This December we wrapped up a unit on Explorers from all different time periods and people going to all different places (space, underwater, to the arctic), and we moved to just learning about the “New World” that was “discovered” by Europeans.

To kick off this unit, we read the book Encounter by Jane Yolen.  In this story, we explored the ideas of how the Native Americans felt and thought about seeing Europeans come to their island on their huge ships.

We had many conversations about the uncertainty and the consequences of these European’s explorations.  From these classes, we then went on to learn about other native tribes’ encounters with explorers and settlers.  We read a story titled Small Wolf. Students learned about how native peoples named themselves and got a chance to create their own Native American name.  We had students choose names like Precious Panther, Smart Lizard and Tiny Butterfly.

Next we went on to learn about these settlers in what was known as the “New World.” We read books about the MayFlower and it’s journey across the ocean.

We measured out how long the MayFlower was and role played how “close” the quarters were of the passengers.

We then read books about the pilgrims who settled and received help from Samoset and Squanto. The older children in the group read a chapter book on Squanto and answered comprehension questions for each chapter.

As we moved to distance learning, we finished up a book about a child named Samuel Eaton that was a part of Plymouth Plantation and Sarah Morton who was his friend.  We then read about Tapenum, a Wampanoag boy and his life during this same time period.

To conclude this unit, we learned about life in the 13 Colonies.  We read and responded to the book …If You Lived in Colonial Times.  Students used google forms, emailed pages of the book, FlipGrid and google classroom to access and respond to the teacher reading the book.