A Thanksgiving Tradition Using Picture Books

Every year in my classroom I like to teach the concept of Pilgrims and Native Americans using picture books.  It doesn't matter what grade I teach, I always use the same stories.

 

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl is told through the eyes of a Pilgrim girl recently after the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock.  The students like to read this and compare Sarah's life to their own.

Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy is a lot like Sarah Morton, but told through a Pilgrim boy's point of view.  These two characters have a lot in common, yet are extremely different since boys had different types of chores to do and were viewed in a different light.  This book is interesting because there was actually a passenger on the Mayflower named Samuel Eaton.

Tampenum's Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times is told through the perspective of a Native American boy during this same time period.

The lesson:

• Each day in class, I read a different book.  We compare and contrast ourselves to the characters.
• Once we have read about Sarah Morton and Samuel Eaton, we create a Venn diagram to compare the two characters.
• On the third day, after we have read about Tampenum, we create a 3 circle Venn diagram to compare the three children.  
• On the final day, the children create character masks to symbolize the character that they liked best.  On the back of the decorated mask, the student lists the character's qualities that made them choose him/her.

These wonderful stories helped to bring the lives of Pilgrims and Wampanoags a little closer to my students.  The concept becomes more concrete after reading these stories.

How do you teach about the early settlers to the New World?

Alexis