness, geography, shooting stars, early nautical navigation, Viking and other alternative ideas on who “discovered” America first, and more!

updated: January 2026