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There are several interactive Thanksgiving sites that you can use with your students to teach about life in the 1600s and how the holiday began.  All of the sites below have something different to offer, so check them all out! 

Journey on the Mayflower (from Scholastic)

Journey on the Mayflower is a wonderful site from Scholastic.  It begins with an interactive timeline.  With each stop on the timeline, there is a mini movie complete with sound effects and narration.  Also explore the tab at the top of the site about “Daily Life“.

The First Thanksgiving (from Scholastic)

The First Thanksgiving, also from Scholastic, has wonderful slide shows depicting what life could have been like during the 1600s as well as a webquest for your students to complete.

Colonial House (PBS)

Colonial House from PBS has many different pages worth exploring.  For example, there is a section on “375 Years Ago at 360 Degrees” with panoramas of the colony.  Very cool!  Also, you can play “Dress Me Up” to see if your students can match the correct clothing with the colonists for the time period.  At the bottom of the home page, there is a section for teachers called “Educational Interactivities” with lesson plans completely written out for you.  Thank you, PBS!

Welcome to Plimouth Plantation’s You are the Historian… Investigating the First Thanksgiving

This is one of my favorites!  Plimouth Plantation’s You are the Historian allows students to be the historian and investigate the first Thanksgiving from the point of view of the Native Americans and the Colonists.  As you click through your investigation, there are interactive activities with narration and sound effects to keep the youngest learner engaged.

Mayflower History

Mayflower History’s site, based on the book by Caleb Johnson, is geared for intermediate students, probably 4th grade students and older. Click on “Pilgrim History” to be taken to a page full of resources on the voyage, life in the new world, the Native Americans and more.