Early Settlements Unit–Part 2, Plymouth Colony

The colonial era is by far my favorite.  I always manage to work Plymouth and the Pilgrims in every year around Thanksgiving.  I guess when the girls graduate they’ll be experts on the topic.  

We started off this unit with a study of what it took to get ready for the voyage.   It wasn’t like they just ran to Wal-mart and picked up a few things for the journey.  Then we made our own Mayflower.   This is of course the party Mayflower, not the dull drab one you see portrayed in all the books.

See what I mean?   I really liked how Lindsey painted the bottom of her ship blue/white to make it look like waves.

We also studied the Mayflower Compact and learned about how the laws and rules were different than they had been in England.

Even though it was a bit below grade level, I incorporated this cute Pilgrims book from Enchanted Learning.

We  used a Reading Comprehension workbook from ABCTeach.  You can get these on several different reading levels depending on the age/ability of your child.

We studied Squanto’s life in depth and learned about his gardening and fishing skills.

Like all of you, we have studied Pilgrims in the past.  If you’d like to check out some of the resources we used before you can check out this post on a Mini-Thanksgiving Unit, or this Weekly Wrap Up from 2012, or this unit on Squanto.

Library Resources:

The Mayflower and the Pilgrims New World; by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Mayflower, A Primary Source History of the Pilgrims Journey to the New World; by J. Poolos
The Mayflower Compact; by Philip Brooks
The Plymouth Colony; by Pamela Dell
The Plymouth Colony; by Andrew Santella
Eating the Plates, A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners; by Lucille Recht Penner
William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony; by Arthur M. Schlesigner, Jr.
Miles Standish, Colonial Leader; by Barbara Witteman
The Adventures of Myles Standish, and the Amazing-But-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony; by Cheryl Harness
Pilgrims; by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Sarah Morton’s Day, A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl; by Kate Waters
Mary of Plymouth; by James Otis
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims; by Clyde Robert Bulla
Squanto’s Journey; by Joseph Bruchac
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving; by Eric Metaxas
Squanto 1585?-1622; by Arlene B. Hirschfelder
Squanto’s Garden; by Bill Heid (eBook)