Lesson-Topic: Mayflower activities- map, poem, project.
Grade Level: Kindergarten - November 20, 1997
Teacher of Lesson: Barrie Wexler
Approximate Time: 1-2 hours

Objectives:

1. Children will begin to understand how the Pilgrims came over to America and how long of a journey it was.
2. Students will participate in the Thanksgiving story discussion and raise their hands quietly when they want to share with the class.
3. Students will be able to explain what the storage areas were used for on the Mayflower and why the ship was so large compared to the smaller ships.
4. Children will demonstrate fine and large motor skill development and abilities when cutting, pasting, coloring and designing their own Mayflower ship.
5. Students will develop own ideas of what they would need to live on a ship for three months and two days.
6. Students will work cooperatively and demonstrate knowledge of social skills and appropriate behavior in the classroom.

Materials:

1. 30 outline sheets of Mayflower ship.
2. 30 sheets of Mayflower storage areas within ship.
3. 30- 11x14 sheets of white construction paper.
4. 60 4x6 sheets of light blue construction paper.
5. 60 thin strips of brown construction paper.
6. Crayons.
7. Scissors.
8. Paper plates - glue.

Procedure:

1. Read poem In the Middle Of November by Jack Prelutsky and ëItís Thanksgiving.
2. Ask students what we do in school for Thanksgiving?
3. Raise your hand and tell me some are of the things that you remember from the story.
4. Say the poem out loud "THANKSGIVING." and then have the children repeat the words to the poem along with you while you are directing each word with a large pencil or pointer.
5. Whisper to the children that you are going to let them be the teacher and are going to look for girls and boys who are listening and sitting quietly, waiting to be called on.
6. Chose a child and have him or her come up to the front of the room, hold the pencil, point to the title, say it with the class and them begin the poem itself, following along the words with the pencil.
7. Allow three or four students to have a turn, depending on how much time is available, so to encourage repetition. Remind them that those who are not able to have a turn being teacher will have a turn doing story order or another activity.
8. The teacher will ask the students to listen for something special that they hear when he or she reads the Thanksgiving poem out loud to the class. Point out significant parts of poem- rhyming east and feast. Repetition of words, exclamation as opposed to period statement- emotion differences. Review spelling of east, make sure students understand that spelling is the same for feast and east. Say the letters orally with the children E.A.S.T.
   Ask the children - Who thinks they can say the poem by themselves without my help! Have children say poem by themselves while guiding them through it.
   Give positive reinforcement, feedback.

Activity 2-

1. Review sequence instruction by practicing Thanksgiving story number cards.
2. Call up six children to the front of room who have not yet been called on but are listening and sitting Indian style on the rug ready to participate in our story.
3. The children know that it is their responsibility to think of what comes before and after each event and raise their hand when they figure it out.
4. I will read the first card and ask the students if they think that event happened first, second, etc. That person will stand in line where the children in the audience tells him or her to stand, ex. between Zack and Sarah, and we will move on to the next child.
5. We will read their story card and I will ask the children where that child should stand in our Thanksgiving story line.
6. This process repeats until our story is complete and then once we are finished, I will pass out large posterboards with numbers one through six. The children in the audience are then given the opportunity to hold up the numbers in the correct order of the story and act as teacher also. The students learn ordinal numbers and are able to practice hands-on story sequence.
7. Discuss the Mayflower ship. Ask question such as, "Who can tell me how the Pilgrims came to America?
   Did they drive or fly? Why not?
   Did they have cars to drive in just we do?
8. Who remembers how long the Pilgrims had to stay on the Mayflower for? 3 months and 2 days.
9. Use the map to point out how far the Pilgrims had to travel from England to reach America and then show the picture of the Mayflower of page 4 of The Mayflower and The Pilgrim Fathers by Owen Hedley.
10. Have you ever been on a ship that long? What would you need to survive if you were on a ship for 3 months.
11. Talk about storage areas on ship- inside, underneath, discuss how they were used for food, clothes, etc. Show and discuss Scholasticís "Letís Find Out"- Sailing on the Mayflower picture.
12. Remind children that the weather on the ship might have been stormy and rainy and there might have been lightening.
13. Ask students what they would do if they were in the middle of the ocean and it began storming outside-Would you be scared?
14. Tell students we are going to imagine that we are on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims coming to America.
15. Pretend itís late at night and all of a sudden it starts pouring outside. Tell students to close their eyes and listen to the rain. Turn on the tape ëNature Solitudeí which plays first waves crashing, a thunderstorm and lighting and then the sounds change into a quiet peaceful night on the lake. What sounds do you hear? How does it make you feel?

Activity 3- Explain directions for making a ship-

1. Color in ship outline, cut it out and glue onto large construction paper- Then have children cut out storage areas on ship and glue onto ship outline. Do not color these parts in because theyíre too small. When ship is mounted onto construction paper and all storage pieces are glued on, draw background of sky, water, clouds.
2. Give each child 2-3 strips of brown construction paper to use for mast poles and demonstrate how to cut thin pieces from strips. Explain how sail should be attached to the mast, demonstrate square drawing and provide 2-3 4x6 sheets of light blue construction paper to use for mast sails and one sheet of white construction paper to use for background.
3. Hang up finished product of Mayflower ship so children can refer to it throughout activity.
4. Begin calling children to get materials and work on their Mayflower.

Evaluation:

1. Were my students able to understand how the Pilgrims came over to America on the Mayflower?
2. Did they raise their hand and participate in discussion and show curiosity and interest?
3. Did my kindergartners listen to others comments and share materials appropriately in the classroom?
4. Did my students understand why the Pilgrims needed so much storage food, clothes and other materials to bring with them on their journey.
5. Did my students effectively demonstrate knowledge of social skills and were they able to practice fine and large motor development and eye-hand coordination skills throughout the activities?