Choose as many or as little activities as you feel appropriate for your students. Most students will enjoy doing one activity a day for the length of the unit. Most teachers will enjoy using the book to teach a unit on the Mayflower for five days or less.

Reading

Always give students who are able time to read the book. You might set aside thirty minutes and ask students to read as much of the book as they can in that time, then read the entire book to everyone. Other teachers might prefer to read the book out loud to all their students first and then let the children read the book to themselves for 20 minutes a day until finished.

Mini Books for Notebooking

Mini Books included in this Unit for Notebooking and Lapbooking. Suggestions for using the Mini Books are included throughout the Unit. Links to them are included here for the teacher’s convenience:

Vocabulary Mini Book

One Picture Book

Three Picture Writing Book

Library List
Sarah’s New World: The Mayflower Adventure by Colleen L. Reece, from the Sisters in Time series. There are 15 short chapters in this book.
If You Sailed on the Mayflower by Ann McGovern Questions and answers about the Mayflower.
On the Mayflower: Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice and A Passenger Girl By Kate Waters. Two young people become friends while on the Mayflower.
Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness. Three young siblings tell what it was like to sail on the Mayflower and live in Plymouth Colony.
Turkeys, Pilgrims and Indian Corn, The Story of Thanksgiving Symbols by Edna Barth
How do you Lift a Lion by Robert E. Wells, a book about levers.

Introductory Activities

KWL Chart
In a notebook or on the white board make a KWL chart. K is what you know about the ship the Mayflower and the Pilgrim’s first year in the new world, W is what you want to know and L is what you learned. The L part of this chart will be completed on the last day of the unit.

Ask the children what they know about the Mayflower ship and the Pilgrim’s first year in the new world. On day five, ask the children what they learned.

Questions to Ask during the Preview of the Book

Have you ever heard of the Mayflower? Do you know how big it was? What does it look like? Where did the Pilgrims sleep and eat? How long was their journey? Who were the Pilgrims? Why did they come to America? Where did they live before?

How did they make houses in the new world? What kind of foods did they eat the first winter? Did any get sick? Think of your own questions about the Pilgrims and Mayflower to ask.

Making Observations and Predictions

Show your students the book Across the Wide Dark Sea. Ask them to make predications about what the book is about from illustrations on the cover and in the book. What kind of medium did Thomas B. Allen use to illustrate the story? What do you think is happening in the illustrations?

Narrating the Story
Let your student narrate the story to you based on the illustrations. This will take some creative thinking! Write down each student’s narration. Older students can write their own narration. Students might also enjoy Illustrating their narrations.

Design a Notebook Cover
Design a notebooking page cover or shutter fold book (lapbook) cover.

Your cover should include:

Pictures of scenes or items from the Unit Study Book

(Those students who own or can borrow Draw Write Now Book Three on Native Americans, North America and The Pilgrims might get ideas for drawings from this wonderful learn to draw book.)

The title of the book you read

The full name of the author

The full name of the illustrator

The words Poster board book by and then write your name

The word age and then write your age

Glue your Narration Mini Book to your Poster Board Book

History Activities

Background

The Mayflower was a sailing ship. It had no engine, instead the speed of the wind pushed the Mayflower through the ocean. There were 102 passengers and 20 to 30 crew members aboard the Mayflower. Before the Pilgrims hired Master Christopher Jones to take them to America, Captain Jones used the Mayflower to carry wine from France to England. The Mayflower was a cargo ship and had no sleeping quarters for passengers. The Pilgrims slept in the lower deck , that they called the “tween deck” or deck between the upper deck and the cargo hold.

Fifty years ago in 1957, a reproduction of the Mayflower was made, it is called The Mayflower II. The Mayflower II took the same journey the pilgrims took in 1620 only they sailed in 1957.

Students might enjoy reading more about the Mayflower II: here is a journal that tells all about the 1957 voyage of the Mayflower II.

Plimouth Plantation has a question and answer section about the Mayflower; students might enjoy reading more about the Mayflower

Label the Mayflower

Draw and label the inside of the Mayflower. If you don't have a book from the library that can help your student with this endeavor, try this website: drawing of the Mayflower II with its parts already labeled

Parts you might include to draw and label

mast – the large pole that holds the largest sail, it goes from the bottom of the ship, through the cargo hold all the way up to the sky.

stern- the back of the ship

bow- the front of the ship

upper deck- the deck where the pilgrims stood to wave goodbye, this deck is open to the air is where the sailors work to man the sails

cabin- the room where the captain sleeps and lives

steerage room- the room where the ship is steered

windlass- this looks like a large spool of thread only instead of thread rope was wound around the spool and a crank was used to lift heavy cargo from the decks below.

lower deck-the deck between the upper deck and cargo hold. This is the where the pilgrims lived.

hatches- doors in the floor of the lower deck that opened to the cargo hold.

cargo hold- the last deck on the ship. This is like the basement of the ship and is where the pilgrims belongs and supplies were stored.

