Bellmore first-grade students in Natalie Sicoli’s class at the Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center made valuable connections to Native American and Pilgrim life in Plymouth, Massachusettes during a unit on the first Thanksgiving, comparing this historical celebration to modern day. 

The students first read B.G. Hennessy’s “One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims” and discussed how the characters prepared for the first Thanksgiving and the long winter ahead with their Wampanoag neighbors by planting crops, hunting  and fishing. With the assistance of parent volunteers, the students also tye-dyed t-shirts using dye made from cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and turmeric. They also wrote about how they made their t-shirts during an interactive writing exercise. The unit helped the students gain a better understanding of the importance of this national holiday.