Squanto and the First Thanksgiving | A Customizable Companion Packet Grades 3rd-4th

Bring Thanksgiving history and literacy together with this comprehensive Squanto and the First Thanksgiving read-aloud companion for 3rd and 4th grade!

Designed to accompany Teresa Celsi's Squanto and the First Thanksgiving, this resource gives students opportunities to strengthen reading comprehension, practice essential literacy skills, develop their writing, and explore the history behind the familiar Thanksgiving story.

With a wide variety of activities, students can move beyond basic comprehension questions to examine characters, analyze events, compare the picture book with historical accounts, and consider the perspectives of the Indigenous people who lived in the Plymouth region before the English settlers arrived.

Whether you're planning a Thanksgiving read-aloud, a literacy unit, a social studies connection, or engaging seasonal activities, this companion offers plenty of options to make your lessons meaningful and flexible!

THE BEST PART? BUILD YOUR OWN STUDENT PACKET!

With 90+ pages of activities and resources included, you don't have to use everything at once! Teachers can pick and choose the worksheets and activities they want to include in their student packets. Create a packet that fits your classroom, instructional goals, available time, and students' needs!

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

This extensive resource includes activities covering:

📚 Before Reading & Story Elements

• Making predictions
• Thanksgiving brainstorming and theme exploration
• Story mapping and story elements
• Sequencing events
• Beginning, middle, and end
• The 5 W's
• Character, setting, plot, main idea, and theme

✏️ Reading Comprehension & Close Reading

• Comprehension questions
• Multiple-choice and short-answer questions
• Cause and effect
• Character traits and motivations
• Problem and solution
• Vocabulary and context clues
• Text evidence
• Main idea and supporting details
• Summarizing and retelling
• Understanding checks and sequencing activities

💭 Literary Analysis & Critical Thinking

• Understanding themes and author's purpose
• Evaluating characters' actions
• Exploring character motivations
• Drawing conclusions and making inferences
• Examining relationships and cooperation
• Connecting the story's messages to students' own lives

📝 Writing & Creative Responses

• Opinion writing
• Point of view and perspective
• Creative journal entries
• RAFT writing
• Writing from different perspectives
• Paragraph planning
• Summarizing and retelling
• Extended written responses using text evidence

🇺🇸 History & Historical Thinking

• Exploring Squanto's historical name, Tisquantum
• Learning about the Patuxet people and the Wampanoag
• Examining historical context beyond the picture book
• Comparing the book with historical accounts
• Exploring the 1621 harvest gathering
• Introducing primary sources
• Reading an excerpt from Edward Winslow's account
• Comparing a picture book with a historical document
• Distinguishing historical facts from assumptions
• Considering whose perspectives are represented in historical accounts

🗝️ Answer Key Included

An answer key is included to help make checking student work and planning lessons easier. Open-ended writing and reflection activities allow for a variety of thoughtful student responses.

PERFECT FOR:

• 3rd and 4th grade classrooms
• Thanksgiving literacy lessons
• Read-aloud and picture-book studies
• Reading comprehension practice
• ELA and social studies integration
• Close reading and text-evidence activities
• Writing and critical-thinking practice
• November literacy centers
• Substitute plans and independent work
• Whole-group instruction, small groups, or independent practice

WHY YOU’LL WILL LOVE IT

✔ A wide variety of activities in one resource

✔ Opportunities to practice multiple literacy standards

✔ Flexible activities that can be selected to fit your teaching needs

✔ Meaningful connections between literature, history, and writing

✔ Opportunities to examine Indigenous perspectives and learn more about the historical context of Thanksgiving

✔ An included answer key to support lesson preparation

Make your Thanksgiving read-aloud more interactive while helping students strengthen their reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and critical-thinking skills. With flexible activities that combine literacy and historical exploration, you can create a learning experience that works for your classroom!

Please Note: The book Squanto and the First Thanksgiving by Teresa Celsi is not included. This resource is designed to accompany your own read-aloud or classroom use of the story. A purchasing link is provided within the material.

If you use this resource, please leave a review — it helps other teachers find it and lets me know what to create next. Thank you for supporting independent educators!

Practical. Engaging. Just a little magical.

© The Bewitched Teacher. For single-classroom use. Please purchase additional licenses for sharing with colleagues.