Plan your year ahead with these teacher-tested multimedia units including audio and online publishing resources for students, plus lesson plans and free printables for you.
Unit Plan
The First Thanksgiving Teaching Guide: Grades 6–8
Through these Common Core-aligned lesson plans and The First Thanksgiving online activity, students will explore the relationship between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, including their experiences, actions, and decisions relating to the settlement of Plimoth colony.
Grades
6–8
Quick links to unit plan resources:
Overview
The focus of The First Thanksgiving for students at this level is to explore the Pilgrims' and Wampanoags' experiences, actions, and decisions as they relate to the settlement of Plimoth colony.
Throughout the unit, students will develop an understanding of historical events from different perspectives while practicing research skills, reading comprehension, and various forms of writing.
Objectives
Students will:
- Use technology tools to access, explore, and synthesize information on the Mayflower, Pilgrims, Plimoth colony, Wampanoags, and the first Thanksgiving
- Develop an understanding of the Pilgrims' motives in establishing a settlement in 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 and create timelines
- Understand and identify cultural differences between colonial times and the present
- 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
Set Up
Depending on the grade level and maturity level of each class, activities can be facilitated as independent work, collaborative group work, or whole class instruction.
If there are fewer computers than students, group the students by reading level. Assign each student a role: a driver who navigates the activity, a timer who keeps the group on task, and a note taker. If there are more than three students per computer, you can add roles like a team leader, a team reporter, etc.
If you are working in a learning station in your classroom, break your class into different groups. Have rotating groups working on the computer(s), reading printed background information, holding smaller group discussions, etc.
You may also want to create a special display of thematic books in your classroom library. Check out the Thanksgiving Book List or the Colonial America and Native Americans Book List for suggested print materials. Include room for the projects that your students will create through the unit.
Assessment
These writing-based tasks incorporate the three types of writing required by the Common Core Standards. Use one or more as a culminating assessment for your students.
Narrative Task
Imagine you have a pen pal in another country who is a student your age. The student knows little about U.S. culture. In a friendly letter, tell the student the story of the first Thanksgiving. Share with the student the ways in which your family’s Thanksgiving traditions are similar to and different from the first Thanksgiving feast.
Remember:
- Tell the story of the first Thanksgiving while remaining faithful to the true events
- Provide similarities and differences in the first Thanksgiving and how your family celebrates it today
- Use details from the texts you have read to support your story
Expository Task
The Pilgrims and the Wampanoag had different lifestyles. In a short essay, explain the similarities and the differences between the two groups and their daily lives. Then explain how the skills that the Pilgrims and Wampanoag had contributed to the first Thanksgiving feast.
Remember:
- Explain the similarities and the differences between the daily lives of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag
- Explain how the skills they used in their daily lives contributed to the feast
- Use details from the texts you have read to support your answer
Argumentative Task
Imagine that your state declares that schools will be open on Thanksgiving. The state also says, however, that a school district can decide to close for the day if it wants. Appeal to your district’s superintendent and ask her to close the school, so you and your classmates can celebrate Thanksgiving. Write an argument that clearly outlines why your school should close for the celebration of Thanksgiving.
Remember:
- Present a claim for why your school should be closed on Thanksgiving
- Provide several reasons for why Thanksgiving should be recognized as a holiday by your school district
- Use details from the texts you have read to support your answer
Alternately, write an argument supporting the superintendent’s decision to keep schools open on Thanksgiving. You still should present a claim with reasons to support it.
Standards
Common Core State Standards for Grades 6–8
Voyage on the Mayflower Lesson Plan
- CCRA.R.1
- CCRA.R.2
- CCRA.R.3
- CCRA.R.4
- CCRA.R.5
- CCRA.R.7
- CCRA.R.9
- CCRA.W.1
- CCRA.W.2
- CCRA.W.3
- CCRA.W.4
- CCRA.W.7
- CCRA.W.8
- CCRA.W.9
- CCRA.W.10
- CCRA.SL.4
- CCRA.SL.6
Pilgrim and Wampanoag Daily Life Lesson Plan
- CCRA.R.1
- CCRA.R.2
- CCRA.R.3
- CCRA.R.4
- CCRA.R.5
- CCRA.R.9
- CCRA.W.3
- CCRA.W.4
- CCRA.W.7
- CCRA.W.9
- CCRA.SL.1
- CCRA.SL.6
The Thanksgiving Feast Lesson Plan
- CCRA.R.1
- CCRA.R.2
- CCRA.R.3
- CCRA.R.7
- CCRA.R.9
- CCRA.W.7
- CCRA.W.8
Assessment Tasks
Narrative Task
- CCRA.W.3
- CCRA.W.4
- CCRA.W.8
- CCRA.W.9
- CCRA.W.10
Expository Task
- CCRA.W.2
- CCRA.W.4
- CCRA.W.8
- CCRA.W.9
- CCRA.W.10
Argumentative Task
- CCRA.W.1
- CCRA.W.4
- CCRA.W.8
- CCRA.W.9
- CCRA.W.10
Featured Activity

Bring the history of Thanksgiving to life with virtual field trips to Plimoth Plantation, slide shows, and more.
GRADES
PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8