Let’s take a deep breath from the craziness that is Halloween and start to mentally prepare ourselves for the month of November.
We know the feast is coming, along with crafts galore and tons of great activities.
One of the biggest units we cover is all about The First Thanksgiving and therefore Now and Then.
I want you to check out this easy to use and fun to teach with…
Now & Then Print & Play Pack.
I love to use this book,
The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving.
We talk about the lives of Pilgrims and how different their lives were compared to ours.
We use these charts to lead our discussion of Pilgrim lives.
There are two versions, one that is blank so you can project via a smart board
and another that is already filled in.
I like to use the filled in version to make sure I am filling in the chart by hitting in all the details. 
We use these pocket chart sorts to compare our lives to the lives of the Pilgrims.
Here is a look at the two cards for “now” and “then” cards.
The sorts also have a middle part like shown below in the black pocket chart.
This version is great to show the vocabulary in the middle.
These cards are color coded to match the header with a red border so you can easily
use a red baggie to make it easy to use. 
This pack also has literacy tie ins, because let’s face it…
we all need to overlap our curriculum to make it all fit in.
This set is for labeling the pilgrim parts.
Labeling is a huge weakness for my little ones this year.
I know they need to make these connections to help improve their vocabulary and therefore their writing skills.
There are more cut and sorts in the Print & Play Pack as well.
I also provided these “now and then” mats to use in small groups and centers.
I love to use these with dry erase markers for the colored version
and with crayons for the black and white version
to allow my students to identify things in the picture that are out of place.
The next step of this unit is to discuss pilgrim children chores.
My students are always shocked to learn that pilgrim children worked hard…
very hard! VERY VERY HARD.
Check out this pocket chart sorting activity.
Chores were a way of survival for the pilgrims and everyone had to help.
We sort the chores Pilgrims did them like cooking, sewing, and churning butter.
And we sort chores children have now such as
moping and taking out trash.
These cards are also color coded with a blue border. You can easily keep them in a blue baggie together.
You can grab these activities here.
And if you need more FUN activities, also check out these ideas.
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