Ohio Social Studies
Strands
for a 5th grade lesson:
Coming to America: The
Story of the Pilgrims
by
Stephanie Burke & Ali Lines
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Strand One: American Heritage
Activities
Websites
Strand Two: People in Societies
Activities
Websites
Strand Three: World Interactions
Activities
Websites
Strand Four: Decision Making and Resources
Activities
Websites
Strand Five: Democratic Processes
Activities
Websites
Strand Six: Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities
Activities
Websites
Strand One:
American Heritage
Activities
1. Read the book, “Squanto’s Journey” and
discuss as a class Squanto and the
hardships he faced in life.
2. Identify the role Squanto played in the
relationship between the Pilgrims and the
Native Americans. Discuss your answer in a
one page essay.
3. Draw or construct a replica of the
Mayflower.
Activities continued . .
4. Draw or find a picture of two means of
transportation from our world today and two
from the Plymouth colony.
5. Recommend the best types of crops to
grow in the Plymouth colony area. This will
be a group activity, each group must submit
their list to the teacher.
Websites
http://www.plimoth.org/Library/pc22-26.htm
http://www.plimoth.org/Library/museum/subscribe.htm
http://www.moah.org
http://dickshovel.com/wampa.html
http://pilgrims.net/plymouth/thanksgiving.htm
Strand Two:
People in Societies
Activities
1. Pretending that you are a Pilgrim, write a
letter to your friends you left in England,
explaining your reasons for coming to the
New World.
2. We will have a class role play in which
some students are Pilgrims and some are the
King of England. We will replay the
conversation in which the Pilgrims told the
King that they wanted to leave England.
Activities continued . .
3. Using ellison cuts, trace the route the
Mayflower took when it sailed off to America.
4. Using a map with a key or legend, estimate
the number of miles the Mayflower traveled.
5. If you had $150.00 and had to prepare
Thanksgiving dinner, what would you buy and
how much would you spend?
Websites
http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/colonial_life/
http://www.pilgrimhall.org.museum.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1465/
http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/pilgrims.htm
http://www.pilgrims.progress.org.uk/
Strand Three:
World Interactions
Activities
1. Given latitude and longitude points
students will be able to find the points on the
map (Plymouth Colony, England, Holland) and
color them in.
2. Draw a diagram of farms that Pilgrims had
due to the physical environment of the area.
3. Pilgrims had to build special houses
because of their physical environment,
construct a Pilgrim house of your own and
explain the special features it has.
Activities continued . .
4. Students will be either Native Americans,
Pilgrims or reporters. Reporters will ask
questions such as “How did the Native
Americans help you” and “How did the
Pilgrims help you?”. Everyone else must
answer.
5. The students will write a journal entry
answering the question, “Could the Pilgrims
have survived without the help of the Native
Americans?
Websites
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/phouses.htm
http://pilgrims.net/plimothplantation/vtour/index.htm
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us
http://aol.com/RichClark7/pilgrims.htm
http://members.aol.com/calebj/squanto.html
Strand Four:
Decision Making
and Resources
Activities
1. Students will participate in a bartering activity
with their classmates illustrating the concept of
trade-offs for consumers.
2. The students will write a short essay (1 pg.)
answering the question, “Do you think the Native
Americans felt that their food supply was
threatened by the arrival of the Pilgrims?
Activities continued . .
3. Use picture and bar graphs to examine the
exchange of resources, goods, and services
between the Native Americans and Pilgrims
by making identifications, comparisons and
predictions.
4. Pretend that you are a Native American.
Write down the advantages and
disadvantages of the arrival of the Pilgrims.
5. A class discussion of the change of supply
and demand with the arrival of the Pilgrims.
Websites
http://www.plimoth.org
http://usinfo.state.gov
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb.avalon/amerdoc/
http://www.civnet.org/resources/teach/basic/
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/users/deetz/Plymouth/
Strand Five:
Democratic
Processes
Activities
1. Role-play a situation in which the Pilgrims
and Native Americans are having a conflict.
How would the government have handled that
conflict?
2. Compare and contrast the government in
England with that in the Plymouth colony.
3. If you were a Pilgrim, what rules and laws
would you want in your colony? Make a list in
groups.
Activities continued . .
4. Compare and contrast the government of the
Pilgrims with our government today. Make a
chart showing what you find.
5. Pretend you are a Pilgrim. Make an
advertisement showing why people should
come to your colony.
Websites
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PURITAN/
http://www.plimoth.org/Library/pc28-92.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mosmd/
http://www.puritansermons.com/banner/logan1.htm
http://7cs.com/mayflower.htm
Strand Six:
Citizenship Rights
and Responsibilities
Activities
1. Given a list of facts/opinions about the
Plymouth Colony students will determine what is
fact and what is opinion.
2. Write a poem answering the following
question: How were the Pilgrims courageous?
3. Read “Squanto’s Journey” to the third grade
class.
Activities continued . .
4. Debate whether or not groups of people
should be allowed to leave their
homelands if they are not happy.
5. Design a Thanksgiving display on the
school bulletin board.
Websites
http://members.aol.com/calebj/
http://www.pilgrimsprogress.org.uk/poetscor.htm
http://www.ocmayflower.org/compact.htm
http://law.ou.edu/hist/mayflower.html
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/ChurchillRoadES/