Unit Plan
The First Thanksgiving Teacher's Guide
Teacher's guide for the online activity "The First Thanksgiving"
- Grades:PreK–K, Grades 1–2, Grades 3–5, Grades 6–8
Overview
"The First Thanksgiving" encompasses material appropriate for any grade level. The activity is organized into three main sections: "Voyage on the Mayflower," "Daily Life," and "The Thanksgiving Feast." Timelines, interviews, and the "Thanksgiving Web Quest" offer students additional opportunities to explore and discover facts related to the early settlement of the Pilgrims. Lesson ideas for each section are provided for grades K–2, 3–5, and 6–12. The captioned photographs and audio files present high-interest content, vocabulary-building aids, and engaging information designed to pique students' interest in learning more. In addition, the combination of text, visual images, and audio addresses the different learning styles of students, as well as the needs of ELL and special needs students.
Objective
Scholastic's online activities are designed to support the teaching of standards-based skills. While participating in "The First Thanksgiving," students learn to do the following:
- Use technology tools to access, explore, and synthesize information about the Mayflower, Pilgrims, Plymouth colony, Wampanoags, and the first Thanksgiving
- Develop an understanding of why Pilgrims moved to the New World
- Develop an understanding of the colonial and Wampanoag cultures of the early 1600s
- Compare and contrast lifestyles of the Pilgrims and Wampanoags
- Interpret information from timelines
- Create a timeline
- Read for detail
- Participate in a variety of active writing activities
- Demonstrate comprehension through experiential response
- Reflect on what has been learned after reading by formulating ideas, opinions, and personal responses
Lesson Plans for this Unit
Lesson 1: Thanksgiving Lessons Grades PreK-2
Lesson 2: Thanksgiving Lessons Grades 3-5
Lesson 3: Thanksgiving Lessons Grades 6-8
Supporting Books
- Everything You Need:
- Subjects:Content Area Reading, Independent Reading, Reading Comprehension, Reading Response, Research Skills, Vocabulary, Writing, Pilgrims, Exploration, Colonization and Settlement, Native American History, Ceremony and Tradition, Homes and Housing, Indigenous Peoples, Native American, Thanksgiving, Native American Heritage Month, Curriculum Development, Virtual Classrooms, Computers and the Internet, Internet Activities, Teaching with Technology
- Skills:Reading Comprehension, Diagrams, Maps, Online Sources, Social Studies, Timelines, Research Skills, Vocabulary, Writing
- Duration:1 Day
