The Story of Survival

Simple, Informational
Basic
Helpful, Easy to read

The Voyage of the Mayflower

By Allison Lassieur

Illustrated by Peter McDonnell

Hello bloggers welcome to another edition of Little Reader's Paradise for this week I choose to read the graphic novel about the Mayflower.  This book was definitely an educational read and is a great read for reviewing the material and introducing it to students who are struggling with the reading but I wouldn't go about saying it's a must read novel unless you're doing an intensive study of the material or you're trying to introduce a simpler reading style to a struggling reader.

I would really only recommend this book as an independent reading book for struggling readers and would only recommend it as a small group if it's an additional reading material for a unit on the Mayflower or on the early migration of colonists to the Americas.  I want to stress though that it's nothing against the quality of the book because it really is the perfect option for a struggling reader or for enhancing understanding of the material.


Lexile Score: 580
Recommended Grade Level: Grade 3-4

Before the Reading
One strategy I recommend for this book is having the students rehearse what they know about the Mayflower and go over the history before the Mayflower and setting the stage for the reading.  You can do this before the unit itself or before the book.  I recommend mapping it out for them by talking about the first settlers in Plymoth, the Spanish settlers Latin-america, and even the story of Squanto being taken by the colonists from his home.

During the Reading
For the reading of the book in small groups I highly recommend using the Reciprocal Teaching approach which requires students to take on the role of leading their discussions.  In this approach the students (in groups of four) will take on one of the four roles; summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting.  This is the best way to ensure they're properly going through the reading and actually focusing on their comprehension skills when reading it and not just going through the reading.  Because it's such a quick read it's extremely likely that they will overlook a lot of essential material.

After the Reading
After the students complete the reading have them write an essay from the perspective of one of the pilgrims who were settling in Virginia.  Have the students write a letter to their relatives back in Europe telling them about their voyage across the ocean and their first few months in the colony.  In the letter the students should mention the an example from the voyage, an example from the first few days, and an example from the point where th town was thriving.  Also, the students should write at least two notes that demonstrates inferential comprehension.  For example, the students could write a short passage about how it felt when they finally saw land.

Great Electronic Sources

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/

This is a good website for providing a second option for students to re-visit the infomation about the voyage on the Mayflower.

https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/thanksgiving/
This is a great website for educating students about the first pilgrims and about Thanksgiving, it also involves quizzes, making a map, and so much more

Vocabulary words to go over:

• sabotage = to purposefully destroy porperty to stop an activity
• voyage = trip
• pastor = the leader of a Christian group
• servants = a person who is paid to perform work for others
• plague = a serious disease that spreads quickly and kills quickly
• charter = document that gives a group the right to create a colony on a certain area of land