Thanksgiving

 Exploring/Comparing Pilgrim Children: On the Mayflower

Background Information

Plymouth: Its History and Its People

Prior to this lessons students should have read the story, On the Mayflower by Kate Waters. Students will work in centers to explore and compare pilgrims of the past to modern day.

Duration:    3 days 

Objectives:    Students will:  

 Describe roles performed by children and adults in communities studied.
 Clarify the roles of children and adults in communities that differ from one's own in time and place. Demonstrate proper keyboarding techniques for upper and lower case letters.  

Materials:   

Quilt Center: crayons, markers, color pencils, glue - Velcro, plastic sheet protectors and 4'x 3' piece of cloth or paper for quilt
Timeline Center: 2" x 36" strip of paper
Art Center: pretzels, Styrofoam trays, construction paper, straws, pipe cleaners, glue, tape

Book: On the Mayflower by Kate Waters 
Microsoft Word
Images are from: http://google.com/imghp?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=
Files and Templates - Microsoft Word Documents:
Picture_box
Mayflower_images

Key Vocabulary:  

Apprentice
Voyage
Rigging
Quadrant
Charts
Fortnight
Hold
Master

Procedures:  

Before proceeding with this lesson students should have read the book, On the Mayflower by Kate Waters.
Step 1. Introduce Lesson (5-10 minutes)
Inform students that the purpose of the lesson is to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by pilgrims during the voyage on the Mayflower.

Step 2. Teach Vocabulary

Apprentice
Voyage
Rigging
Quadrant
Charts
Fortnight
Hold
Master

Classroom Organization
Students will be divided into four groups: 1,2,3 &4. They will know their assigned team prior to lesson.

Group 1-Memory Quilt Center
Group 2-Timeline Center
Group 3-Art Center
Group 4-Teacher Directed - Double Bubble

Groups will advance to the next center at 15-minute intervals, until all centers have been visited. Students will be alerted by teacher when 5 minutes are remaining. At teachers signal students will advance to the next center. (Signals: clapping hands, bell, timer, etc.)

Explain the Center Activities (5 Minutes)
1. Memory Quilt (15 minutes)
At this center students will be given the Picture Box template (see resources). Students will illustrate with supplies of crayons, markers, color pencils, a picture which represents a challenge that the characters faced on their voyage on the Mayflower.

Assistant will help students using a word processing program to type a sentence about their picture, telling about the challenge the character faced. Assistant will then print the sentences and cut and paste them onto the student’s picture.

Completed pictures and sentences will then be placed in our classroom Memory Quilt. To assemble a Memory Quilt, purchase fabric or use poster board paper as the quilt back, size is up to you and the space available in your classroom. Velcro plastic sheet protectors to the quilt back in rows and columns to represent quilt blocks. Then insert students work. Make one of the sheet protectors a Memory Quilt Title. This project can be reused throughout the year.

2. Timeline of Events (15 minutes)
To set up this center tape a 2” by 36” strip of paper to a table. Print the pictures from Mayflower images, you may want to mount them on construction paper and laminate them for repeated use. Students are to arrange the pictures in the order that events occurred in the book. After the group has agreed on the order of the pictures, each student should record the timeline events on a sheet of paper provided at the center.

3. Art Center: (15 minutes)
Set up center with various items that students will use to create and build a ship. Examples: pretzels, Styrofoam trays, construction paper, straws, pipe cleaners, glue, tape, etc.
Direct students to create a ship using the given items. Explain that if they do not complete their ship time will be given to them at a later date to do so.

4. Teacher directed center: (15 minutes)
In this center, students will create a double bubble organizer to compare and contrast their life and the life of Will from the book On the Mayflower. In one circle place Will’s name and in the second circle place the student’s name. In these circles the students will write down various hardships that each person has faced in their life. In the interlocking space of the two circles students should place common hardships that both people have faced.

Assessment:  

Students work at each center.

Home Learning:   

Students should write down on a sticky note one thing that they have learned during today’s activities. Each student should share their learning with the person sitting next to them and post it on the board on the day following the lesson.

Extension Activity:  

Read "The Thanksgiving Story"

Test your knowledge on Thanksgiving Here.