Geography: England to the New World

The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Captain Jones decided to sail straight across the Atlantic Ocean rather than take the same route Columbus took, which was to sail to the West Indies, on to Florida and then north up the Atlantic Coast. The Columbus route was faster, but Captain Jones may have been concerned about meeting Spanish pirates or being wrecked off Cape Hatteras.

On August 5, the Mayflower (and the Speedwell) set sail for America. When the Speedwell began leaking, the ships went to Dartmouth for repairs (August 12). Once the Speedwell was up and running, the two ships were on there way (again!) to America. About 300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell started leaking (again!). The ships returned to Plymouth, England and decided to leave the Speedwell in England. Some passengers were so frustrated, they decided to give up on the journey. Other passengers joined the "now very crowded" Mayflower.

One month and one day later, the Mayflower set sail (again!) for America. The passengers had been on board the ship for over a month! No major trouble at the beginning other than sea sickness; however, by October there were many dangerous storms in the Atlantic Ocean. The voyage to America took 66 days; Cape Cod was spotted on November 9, 1620. Source and Learn More

Activity: Locate Plymouth, England and Plymouth, Massachusetts on the World Map or globe. Have students trace with their finger, the route the pilgrims took.

Plymouth Rock
Read about Plymouth Rock. Draw a picture of it and write a paragraph about the history of Plymouth Rock.

Even though none of the writings of the pilgrims mention Plymouth Rock, it has become a legendary landmark known for marking the place where the pilgrims first stepped ashore.

It is mentioned by James Thatcher in his history of Plymouth written in 1835. Thatcher writes that the rock was identified by Elder Faunce (whose father had known some of the original Mayflower passengers). Faunce had placed his children and his grandchildren on the rock each year and told them about their history. "In 1741, at the age of 95, Elder Faunce was informed that a wharf was going to be built over the top of the rock. He was carried in a chair three miles to the rock, where he 'bedewed it with his tears and bid to it an everlasting adieu.'"

In 1774, the Plymouth townspeople decided to remove the rock and place it in a shrine to liberty. They used 20 oxen to try and move the stone, but it broke into two pieces. The people decided this was symbolic-- a sign portraying the breaking of America from England. They dropped the British half of the stone back to the ground while the other half was placed in front of the Plymouth meetinghouse.

The November 29, 1775 Pennsylvania Journal is the first recorded mention of Plymouth Rock. It claims that Captain William Coit captured a British supply ship and forced the crew to come ashore at Plymouth 'upon the same rock our ancestors trod'." He "forced the captured crew to step ashore on the now-stubble Plymouth Rock that still remained in the ground."

The top-half of Plymouth Rock was moved in 1834 from the Liberty pole to an iron-fenced enclosure in front of the Pilgrim Hall Museum.
From 1859 through 1867, the Pilgrim Society built a canopy over the base of the part of Plymouth Rock that was still in the ground.
In 1880, the two pieces of the rock were brought back together, and the date "1620" was carved into its granite face.
In 1920, the Plymouth wharves were removed, and the coastline re-landscaped so that the rock was once again at the waterline. The entrance seen today was also built in 1920.

Source and Photos

Science Activities

Levers
The pilgrims used an iron jack to lift a cracked beam that was leaking. A jack is simple machine called a lever. Every lever has a fulcrum. A fulcrum is the support, or point of support on which a lever turns in raising or moving something.

Activities

1. Look for the following levers, draw pictures of them, label what they are and label the fulcrum.

kitchen tongs

tweezers

pliers

fishing rod

teeter-totter

scissors

2. Make a lever using a brick, and a board at least one inch thick, practice lifting your teacher and each other. Write about how you made the lever and how it works.

How to make a lever that will lift your teacher

3. Make a seesaw ( a type of lever) and predict the weight it will lift

Seesaw Activity -use pennies and a ruler to make predictions about levers and weight

Flora and Fauna Research Project
Research, write and draw about one or more of the following plants, foods and herbs mentioned in the book. Students might include their writing and drawing in a nature journal.

chicken

dog

cat

whales

mussels

fish

clams

Research, write and draw about one or more of the following plants, foods, herbs mentioned in the book. Students might include their writing and drawing in a nature journal.

birch tree

Indian corn

barley

peas

carrots

cabbages

onions

parsley

sage

chamomile

mint

Applied Math Activities

Story Problems

1. The Pilgrims left Plymouth England on September 6, 1620, they anchored on Cape Cod on November 11, 1620. How many days did the Pilgrim journey take? How many weeks? How many hours?

Solution:
30 September days- 6 = 24
October =31 days
November = 11

24 + 31+11 = 66 days ( this doesn't count the 32 days since Aug. 5th when the Pilgrims originally set out, if you add that in it's 98 days living on the Mayflower before the Pilgrims reached the New World!)

66 divided by 7 = 9 weeks and 3 days the pilgrims were on the Mayflower.
66X24 = 1584 hours the Pilgrims were on the Mayflower.

2. If one pilgrim man ate 2 pounds of salt pork, two cups of beans and 1/2 pound of cheese each day while traveling on the Mayflower. How much pork, beans and cheese would a Pilgrim man eat in one week? How much would he eat during the entire journey?

