Indigenous Communities, European Colonizers, and the Plymouth Colony

European Colonizers’ Arrival in the Northeast

Cluster 1 focuses on the experiences and perspectives of the Wampanoag and European colonizers. The cluster builds off learnings from Unit 1 about Indigenous peoples of the Northeast, past and present. The cluster introduces third graders to the European ideas and beliefs that supported colonization of the Northeast and how they were different from the Indigenous ideas and beliefs. Students engage with the Doctrine of Discovery (a primary source) along with adapted portions of a key secondary source for the unit, the illustrated nonfiction picture book, If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving, by Chris Newell. Students focus on comparing and contrasting the experiences of the Wampanoag and Europeans throughout the cluster.

Actions and Reactions to Plymouth Colony

Cluster 2 focuses on the events of 1621, when the Wampanoag and English colonists first made contact with one another. The cluster introduces the interactions between the two groups, along with the myths and truths around the 1621 feast that occurred in the fall. Students launch the cluster by thinking about the first official action by the colonists: the Mayflower Compact. They also continue to use adapted portions of the key text for the unit, If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving by Chris Newell. Students focus on comparing and contrasting actions and reactions of the Wampanoag and Europeans throughout the cluster’s cycle of inquiry.

Longer-Term Impacts of Colonization

Cluster 3 focuses on how expanding colonization impacted Indigenous peoples and the natural world in a lasting way. The cluster begins by introducing how Wampanoag and other Indigenous tribes of the Northeast resisted colonization, then asks students to use evidence to determine how animal and tree populations were affected by colonization during the 1600–1700s. Students engage with information from primary sources, including maps, and continue to use adapted portions of the key secondary source for the unit, If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving by Chris Newell. Students apply their deepened understanding of colonization in order to determine the ways in which the Northeast has forever changed.