Rediscover Thanksgiving

1
Rediscover Thanksgiving

• A lesson for 4th Grade
• (Social Studies)
• Designed by
• Linda Capplmcapp_at_oakland.edu

2
Introduction

• What do you know about the holiday we call
  Thanksgiving?
• You are about to become a famous Thanksgiving
  Historian.
• What is a historian? A historian is a history
  detective.
• What does a history detective do? A history
  detective tries to figure out what happened in
  the past by finding and studying clues.
• As a Thanksgiving historian you will be
  investigating the people, places and events that
  lead up to Thanksgiving in the year 1621. In
  addition, you will discover how the celebration
  in 1621 is connected to the Thanksgiving we
  celebrate today.

3
Task

• The internet will transport you and your group
  back-in-time where you will be free to search for
  clues, that will lead you to new discoveries
  about the history of Thanksgiving.
• Next, you will write at least 3 paragraphs about
  your chosen topic, help create a timeline, and
  participate in a group (oral) presentation of
  your timeline.

4
Process 1

• You will complete this quest in 4 steps.
• Step 1 You will be assigned to a group of 5
  historians. Each historian will choose a
  different topic from the list below, to
  investigate
• Topic 1 Pilgrims in England Holland
• Topic 2 Pilgrims on the Mayflower
• Topic 3 The Indians and Pilgrims in Plimoth
• Topic 4 Thanksgiving in The Year 1621
• Topic 5 Past Presidents Thanksgiving
• Print this worksheet to help you in your
  detective work.
• Topic 1 Links
• Pilgrims in England Holland Who
  were the Pilgrims?
• Where does their story begin?
• In Holland
• Departure of the Pilgrims

5
Process 2

• Step 1 (continued)
• Topic 2 Links Pilgrims on the Mayflower
• Voyage of the Mayflower and Speedwell
• Voyage on the Mayflower
• The Mayflower and Its Passenger List
• The Mayflower Compact
• Topic 3 Links The Indians and Pilgrims in
  Plimoth
• Be a Historian
• Life as a Pilgrim in Plimoth
• Life as an Wampanoag Indian
• Daily Life in Plimoth, 1621

6
Process 3

• Step 1 (continued)
• Topic 4 Links Thanksgiving in The Year 1621
• What really happened in 1621
• Plimoth 1621
• About the Painting
• The First Thanksgiving
• Food at the First Thanksgiving
• Topic 5 Links Past Presidents Thanksgiving
• What do Presidents have to do with
  Thanksgiving?
• Presidents whos ancestors where on the
  Mayflower
• Thanksgiving in the United States (Scroll down
  to find)

7
Process 4

• Step 2
• Write three paragraphs about your chosen topic
  include at least two new things that you
  discovered while investigating your topic.
  Remember to use your worksheet to help you decide
  what to write about.
• Step 3
• Each historian in your group will be given a
  sheet of poster board to create a timeline. Each
  historian will include at least 3 new thing that
  they discovered and at least 3 things that they
  already knew about their topic .
• Remember to use your whole sheet of poster
  board your timeline must be large enough for the
  audience to see. Include pictures printed from
  the web, or hand-drawn illustrations. You will
  use this timeline as a visual aid in you
  presentation. Click here to see an example of a
  timeline.
• Step 4 Finally, you and the other historians in
  your group will give an oral presentation to the
  class presenting the findings from your
  investigation. You will dress-up as a character
  (of your choice) from the period. This is the fun
  part! (I have a trunk full of costumes or you
  may bring your own.)

8
Evaluation

• Your performance will be evaluated on the
  following categories
• o Evidence of effort in completing the
  worksheet
• o Quality of your paragraphs
• o Effort in creating and completing the time
  line
• o Oral Presentation
• You will receive an individual grade on your
  worksheet and paragraphs. You will receive a
  group grade on your timeline and oral
  presentation. If there is a member of your group
  that is clearly not doing their share, an
  individual grade will be given to them.
• Print this rubric and study the clues on it, they
  can lead you to a great grade.

9
Conclusion

• Congratulations!! As a Thanksgiving Historian,
  your detective work has paid off. Youve learned
  things that you did not know before about the
  people, places and events that spawned our
  American Thanksgiving tradition and youve shared
  that knowledge with others. Perhaps youll want
  to investigate the origins of other American
  Holidays. Here are some places to start
• Valentines Day
  
• New Years Day

10
Credits

• Link to pictures used on this site
• Yahoo was used to find all the sites in this
  Quest
• http//www.pilgrimhall.org/hispaint.htm
• A special thank you to the people who helped make
  this WebQuest possible
• My family for their technical help.
• Professor John E. McEneaney for his patience when
  fielding technical and pedagogical questions.
• Carrie Peterson for her inspiration and support.

11
Introduction (Teacher)

• This lesson was created to complete a requirement
  for an IST396 Class that I am currently taking at
  Oakland University. Its inspiration obviously
  came from the time of year along with my own love
  of history.
• It is my hope that as students navigate through
  this WebQuest making their own discoveries about
  Thanksgiving, that they will be inspired by their
  newly found historian abilities and learn to love
  history.
• This lesson allows students to look at
  Thanksgiving through the eyes of a historian. It
  allows them the opportunity to make new
  discoveries about our American Holiday.