Solution:
2 lbs. of pork per day x 7 days in a week = 14 lbs. of pork per week
2 cups of beans per day x 7 days in a week = 14 cups of beans per week
.5 pounds of cheese per day x 7 days in a week = 3.5 pounds of cheese in a week.
2 lbs of pork x 66 days = 132 pounds of pork for 66 days
2 cups of beans x66 days = 132 cups of beans for 66 days.
.5 pounds of cheese x 66 days = 33 pounds of cheese for 66 days.

And the above amounts of food are per person! There were 102 passengers and 20-30 crew members on board the Mayflower, can you imagine how much food they had to bring with them?! It was a lot!

Language Arts Activities

Descriptive Writing

Make a list of descriptive sentences and phrases in the book, copy the phrases or sentences, then draw pictures to go along with the phrases. Here some examples

sails rose against a bright blue sky

sailors hauling on ropes

birds with black wings

the choppy sea seemed angry

Copywork
Here is a poem called Thanksgiving by Ivy O. Eastwick, some students might like to memorize and recite the poem. Others may enjoy writing the poem in their best handwriting to include in their notebook or nature journal.

Thanksgiving
By Ivy O. Eastwick

Thank You
For all my hands can hold
apples red,
and melons gold,
yellow corn
both ripe and see,
peas and beans
so good to eat!

Thank You
for all my eyes can see,
sweet lovely sunlight,
field and tree,
white cloud-boats
in sea deep sky,
soaring bird
and butterfly.

Thank You
for all my ears can hear
birds ‘ songs echoing
far and near,
songs of little
stream, big sea,
cricket, bullfrog,
duck and bee!

Writing: Diary Entries

Chose one part of the story, either the voyage, the first winter in the New World or the first Spring in the New World, pretend you are a pilgrim child and write diary entries that talk about the important events during the time from the part of the story you chose. Use descriptive language. Don’t forget to date your diary entries. Some students might enjoy making their diary look old by crumpling the paper, or writing in a little book made from paper lunch bags and string. Draw pictures to go with your diary entries.

Acrostic Poem
Use the word Mayflower, write a sentence starting with M to describe the Mayflower, like M is for the Mayflower who sailed to the New World. Now write a sentence that describes what A stands for and Y stands for. Make sure your sentences describe the pilgrims voyage and first year in the New World. Some students might enjoy doing this with the word pilgrim.

Listmaking

Make a list of the kinds of foods the Pilgrims ate on their journey and during the first winter in the New World. Write a menu and include those foods. Use the book to make your list. You should include: salt pork, beans, bread, hard dry biscuits, cheese, calms and mussels.

Vocabulary Book

Make a vocabulary book by defining words and drawing pictures to represent each word.

Vocabulary words from the book you might choose.

anchor

deck

furl

flutter

harbor

hunch

jack

lurk

seep

settlement

shallow

weary

Dictation
Practice writing sentences from dictation, paraphrased from the book, Across the Wide Dark Sea.

~Ideas for Younger Students

I stand next to my father as the ship sails off to sea.
My mother and brother were sea sick.
A man fell off the ship during a storm.

~Ideas for Older Students

I stood next to my father as the anchor was pulled from the sea. I could see the white sails of the ship against the bright blue sky.
My mother and brother were sea sick and stayed below the deck.
I stood on the deck and watched the sailors pull on the ropes and climb the ladder to adjust the sails.
Once there was a storm and a man fell overboard. Sailors threw him a rope, which he grabbed. The man was pulled back on board the ship.

Bible Activities

Character Traits

Pick a character trait, look up its definition in the dictionary and write it out, look up what the bible has to say about your chosen character trait and write about it.

Courage -2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Commitment -Matthew 13:18-23

Discipline -Galatians 5:16-26

Endurance -Jeremiah 29:1-14

Perseverance -Romans 2:7-8, 5:3-4

Write a Prayer

Write a prayer the pilgrims might have prayed during the storm or when they arrived on land or after they lived through the first winter in the new land.

Bible Story: Jesus Calms the Storm

Read in the Bible about how Jesus calms the storm, Mathew 8:23-27, Mark 4: 35-41 and Luke 8: 22-25. Write about what you read. Draw a picture to go with your writing.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Write a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Include in the prayer what you are thankful for this thanksgiving. Decorate your poem with drawings.

More Opportunities for Learning

Research and Writing Activities

1. Read more about what happened once the pilgrims found land and write about it. Draw a picture to go with your paragraphs. Use the one picture or three picture writing book to record information.
2. Color a picture of the Mayflower and write one to four sentences about it.
3. Read more about the voyage of the Mayflower and write about the passenger that was thrown overboard in a storm. Draw a picture to go with your writing.
4. Color the picture of Jesus Calming the Storm, then write at least two sentences about the bible story.

Go Along Internet Links

Coloring pictures of the Mayflower

Activity on mapping the Mayflower journey

Across the Wide Dark Sea Printable Word Search

Materials and information on this website belong to the original composers. It may be used for your own personal and school use.