Lesson Plan - The Real Story of Plymouth

Download Our New Slide Deck

Our new Slide Deck (below) will guide students through reading the article and many of the activities in this lesson. You can display the slides in the classroom or assign them to students for distance learning.

Engage and Connect

Ask students to respond to this prompt: What do you know about the history of Thanksgiving and Indigenous peoples? What traditions are important to your family? You might have students write responses or record them using a video platform like Flipgrid.

Preview Vocabulary

Use the Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms Indigenous, epidemic, colonist, Union, Civil War, friar, alliance, colonization, federal, reservation, and treaty.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently. As students read, direct them to underline or highlight details that help answer the “As You Read, Think About” question.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• Whose point of view is the story told from in the first paragraph? Why might the author have chosen to start that way? (Point of View)
The author begins the article by telling the story from the Wampanoag people’s point of view. He might have made this choice to emphasize the perspective of the people who had been living in the Americas for thousands of years.

• What evidence supports the statement that the “first Thanksgiving” was “much more complicated than what appears in most history books”? (Text Evidence)
Many accounts downplay the story of the Indigenous peoples who were already living in New England when the Pilgrims arrived. Although many Americans have been taught that the Wampanoag people were invited to Plymouth’s harvest meal out of gratitude, the Pilgrims were probably already eating when Ousamequin and his men showed up. The event became a state dinner and helped strengthen a relationship that the Pilgrims depended on for survival.

• What was life like for the Wampanoag people before settlers started arriving? (Central Ideas)
In the early 1600s, tens of thousands of Wampanoag people lived in dozens of communities that were independent yet connected. They fished and farmed along the coast during spring and summer. During winter, they moved inland and lived off what they had harvested during the year. The Wampanoag people shared resources and didn’t believe in land ownership.

• Who was Tisquantum? What important role did he play in American history? (Key Details)
Tisquantum was a Wampanoag man who was kidnapped by an English captain in 1614. After friars helped set him free from slavery, he made his way to London. A merchant trained him as an English interpreter, and he found work on a boat that returned to his homeland. Tisquantum played an important role in history because he served as a translator for Ousamequin and helped him communicate with the Pilgrims and form an alliance.

• How does the map support the article? (Text Features)
The map shows the territory of the Wampanoag people when the Pilgrims arrived in 1620. It shows the Pilgrims’ settlement in Plymouth on the site of Patuxet and Ousamequin’s home base of Pokanoket about 40 miles west. Additionally, the map shows other Indigenous groups who lived in New England.

• How did the alliance between Ousamequin’s people and the Pilgrims help each group? (Cause and Effect)
The alliance benefited Ousamequin’s people because it gave them an ally against the Narragansett tribe. The alliance benefited the Pilgrims by helping them live off the land. About half of them had died from malnutrition and disease during their first winter. The relationship also protected the Pilgrims from sachems who might have chased them off or killed them. Both groups benefited from trade. Native people were able to own items like coats, blankets, and metal tools, while settlers used furs to repay investors in England.

• Summarize the sidebar “Understanding Colonization’s Effects.” (Summarizing)
Colonization was a disaster for the millions of Indigenous people who lived in North America when Europeans arrived. Huge numbers of them died from diseases or in battles. Settlers and the U.S. government took Native lands. For example, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced many Indigenous people from their homes. Beginning in the 1870s, the government forced many Indigenous children to attend boarding schools that tried to erase their culture. Hundreds of years of discrimination have led to higher rates of poverty and unemployment and poor access to health care on reservations today.

Analyze a Primary Source

Use Primary Source: The First Day of Mourning to have students read and answer questions about an adaptation of the speech Frank James gave in 1970 that helped spark a Native rights movement.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.