12
Learners (Teacher)

• This WebQuest is anchored in 4th grade Social
  Studies This lesson can easily be extended to
  lower or high grades by adjusting the required
  tasks..
• It is important that students are skilled in the
  use of the internet before attempting this
  WebQuest.
• If student are not familiar with how to do an
  oral presentation, then it would be a good idea
  to for students to learn this skill before
  attempting this quest.

13
Standards (Teacher)

• National Center for History in the Schools
• Standard 4D The student understands events that
  celebrate and exemplify fundamental values and
  principles of American democracy.
• Grade Level Therefore, the student is able to
• K-4 Describe the history of holidays, such as the
  birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., Presidents
  Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day,
  Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, that celebrate
  the core democratic values and principles of this
  nation. Demonstrate and explain the influence of
  ideas

14
Process 1 (Teacher)

• You will complete this quest in 4 steps.
• Step 1 You will be assigned to a group of 5
  historians. Each historian will choose a
  different topic from the list below, to
  investigate
• Topic 1 Pilgrims in England Holland
• Topic 2 Pilgrims on the Mayflower
• Topic 3 The Indians and Pilgrims in Plimoth
• Topic 4 Thanksgiving in The Year 1621
• Topic 5 Past Presidents Thanksgiving
• Print this worksheet to help you in your
  detective work.
• Topic 1 Links
• Pilgrims in England Holland Who
  were the Pilgrims?
• Where does their story begin?
  
• The Pilgims in Holland
• Departure of the Pilgrims

15
Process 2 (Teacher)

• Step 1 (continued)
• Topic 2 Links Pilgrims on the Mayflower
• Voyage of the Mayflower and Speedwell
• Voyage on the Mayflower
• The Mayflower and Its Passenger List
• The Mayflower Compact
• Topic 3 Links The Indians and Pilgrims in
  Plimoth
• Be a Historian
• Life as a Pilgrim in Plimoth
• Life as an Wampanoag Indian
• Daily Life in Plimoth, 1621

16
Process 3 (Teacher)

• Topic 4 Links Thanksgiving in The Year 1621
• What really happened in 1621
• Plimoth 1621
• About the Painting
• The First Thanksgiving
• Food at the First Thanksgiving
• Topic 5 Links Past Presidents Thanksgiving
• What do Presidents have to do with
  Thanksgiving?
• Presidents whos ancestors where on the
  Mayflower
• Thanksgiving in the United States (Scroll down
  to find)

17
Process 4 (Teacher)

• Step 2
• Write three paragraphs about your chosen topic
  include at least two new things that you
  discovered while investigating your topic.
  Remember to use your worksheet to help you decide
  what to write about.
• Step 3
• Each historian in your group will be given a
  sheet of poster board to create a timeline. Each
  historian will include at least 3 new thing that
  they discovered and at least 3 things that they
  already knew about their topic .
• Remember to use your whole sheet of poster
  board your timeline must be large enough for the
  audience to see. Include pictures printed from
  the web, or hand-drawn illustrations. You will
  use this timeline as a visual aid in you
  presentation. Click here to see an example of a
  timeline.
• Step 4 Finally, you and the other historians in
  your group will give an oral presentation to the
  class presenting the findings from your
  investigation. You will dress-up as a character
  (of your choice) from the period. This is the fun
  part! (I have a trunk full of costumes or you
  may bring your own.)

18
Resources (Teacher)

• You will need
• o Access to a computer lab with printer
  capabilities
• o 5 poster boards per group of 5 students
• o Markers to create a time line
• o Tables big enough for groups of 5 to work
  together
• O This project will take 5 to 6 class periods
  to complete. NoteNovember would be the best
  month to do it!!!!

19
Evaluation (Teacher)

• Your performance will be evaluated on the
  following categories
• o Evidence of effort in completing the
  worksheet
• o Quality of your paragraphs
• o Effort in creating and completing the time
  line
• o Oral Presentation
• You will receive an individual grade on your
  worksheet and paragraphs. You will receive a
  group grade on your timeline and oral
  presentation. If there is a member of your group
  that is clearly not doing their share, an
  individual grade will be given to them.
• Print this rubric and study the clues on it, they
  can lead you to a great grade.

20
Conclusions (Teacher)

• Make some kind of summary statement here about
  why you think other teachers should consider
  using this lesson.
• This lesson is a new twist on an old holiday.
  Just when the students think they know everything
  there is to know about Thanksgiving, they are
  given the opportunity to make discoveries that
  they didnt know about Thanksgiving before the
  quest.

21
Credits (Teacher)

• Thank you to all the people who helped make this
  WebQuest possible
• My Family for their technical support.
• Professor John E. McEneaney for his patience in
  fielding technical and pedagogical questions.
• Carrie Peterson for her camaraderie.
• Profession Resource Sites
• Scholastic
• Pilgrim Hall
• Plimoth Plantation
• For the latest version of this template go to
  The IST 396 Site