Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan

Social Studies Direct Lesson Plan
2007 ACEI Standards
Relations Between Native Americans and Pilgrims for the First Thanksgiving
Kayla Larsen Kindergarten
READINESS:
I.
Goals/Objectives/Standards
a. Goal: Students will learn about the events and Native American and Pilgrim
relations leading up to Thanksgiving.
b. Objective: After learning about the events leading up to Thanksgiving through a
video and verbal re-telling, students will correctly sequence images depicting 5
main events of Thanksgiving by gluing the events in order on a worksheet.
c. Standards
i. NCSS: Strand 1 Culture, Strand 3 People, Places, and Environments
ii. IAS: K.1.2 Identify people, celebrations, commemorations, and holidays
as a way of honoring people, heritage, and events.
II.
Materials and Management
a. Materials: Lets Find Out! Scholastic video on Thanksgiving, Sequence images on
Smart board (England/Pilgrim, Boat, Winter, Native Americans helping Pilgrims
plant, and Thanksgiving), Thanksgiving sort Worksheet, bone, sticks, crescent
rolls, and feathers
b. Time: 35 minutes
c. Space: On the rug and at desks
d. Behavior: In addition to the clip chart in the room, I will have some feather with
me throughout the lesson. If a student behaves, I will give him or her a feather. If
a student receives a feather, at the end of the lesson he or she gets to clip up.
e. Technology:
III.
Anticipatory Set: Does anyone know what holiday is next week? Thanksgiving! Can
some of you tell me how you celebrate Thanksgiving at your house? I will allow some
students to share about their Thanksgiving experiences. Mmm, I love Thanksgiving
food. Raise your hand if you like Thanksgiving food too. What are some of your
favorite things to eat on Thanksgiving? Allow a few students to share. My favorite
thing to eat on Thanksgiving is sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. Has
anyone else had that? Mmm its SO good! In May, I will be getting married and that
means that I might have to start making my own Thanksgiving meals. So, my mom
wrote down her sweet potato recipe for me to make my own next Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is all about giving back to each other and it started on
the very first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims and Native Americans.
IV.
Purpose: Today we are going to learn about the very first Thanksgiving and how the
Native Americans taught the pilgrims just like my mom taught me about making sweet
potatoes. Lets start by watching this video! As we watch, think about what kind of
change the Pilgrims wanted for their lives and what action they took to make that

change happen! Students will watch video about the first Thanksgiving. The video
highlights the positive interactions between the Native Americans and pilgrims with
the Native Americans teaching the pilgrims how to farm in America.
PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION:
V.
Adaptation to Diverse Students
a. Remediation: Due to the discussion nature of this lesson, students should be able
to learn at their own pace and are not forced to answer if they are unsure of an
answer to the question. I believe having the visual of the video as well as the
retelling using images on the board will give students multiple opportunities to
learn the information being presented.
b. Enrichment: I will always be giving students a chance to brainstorm before I give
them suggestions, so this will give higher students a chance to share their
knowledge and think critically throughout the lesson. If students finish their
worksheet way before other students, I will ask them to draw a picture of what
their Thanksgiving usually looks like on the back.
c. ELL: There are no ELL students in my classroom
d. Exceptional Needs: No children have been identified as exceptional needs.
VI.
Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)
Lets talk a little bit more about the first Thanksgiving and sequence the order of
events that happened in the video just like we have been doing with stories we have
read! On the board I have five picture cards about what happened leading up to the
first Thanksgiving. Lets see if we can put these cards in order based on what we saw
in the movie. I will work through each card, describing what the card is a picture of.
Our first picture is of a snowflake representing the terrible winter the pilgrims
experienced. The second picture is a picture of the pilgrims in their home country of
England. They are not very happy. The third picture is of the Native Americans
teaching the Pilgrims to plant food in America. The fourth picture is of the Pilgrims
sailing on their boat to America. Finally, this last picture is a picture of the
Thanksgiving feast shared between the Native Americans and Pilgrims. After
explaining, I will call on student volunteers to try and put the events in order. I will
assist as needed. So, the story of the first Thanksgiving is that the pilgrims left
England and sailed to America. When they arrived, they endured a horrible winter
and had no idea how to make food for themselves. Then, the Native Americans taught
the pilgrims to plant and grow food. Finally, in celebration of all of the food that was
grown, the Native Americans and the pilgrims had a Thanksgiving Feast together. I
will be pointing at each sequence image as I retell the story. What do you think the
Pilgrims thought about the Native Americans when they taught them how to plant
food? Students will explain that the pilgrims were grateful for the Native Americans.
So, the first Thanksgiving started by the Native Americans teaching the pilgrims
something, which helped build relationships during the Pilgrims time of need.
Thanksgiving is about so much more than food! From our video, we learned that the
pilgrims wanted a change. They were tired of how being treated badly in England,
so they decided to make a major change in their lives and set sail for America; they
took action! Then, because of their action they were able to make a positive change
in their lives and actually ended up creating a holiday that we still celebrate
hundreds of years later! But, the Pilgrims werent the only ones to take action for a

