1. By: Chelsie Slater Steven Holliday Brittany Allen
Thanksgiving
By: Chelsie Slater
Steven Holliday
Brittany Allen

2. Table of Contents Introduction Content Objectives Activities
Evaluation
Student Resources
Teacher Resources
Media Resources

3. Introduction
The story of Thanksgiving is rich with our country’s history. The relationships between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims, the journey from England, and the importance of unity and community. Thanksgiving is too often overlooked as a time to sit and eat and not reflect. The purpose of this unit is to bring the foundational elements of thanksgiving to our students at a developmentally appropriate level.

4. Content
This unit will be based on Thanksgiving. Children will learn about the first Thanksgiving and how it is different than our Thanksgiving celebration today. They will discover the location of Plymouth, have a fall feast, and learn that there are rules that govern all societies.

5. Vocabulary/Concepts Thanksgiving Pilgrims Indians Hudson River
Cape Cod
Holland
England
Museum
Celebration
Society
Feast
Barter
Plymouth

6. Objectives
Students will gain an understanding of the history of the Pilgrims and Native Americans and their first Thanksgiving in 1621.
Students will gain knowledge of the different foods harvested and eaten during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Students will gain knowledge of how different families celebrate Thanksgiving.

7. Objectives
Students will be able to identify artifacts used by the Pilgrims and Native Americans.
Students will be able to use a map correctly to identify specific locations.
Students will be able to recognize differences and similarities between the first Thanksgiving of 1621 and how they celebrate Thanksgiving today.

8. Activity #1
Introduction: Read Pilgrims First Thanksgiving By: Ann Mcgovern and Elroy Freem.
During: Have children write about how the Thanksgiving in the book is different than the Thanksgiving they know today.
Closing: Have the children partner up and discuss the differences they each found.

9. Activity #2
Introduction: Discuss children’s writing from activity #1. Have them explain how Thanksgiving is different now than it was then.
During: Ask children to interview an older adult to see how Thanksgiving was celebrated when they were young.
Closing: Have children discuss what they found out from their interviews.

10. Activity #3
Introduction: Discuss the types of items that the Pilgrims or Indians may have used during the first Thanksgiving.
During: Have children collect items, from home, that they might have used during the first Thanksgiving.
Closing: Children will bring in these items and set up a small Thanksgiving museum.

11. Activity #4
Introduction: Discuss where the Pilgrims came from, where they were going, and how they got there.
During: Have children locate Plymouth MA, the Hudson River, Cape Cod, Holland, and England.
Closing: Discuss these different locations.

12. Activity #5
Introduction: Discuss how the Pilgrims and Indians lived during 1621.
During: Have children write about how their living conditions are different than the living conditions in 1621.
Closing: Children will discuss what differences they have found between the living conditions now and the living conditions then.

13. Activity #6
Introduction: Discuss the types of foods that would have been consumed at the first Thanksgiving and how there might not have been enough for everyone to have exactly what they want.
During: Have a feast to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, during the feast you find that there is not enough food for everyone. The food must be split up evenly and the children must barter for their favorite foods.
Closing: Discuss how it felt to not have enough for everyone to have what they wanted and how the Pilgrims and Indians must have felt in 1621.

14. Activity #7
Introduction: Discuss the rules of the classroom. Explain that every society must have rules in order to function and work properly. Ask what would happen if we didn’t have class rules.
During: Have children come up with rules that the Pilgrims may have followed in 1621.
Closing: Discuss the rules they came up with and why these would be good rules for their society.

15. Activity #8
Introduction: Discuss with the children things that you are thankful for in your life. Ask them who and what they are thankful for.
During: Have the children write thank you letters to the people they are thankful for.
Closing: Send these letters to the people they were written for.

16. Evaluation
Thanksgiving Trivia

17. Question #1
When was the first Thanksgiving celebrated?

18. Answer #1
The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621.

19. Question #2
List five foods that are commonly found during a Thanksgiving meal?

20. Answer #2
Squash
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Turkey
Cranberry
Corn
Stuffing

21. Question #3
The Pilgrims settled into a colony that was named ______________.

22. Answer #3
The colony that was settled, by the Pilgrims, was called Plymouth colony.

23. Question #4
What was the name of the Pilgrim’s ship?

24. Answer #4
The Pilgrim’s ship was called the Mayflower.

25. Question #5
What was the name of the Indian Tribe that taught the Pilgrims survival skills and shared Thanksgiving dinner with them?

