Kelly Maxwell
ECI 525 Contemporary Social Studies Project

Location ? Smith Elementary School, Raleigh, NC
                  Mrs. Stallings 1^st grade class (1 - 40 minute Social Studies lesson)
                  November 19 ? 20, 2007 *tentative dates
                       
Objectives - NC Standard Course of Study ? 1^st grade Social Studies
Competency Goal 4 - The learner will explain different celebrated holidays and special days in communities.
            4.01 Recognize and describe religious and secular symbols/celebrations associated with
                    special days of diverse cultures.
            4.03 Recognize and describe the historical events associated with national holidays.
Competency Goal 5 - The learner will express geographic concepts in real life situations
            5.02 - Investigate key features of maps

Goals ? The students will be able to:
            1. The journey the Pilgrims took on the Mayflower as they came to America
            2. Understand the reasons why the Pilgrims came to America
            3. Why we celebrate Thanksgiving Day
            4. Culture and daily life on Plymouth Rock

Materials -
1. Computer with internet access
2. Projector
3. Evaluation handout for each student

Process -
The teacher will create a Webquest site to present a multimedia presentation to help 1^st grade students learn about the Mayflower Pilgrims coming to America and the reasons why we celebrate the Thanksgiving Day holiday.  The teacher will begin by discussing with the class their ideas on believes about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate the holiday.  Then the teacher will introduce the concept of the Pilgrims and there adventure to America on the Mayflower to the students.  Then give the students the opportunity to share in what they believe the Pilgrims did and any information they may know about the Pilgrims. 

Once these concepts have been introduced the teacher will then use the webquest to show the students a couple of website that can give them a visual of the journey the Pilgrims took on their way to Plymouth Rock.  The teacher will explain how many days the journey took, and then explain to them the rationale of the time it takes in modern time.  Once the students understand how and why they came to America the teacher will then continue presenting the webquest and show them the concepts of directions that the pilgrams would have taken on their voyage. 

The last part of the webquest will be to introduce the students to life on Plymouth Rock as the pilgrims lived.  This would help the students understand life and culture of the area in the 1600?s.  By presenting them with jobs and dress that were a part of everyday life on Plymouth Rock, it would allow them the opportunity to understand the differences in life between the Pilgrims and modern day. 

The lesson will then wind down by having the teacher lead a discussion about what the students learned from the presentation.  The teacher will encourage the students to play a role play situation of them taking the identity of a pilgrim, and write down three different things that they would do if they were Pilgrims. 

Evaluation
The students will be evaluated by their participation during the presentation.  They will also be presented with a worksheet for the students to fill in the answers to given questions to determine how much they learned.  The teacher will also use the students role playing answers to determine how successfully the students were able to comprehend the reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving and the role the pilgrims played in the creation of the holiday.


Websites:
Introduction
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving
Voyage
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/journey.htm
Daily Life
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/daily_life/index.htm

21st Century Skills
Thinking/Problem Solving
Critical Thinking
Communication