PILGRIM LIFE: IF I WERE A PILGRIM
The month of November is upon us, and it’s time to start talking about the first Thanksgiving and the lives of the pilgrims and Native Americans. Many moons ago, when I was doing my student teaching, we did an activity where the students wrote about what life would have been like for them if they were pilgrim children. We had such a fun time learning about what life was like back then, and I’ve continued this activity with my own students for many years now. You can find all of these writing activities in this FREEBIE in my TPT store.
I always start this unit by reading lots of books about the first Thanksgiving. My favorite book, because it has lots of great information about pilgrim children, is If You Were At…The First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma. It’s a pretty long book, so I usually go through and mark the most important pages and the pages that include information that the students will need for their writing assignment. Other great book options are If You Were a Kid at the First Thanksgiving, Sarah Morton’s Day and Samuel Eaton’s Day. Click HERE to read about some of my favorite Thanksgiving read alouds.
After we’ve read and have lots of great information on pilgrim life, we brainstorm things specific to pilgrim children. I tell my students they have to include something about their home, school, clothing, and food. I write key words on an anchor chart (especially for 1st graders) so that they can look at the chart when they need help spelling. Before they actually start writing, we do a couple of prewriting pages/graphic organizers. I edit these before they begin their final writing page.
Once students have all the information they need (I require at least 8 facts about pilgrim life), they complete the writing assignment. They each get a page that says either “If I were a pilgrim boy” or “If I were a pilgrim girl.” I like to keep the key words anchor chart up to help with spelling and for those students that are having trouble thinking of what to write. Once the writing is complete, we do a directed drawing activity together. They get to draw themselves as a pilgrim boy or girl! How cute are the examples below?? The directions for these and all the writing sheets are included in my Pilgrim Life freebie. I would super-appreciate your feedback if you download and use this freebie! 🙂
Now you’re ready! I promise your kids will LOVE this activity, especially those adorable directed drawings. It makes the perfect bulletin board. If you’re interested in even more teaching tips and freebies, be sure to join my mailing list! The first freebie is an addition strategies resource that you don’t want to miss! Sign up below!
Other November Resources you might like:
CLICK THE IMAGES BELOW TO PIN FOR LATER
**** This blog post may contain affiliate links. This means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you subscribe or purchase something through the links provided. ****
