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Paired Texts > The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story

by Chuck Larsen

1986

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

6th Grade Informational Text 930L
Northeast Natives
  • BirdBrain History
  • 2016

“Northeast Natives” is an informational text that invites readers to imagine how they would explore the villages and lives of America’s pre-Columbian northeast natives.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “Northeast Natives” and have students discuss what they learned after reading “Northeast Natives”. Does reading that text change their opinion of “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story”?

8th Grade Speech 1080L
Chief Powhatan’s Address to Captain John Smith
  • Chief Powhatan
  • 1609

In the “Address to Captain John Smith,” Chief Powhatan discusses the current violent relationship between English settlers and the Powhatan people.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “Chief Powhatan’s Address to Captain John Smith” and ask students to compare what happened in Plymouth and in Jamestown. Why did the relationship between settlers and Native Americans deteriorate so quickly in both situations?

4th Grade Informational Text 560L
Lewis and Clark: American Explorers
  • Barbara Radner
  • 2005

“Lewis and Clark: American Explorers” explores the circumstances of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s famous 1804 journey to chart the western United States.

Pair “Lewis and Clark: American Explorers” with “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” and ask students to discuss how Native Americans have helped early Americans survive and thrive when founding the country as we know it today.

9th Grade Interview 1090L
Behind The Native American Achievement Gap
  • Celeste Headlee
  • 2012

In “Behind the Native American Achievement Gap,” Celeste Headlee interviews Anton Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe History and Language, about the education of Native Americans.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “Behind the Native American Achievement Gap” and ask students to compare how the story of Thanksgiving is usually taught in schools with how it is depicted in the text. How might this negatively impact Native American students’ experiences in school?

11th Grade Speech 1090L
The Danger of a Single Story
  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • 2009

In “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses the importance of not allowing one story to construct your understanding of the world.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “The Danger of a Single Story” and ask students to discuss how the story of the first Thanksgiving has primarily been told as a single story. What has been the effects of this? Consider pairing excerpts from “The Danger of a Single Story” with “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” to portray the main ideas of Adichie’s text in a more accessible way for students.

5th Grade Informational Text 900L
Heartbeat of Mother Earth
  • CR Willing McManis
  • 2015

In the informational text “Heartbeat of Mother Earth,” CR Willing McManis describes what takes place during pow wows.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “Heartbeat of Mother Earth” to have students compare the two celebrations. Ask students how pow wows are similar to the first Thanksgiving. How are they different?

5th Grade Informational Text 980L
First Contact with Europeans
  • Stephen Currie
  • 2003

In the informational text “First Contact with Europeans,” Stephen Currie discusses European explorers’ first contact with American Indian tribes.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “First Contact with Europeans” to provide students with information about the first Thanksgiving and the relationship between Native Americans and English settlers. Ask students to compare how the interactions between the Native Americans and Europeans compare in the two texts. How and why did Europeans’ relations with Native Americans decline?

6th Grade Informational Text
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
  • Sanjana Chetia
  • 2019

In the informational text “Cinco de Mayo,” Sanjana Chetia explains the history of Cinco de Mayo and why it has become an important cultural celebration for Mexican Americans.

Pair “The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story” with “Cinco de Mayo.” Ask students to compare and contrast the Pilgrims and Indians with the Mexicans and the French. Discuss the popularity of both Cinco de Mayo and Thanksgiving. What is being celebrated in each holiday? Do both holidays call for celebration? Why or why not?