26. Answer #5
The Wampanoag Indian Tribe taught the Pilgrims survival skills and shared Thanksgiving dinner with them.

27. Question # 6
How long was the first Thanksgiving?

28. Answer # 6
The first Thanksgiving was three days long.

29. Question # 7
What country did the Pilgrims flee from?

30. Answer # 7
The Pilgrims came from England.

31. Question # 8
What survival skills did the Indians teach the Pilgrims?

32. Answer # 8
How to plant and harvest crops and build their homes.

33. Question # 9
What utensils did the Pilgrims and Indians eat with at their feast?

34. Answer # 9
They used spoons, knives, and their fingers. They did not use forks.

35. Question # 10
Was the Thanksgiving feast repeated after the first one in 1621?

36. Answer # 10
No. The Thanksgiving feast was not repeated.

37. Student Resources
The Night Before Thanksgiving By: Natasha Wing and Tammie Lyon
Pilgrims First Thanksgiving By: Ann Mcgovern and Elroy Freem
Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks By: Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut
Autumns Harvest (DVD)
If you Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 By: Ann Mcgovern
On the Mayflower By: Kate Waters
Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy By: Kate Waters
Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl By: Kate Waters
Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (DVD)

38. Teacher Resources The Thanksgiving Activity Book By: Deborah Schecter
Teaching About Thanksgiving With Favorite Picture Books By: Immacula A. Rhodes
Teaching American History with the Internet By: M.D. Heading
A Guide for the Elementary Social Studies Teacher By: W.L. Chase
Social Studies Resource Curriculum Handbook By: D.W. Cheek
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Margaret M. Burchac

39. Media Resources Web Resources:
Pilgrim Plantation Tour
Pilgrim Hall Museum
Ed Helper
Book Resources:
First Thanksgiving: Theme Puppets By: Arlene Tannen
This book contains figures of pilgrims and Native Americans ready for coloring, cutting out, and mounting on poster board.
More Than Moccasins By: Laurie Carlson
Easy to do arts and crafts projects that offer children a hands-on historical and cultural experience.
Cooking Throughout American History: Food and Recipes of the Native Americans By: George Erdosh
Simple recipes for students K-3.

40. Media Resources Contemporary Native Americans. Poster
A biography and portrait of six modern Native Americans.
Lets Learn About Maps and Globes. CD ROM
A CD ROM that teaches map reading skills and working with globes
Apple Pie Music CD ROM
Native American chants from slave spirituals, to rag time, to rock and roll. Explores Native American music.
Colonial America: Poster.
Useful for display or direct teaching. These large, full color posters feature captioned drawing, maps, and easy to read text.
Life in Colonial America: CD ROM
A study of four colonial settlements Jamestown, Plymouth, New Amsterdam/New York, and Williamsburg. This program emphasizes everyday life, the houses they lived in, the cloths they wore, and more.

41. Media Resources The New World Explored. VHS
How Native Americans were affected by new world explorers.
Native American Heritage. VHS
Offers segments on Geography and History plus crafts and songs for grades K-4.
BYU Choirs: Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns. DVD
Music with video of folk music for the Thanksgiving season.
How Many Days to America? : A Thanksgiving Story by Beth Peck
Refugees from a Caribbean island embark on a dangerous boat trip
to America where they have a special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
Told to make a Pilgrim doll for the Thanksgiving display at school, Molly
is embarrassed when her mother tries to help her out

42. Media Resources www.busyteachercafe.com
This is a wonderful resources for teachers and parents.
This is a website that gives a virtual tour of Plymouth.
Plenty of resources for teachers and parents, alike.
Digital Camera
Can be used to take pictures of students while they are working to be displayed on classroom bulletin board.
Overhead Projector
This can be used to show transparencies of different Thanksgiving symbols, i.e. the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, etc.
This website has a lot of different lesson plans themed just for Thanksgiving.
This is a wonderful resource for Thanksgiving clipart.