Internet Field Trip: Before the Pilgrims

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On Thanksgiving Day, we remember the Pilgrims and their original Thanksgiving feast in 1621, when they celebrated their first harvest in America and invited the Wampanoag to join them. But let's not forget the other people who had been in the Americas before the Pilgrims, from Native Americans to the English settlers in Jamestown. You can discover this history through great sites on the Internet!

More than six centuries before the Pilgrims, the seafaring Vikings ventured to the northern tier of North America. From the Viking Network, you can learn about the Vikings' everyday life — even a board game they played — and look at maps of their far-flung travels. Would you like to visit a Viking settlement in North America? You can do this on the Web at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, where Native peoples had camps as far back as 6,000 years ago and the Vikings settled for a short time in the 11th century. Check out the site of an archaeological dig or look at a replica of a Viking hut.

You can also see North America's history being "dug up" by archaeologists at Jamestown, the English colony that predated the Pilgrims' landing by 13 years. Read about the colony's history or about what has been found there today. The English came to Jamestown seeking wealth. Following the 1492 voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spaniards also sought wealth and a huge empire in the Americas. Would you like your students to focus on one region of the country and compare various early European settlements in America? The National Park Service explores Spanish, French, and other settlements in southeast America, such as Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and Fort Caroline, both in Florida.

The Native Americans, of course, were here long before such Europeans. In the Southwest, the Pueblo Indians had a distinct, complex civilization many centuries before the 17th century. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center presents the history, legends, way of life, and culture of the Pueblo's 19 communities, from the Acoma to the Zuni. End a virtual trek back through pre-Pilgrim history by "meeting" the Indian natives who joined in the Thanksgiving feast with the Pilgrims: the Wampanoag. Tour a Wampanoag homesite to understand not only their history and ways but to imagine how their lifestyles were radically changed by European settlement in America. To them, the "New World" was actually an old land and their long time home.

Activity Plan 5-6: Native American Games
Children engage in educational games and activities about the Native American culture. This ready-to-use teaching idea for five- and six-year olds supports cooperation, social studies, and literacy skills.

Native American Contributions
Discover some of the many contributions Native Americans have made to world cultures.

Activity Plan 5-6: Native American Pudding
Children will make a traditional Native American pudding, and the process will encourage the development of sensory awareness, science, math, and social studies concepts in this ready-to-use teaching idea for five- and six-year olds. Activity: Cooking/Social Studies.

LESSON PLAN	Native American Cultures for Grades 6-8 Students identify the method through which culture is preserved and transmitted and the challenges faced by those cultures over time.
UNIT PLAN	Every Vote Counts! Students utilize math and language arts skills in this social studies unit requiring them to select a fictional character then budget and run...
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Compare & Contrast: Pilgrims & Wampanoag Listen and read as you compare the housing, clothing, food, chores, school, and games of these two groups in history.
BOOK INFORMATION	Awesome Ancient Ancestors! The second volume in this zany history series explores the ancient peoples and civilizations that existed in the lands now called America. Carving spear points, creating cities, building giant earthworks (like bears with 70-foot shoulders!), these ancient Americans were busy! Readers will discover just how much happened before Columbus ever set foot on American soil.