Planning for the Voyage - Pilgrim Study Unit

(Lesson 1 of 7)
Students will be able to identify the reasons the Pilgrims came to the North America.

Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
Subjects: Social Studies and History
Holidays: Thanksgiving
Type: Lesson

Objectives
Students will be able to locate Plymouth, MA, Hudson River, Cape Cod, Holland
and England on a map.

Students will be able to identify the reasons the Pilgrims came to the New World.

Students will be able to explain how the investors and the colonists would each
benefit from a new colony.

Students will be able to define and illustrate key vocabulary words (optional)

Materials
Maps of the world and atlases

Outline maps of the world (to be filled in)

Class KWL Chart (a large piece of paper). The Class Chart should be divided into
three sections: What We Know, What We Want to Find Out, and What We Learned.

Pilgrim Fact Cards 1& 2

Study Guide Sheet (SEE BELOW)

Vocabulary
 Separatists

New World

Colony

Leyden

Investor

Procedure
1. Introduce the Pilgrim Study Unit to the students. Ask for students to share what
they know about the Pilgrims. Record their responses on the Class Chart paper
(which will be added to during the unit and should be displayed in the
classroom). Ask the students what they would like to find out about the Pilgrims.
Record their responses.

2. Pass out the Pilgrim Fact Cards. Explain that the Cards and selected picture
books will be the "texts" for this unit of study. Explain that they will be required
to define and illustrate (when possible) the key words and terms of this unit.

3. Pass out the Study Guide Sheet and World maps for Lesson 1. Tell the students
that they will be able to answer the questions and fill in the map (indicating
Holland, Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River (in New York), England, Cape Cod,
Plymouth, Massachusetts) using the Pilgrim Fact Cards. Suggest other reference
materials they may use (if time permits) such as encyclopedias, atlases, and
books.

4. Divide the class into groups. You may want to use groupings of two, three or four
students (depending on your class makeup and abilities). Give them ample time
to complete the Study Guide Sheet and maps by using the Pilgrim Fact Cards and
other reference materials.

5. Students will define and illustrate Vocabulary for the lesson (optional).

6. After everyone has filled in their Study Guide Sheet and maps, ask the students
for facts to add to the Class Chart on Pilgrims.
Extension/Extra Credit Projects

Read a book on the Pilgrims and write a book report.

Give a report to the class about a book that was read for extra credit

Find the latitude and longitude coordinates of the locations the students found on their outline maps.

PILGRIM STUDY UNIT

STUDY GUIDE SHEET LESSON ONE

Why did the Separatists leave England?

_______________________________________

Why did the Separatists want to leave Holland after living there for 12 years?

_______________________________________

Where did the colonists hope to settle in the New World?

_______________________________________

What did the investors provide to help the colonists settle in the New World?

_______________________________________

What did the colonists agree to send back to England for the investors?

_______________________________________
Aboard the Mayflower - Pilgrim Study Unit
(Lesson 2 of 7)
Grades: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
Subjects: Social Studies and History
Holidays: Thanksgiving
Type: Lesson

Objectives
Students will be able to identify the difficult and the pleasant aspects of the
voyage of the Mayflower.

Students will be able to differentiate between the terms "Saints" and

"Strangers."

Students will be able to define and illustrate key vocabulary words (optional).

Materials
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness (pp. 1-4, 27-30, The Saints, The
Strangers)
 Pilgrim Fact Card 3

Worksheet "What I Liked/What I Didn't Like" (see below)

Class Chart

Vocabulary

Saints

Strangers

Pilgrims

Colonist

Procedure
1. Pass out the book Three Young Pilgrims. Have the students look through the
book to notice its unique style (sidebars, maps, and detailed information).
Explain that this book will be one of their texts for this unit.

2. Tell the class that they will be learning about the voyage aboard the Mayflower in
1620. They will be asked to write about the voyage using the information in the
Pilgrim Fact Card 3 and Three Young Pilgrims.

3. Distribute the sheet "What I Liked/What I Didn't Like." Have the students work
cooperatively to complete it.

4. Fill in the Class Chart (begun in Lesson 1) with any newly acquired information.

5. Students will define and illustrate Vocabulary for the lesson (optional).

Extension/Extra Credit Projects

Students will write a letter to a relative or friend in England telling about the voyage.

Read a book about the Mayflower voyage of 1620. Some possible choices follow.
Dalgleish, Alice. The Thanksgiving Story. New York: Athenaem-Aladdin, 1954.
A mostly accurate account of the Pilgrims' journey to America and the hardships of the early settlement in
Plymouth. This is a classic of children's literature written about the Pilgrims.

Van Leeuwen, Jean. Across the Wide Dark Sea: The Mayflower Journey. New York: Dial Books, 1995.
Told from a young boy's point of view, this book gives a new perspective to the Pilgrims' story. He relates the
uncertainty and difficulties of the voyage, what he and the others will find in a new and strange land, as well
as the hardships of the first winter.

Waters, Kate. On the Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice and a Passenger Girl. Photographs by Russ
Kendall. New York: Scholastic Press, 1996.
The latest in this series of books which are illustrated with photographs taken aboard the Mayflower II at
Plimoth Plantation, this book tells the story of two children on the Mayflower during the voyage to Plymouth.
The apprentice to the master of the ship befriends one of the young passenger girls and we see their daily
responsibilities and life on board the ship during the voyage.

Roop Connie and Peter. Pilgrim Voices: Our First Year in the New World. New York: Walker and Company,
1995.

Written in a diary format, this book follows the journey of the Pilgrims as they leave on their voyage and
through their first year in the new Plymouth Colony. Based on actual primary documents, Mourt's
Relation and Bradford's history Of Plymouth Plantation. Includes a glossary of unfamiliar words. Text and
illustrations may be more suitable for older students.

Name _________________________________________

WHAT I LIKED / WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Pretend you are one of the children sailing on the Mayflower in 1620. You have very little to keep you
occupied and you are very, very bored. Your friends and you decide to write a list to pass the time. You try to
think of as many items that you like and don't like about being aboard a ship crossing the Atlantic.

WHAT I LIKED WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE