Life at Plymouth Colony ~ Pocket #2

Holly finished up the history pocket #2 a couple days back. In this pocket they talked about the life on the Mayflower during it's journey: how many people, how many died, conditions, how many babies were born, tight quarters and arrival to the new land. When the arrived the scouted the land, encountered natives and suffered serious illness that wiped out half of the pilgrim population in the beginning. She also learned about how on the ship while sailing over the pilgrim group established who their leader or govener would be. As well, they created a doctrine of rules called the Mayflower Compact. We talked about starting a new colony and the need for rules to live together peacefully then she came up with rules she would like to see in a new colony if she had started one.

Holly learned about how they lived that first winter. Some pilgrims stayed abourd the ship while others created a dugout for a home - a cut out into the earth and finished with sticks and brush. A few did make homes but that was a long process that took a long time, so very few were done that first winter. By Spring the pilgrims moved completely off the ship and started to create their small village. In Spring they also finally met up with the natives.

As well, Holly watched this clip on Scholastic.com from Plimouth Plantation - a small lesson on the the journey and a virtual tour of a pilgrim village. You can also enjoy this here: Virtual Field Trip - Plimouth Plantation

This was a great pocket that really provided some great insight to life back then. We had some great discussions based upon this pocket and Holly did some wonderful thinking! She is adoring this project... today we start pocket #3!

Life in Plymouth Colony - History Pockets by Evan Moor

I have been trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to to approach our lesson on Thanksgiving this year. Holly is a bit older and ready for more information, however not quiet old enough to fully comprehend historical accuracy and she is simply not ready for how harsh the real Thanksgiving actually was. We will however begin a brief introduction to that with a book I did pick up that I'll share at a later time. For now though I am thrilled with the program I did decide to use. After reading online, looking at teacher packs online, looking for books online I was feeling a bit bummed that I wasn't finding 'that one great thing'. I headed to our local learning supply store and was so thrilled to find just what I was looking for!!!

Life in Plymouth Colony - History Pockets by Evan Moor. I am not sure why I had not thought to look at an Evan Moor product yet as I am finding that I really do LOVE their products! They speak to me, they speak to my daughter. They are written well, they are fun yet educational -- not to kiddish, yet a kid enjoys them. So far I find their products offer a really nice balance.

History Pockets are new to me - similar to a lapbook in that they have a bunch of small projects that combine as one big project, but are more simple. The book does a series of eight pockets that create a large book. Each pocket is a new subject to cover. I do a reading on the subject with her, we discuss it, she reads a booklet for the pocket and then there are several hands on activities to reinforce what we just learned. These projects then all fit into the pocket of her book. For this book here are the subjects covered:

•      Voyage to the New World.
•      The New World.
•      Building a Village.
•      Home Sweet Home.
•      The Family.
•      Working in Plymouth Colony.
•      Going to School.
•      What Did the Pilgrims Give Us?

Yesterday she completed her first pocket, Voyage To The New World, and it went great! Holly loved how the little activities worked, she related them all back to the reading for the day. She picked up new vocabulary, had a better understanding of their voyage from England to the New World, learned about life on the Mayflower on the way over, what food and drink were like, and how a person made it. It was a great lesson!