change. The Native Americans also saw how the Pilgrims were starving and unable
to grow food. That is when they decided to take action and help the Pilgrims by
teaching them to plant. Without the Native Americans actions, the Pilgrims would
have died. But, their action brought change! They were able to have a huge feast!
It is also about learning from each other and then celebrating our relationships with
each other over food. So, today we are going to have our own kind of Thanksgiving. I
am going to teach you a game, kind of like how the Native Americans taught the
pilgrims to farm. Then, we will celebrate our learning with a little feast. So, how
many of you have played the game musical chairs? Students will raise their hands.
Well, I am going to teach you a game that Native Americans play and it is a lot like
musical chairs! The Native Americans may have even taught the pilgrims this game
around the time of Thanksgiving. To start, everyone needs to get in a circle on the
rug. Each of you is going to get a stick and one person will get a bone. Dont worry,
though, this is a pretend bone. Kind of like musical chairs, there will be a little music
playing. But, instead of music we will be making a beat. I will clap the beat for you. I
simply clap a steady beat. When I start clapping the beat, you will hit the stick or
bone on the ground (beat 1), then hit it on the ground again (beat 2), pass your stick
or bone to the right while grabbing the next stick (beat 3), and then moving the
stick/bone to your right hand (beat 4). You repeat this pattern over and over again
while I make the beat. Lets practice! I will practice a few times until it is apparent
that students understand. Now, I will make the beat and you will keep passing the
stick or bone. When I stop the beat though, whoever has the bone leaves the circle
and joins me keeping the beat. We keep going until there is only one person left. Any
questions? We will play the game all of the way through once, maybe twice
depending on time. Okay, I now need all of you to return to your desk as we finish up!
VII. Check for Understanding
I will first check for understanding when the students are putting the events of Thanksgiving
in order on the board as a whole group. It will then become apparent if the class understood
the video that was watched or if I need to go into more detail about the first Thanksgiving. I
will also assess student response when I ask about Native American and Pilgrim relations and
put extra emphasis on their positive interactions. Finally, I will use the lessons summative
assessment of putting the events in order on the worksheet to see if students truly know the
story of Thanksgiving.
VIII. Review Learning Outcomes/Closure
As we learned today, Thanksgiving is about much more than just food! Thanksgiving is
actually a time for teaching others, just like the Native Americans taught the pilgrims and I
taught you. Then, we express gratefulness for all that we have learned from each other over
a nice meal together. So, to end our Thanksgiving in our class, each of you are going to get a
worksheet and the 5 pictures of events that we talked about earlier. You will have to glue
down the pictures in order on the worksheet showing the first Thanksgiving. Then, to
celebrate your learning, each of you are going to get a roll for our mini-feast! When you get
your roll, dont forget to show how thankful you are by saying Thank You!
PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT:
Formative: I will first formatively assess students when we are putting the 5 main
Thanksgiving events in order as a whole group. This will tell me how much I need to retell the

story to students. Additionally, I will also formatively assess student responses when I am asking
the class about the Native American and pilgrim relationship.
Summative: Students will complete the sequencing activity where students will correctly
glue the five Thanksgiving events in order on a worksheet.
REFLECTION AND POST LESSON ANALYSIS
1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a. Blooms Taxonomy
b. Gardners Multiple Intelligences
7. Was the lesson engaging enough to keep student attention throughout?
8. Were students able to make correctly order the events of Thanksgiving?
9. Were students able to make connections between their interpretation of Thanksgiving
and the first Thanksgiving?