1-2-3 Come Learn About Pilgrim Children With Me

If you want your students to get excited and interested in learning about Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, do it from a child’s perspective... today’s kiddos studying about children in the 17th century.

Believe me, you’ll certainly grab their attention. Shocker; no electricity and lots of work to do!

Thirty-one children actually sailed on the Mayflower, with two born along the way!

I spent a great deal of time researching children during this time period, to create this packet, which can be simplified for PK kiddos, and ramped up for older elementary students, who will really enjoy the writing prompts.

The packet includes:

* A dozen Venn diagrams, which are an excellent way to present a great deal of interesting background information, while children practice comparing and contrasting.

* Several graphic organizers, KWLs, graphing extensions and worksheets.

* A variety of writing prompts, including an assortment of letter writing craftivities.

* A dozen games that were played during that time period, so it can be supposed that Pilgrim children might also have played them. Surprisingly, a few your students may still play today!

* 2 super-fun measurement activities that will make sailing on the Mayflower and living in a tiny Pilgrim house more real to your students.

* A Pilgrim TP tube craftivity.

Older students can staple it to the side of one of the writing prompts, to add a bit of 3D pizzazz to your bulletin board display. 

and as always . .

* Photographs & completed samples so that you can quickly & easily make examples to share.

Click on the link to zip on over to have a look see at this 86-page packet chock full of interesting activities: Pilgrim Children.

Here's hoping that your students enjoy learning about Pilgrim children, as they practice a variety of standards.

Today's featured FREEBIE goes right along with this Thanksgiving packet.

Click on the various links for my photographs of the Mayflower II, Plimoth Plantation, Wampanoag Village, and Plymouth Rock that I took, on a recent vacation in Massachusetts.

Sharing these with your kiddos also brings the 17th century to life, helping make things more real, the activities more meaningful and the writing prompts more vivid and authentic.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.  Time to get ready to go celebrate our oldest son's birthday. 

Where have 35 years flown off to?  One seems to go from potty training to driver's training in a heartbeat, then the rest even faster.  Wishing you a love-filled day.

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Thanksgiving Activities With Me

One of the loose ends I just completed was the fall time cards, so if you are looking for analog as well as digital time activities and games, click on the links for It's Turkey Time and Time For Pumpkins.

I've had several visitors inquire if I'm going to start designing some activities for older elementary students. 

It's certainly on my bucket list, as I've taught many grades: PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (prepped an entire summer for 8th before I was bumped back down, 3 days before school started! ) assisted with MEAPS for 5th, and taught 9th, 10th, 12th + college.   Whatever grade I was teaching at the time, became my favorite. 

I think lots of the writing prompt activities on the site can be given to older students.  Writing is one of my "hot buttons" and I'm passionate about motivating students to WANT to write. I truly believe that if you grab their interest, students will excitedly get down to business.  It's one of the reasons I just designed the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing packet.

As I was doing research on the Pilgrims I came across the wonderful Scholastic Thanksgiving site.  They teamed up with Plimoth Plantation (this IS spelled correctly) to make a wonderful virtual field trip your kiddo's can go on. 

Among the many cool things they have on the site, are fictional letters written by the Pilgrim child "Lizzie" to her Aunt Constance, as well as several from the Wampanoag. 

I got to thinking that this would make an awesome writing prompt for older el and could even be attempted with lower el with some prior discussion, and examples.

After reading several stories about the Pilgrims, so that your students have some knowledge of their life and times, have them write a letter to a Pilgrim child on the Mayflower.  

My Pilgrim Children packet is chock full of information, as well as a list of the names of the 31 real kids on the Mayflower. 

Write your students' names on the quill tags. Children choose one and write a letter to their "Pilgrim" classmate.  That child receives the letter and then writes one back, as if they were a real Pilgrim child.  This is a great way to practice writing from a specific perspective, as well as explaining point of view.

I spent some time searching the Internet for Pilgrim letter examples that you can share with your students, and compiled a list of links.  I also recommend that you write one yourself, so that your students know what's expected of them. 

Encourage your class to use specific details about the Pilgrims that they have learned.  Click on the link to view/download the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing Prompt Packet.

Finally, another interesting writing prompt for students would be to have them write about the Thanksgiving vacation of their dreams.  They have unlimited funds to plan an unbelievable (sky's the limit) Thanksgiving.

Brrrring! The bell rings and they are on "holiday" as the English would say.  Where are they going, with whom, what are they wearing, playing, doing, eating, learning. . . ?  It's all in the details and you want plenty of them. 

Writing can be a one-pager where students share their page and you collect and collate the pages into a class book, or have students do lots more writing, by filling in the pages to a fictional fun travel journal. 

I've also included diary pages for yet another writing option.  Click on the link to view/download the "A Feast Of Fictional Fun" Thanksgiving break packet. 

Thanks for visiting.  It's a typical dreary November day, drizzly and damp here in Michigan.  The perfect kind of weather to put another log on the fire and curl up with a good book.   Wishing you a relaxing, warm-fuzzy kind of day. 

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.  Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.  Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."  -Henry Van Dyke