Plymouth Colony—Beyond the Turkey
HOW IT WORKS
Plymouth Colony—Beyond the Turkey is an
interdisciplinary program incorporating art,
language arts, social studies, and technology to
create an understanding of the historical
concepts surrounding the formation of Plymouth
Colony. Students become familiar with the lives
of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag of Southern
New England by taking on the perspective of actual historical persons. They use a
variety of resources including, but not limited to, books,
the Internet, primary resources, community
experts, trips, and artifacts. At the heart of the study are the student-created
journals and role-playing activities that give
students the unique opportunity to immerse
themselves in the lifestyle and culture of 1620s
colonization. Students identify with their
characters through a historical fiction chapter-length
Read Aloud (The Diary of Remember Patience
Whipple by Kathryn Lasky) as well as
by building a replica of the original Plymouth Plantation .
In building the plantation, students are
broken up into cooperative groups based on
points of interest (landscape, fields and animals,
houses, and the common house and gardens group.) These groups work together to
research the architecture and the materials used at that
time as well as the livestock, crops, and terrain.
Through intergroup discussions and found materials, they bring the village to life!
THE STUDENTS
Class size can range from 25-32 students. This
program is appropriate for a diverse learning
population and can be adapted to suit the needs of your students.
THE STAFF
Ilana Dogim has been teaching the fourth grade
for three years, and has also taught the fifth and
sixth grade. She has served as a grade leader
and was responsible for organizing grade-wide
trips as well as meeting with administration to
facilitate the needs of the other fourth-grade
teachers. In addition, she has collaborated with
colleagues in piloting new methods of
assessment and creating original curriculum. Ilana
participates in both Project Math and Project
Read, where she provides intervention for at-risk students.
Colleen Cruz has taught the fourth grade for
five years, and has served as a
math grade leader for three of those years. She has
been a principal writer on citywide curriculums for both
Language Arts and Science, and was involved
with the assessment piloting program with Ilana
as well as creating original curriculum. Colleen
was a member of a leadership group at
Teachers College/Columbia University and continues
to be involved with the Reading and Writing
Project. She also works with at-risk students in
both Project Math and Project Read.
Both Ilana and Colleen have been teaching this curriculum in their
classrooms for the past two years.
WHAT YOU NEED
This program requires eight to ten weeks,
meeting three to four class periods each week.
Primary resources connected to the time period,
as well as trade books, artifacts, and building
materials for the village re-creation are
necessary. A computer with Internet access is helpful
but not necessary.
OVERALL VALUE
The students learn the underlying dynamics in
building a community and the philosophies that
were instrumental in the creation of our country.
They practice their cooperative learning skills
while gaining insight into the struggles of actual
historical figures. The students are also able to
juxtapose two very different cultures and study
the evolution of their relationship. This program
fulfills New York State Standards for American
History, and also fulfils Language Arts
Standards in the creation of narrative writing.
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