Tuesday, November 1, 2011

What are you learning this month, Pilgrim?

Seems like November always means Thanksgiving to me.  In 2009, my November post (actually posted at the end of October for November) included a visit to Plimoth Plantation.  In somewhat of a revisit, I checked for other Pilgrim museum resources and discovered the Pilgrim Hall Museum.  On their home page (http://www.pilgrimhall.org/plgrmhll.htm), their mission statement and a brief history of the museum is included.  The most important resources for teachers, students and families are the links located in the left-hand menu.  From this list you can discover The Pilgrim Story and Beyond the Pilgrim Story.  Both pages include overview information and then links to more specific information.  My short time spent exploring yielded a great deal of information that was easily accessible and well organized.  The "New Exhibit" link provided images and background information about items in the collection.  The "Learning" link included resources for learning online and learning from books.  I found this a really informative and easy to use website.

If you're worried that the museum exhibits and resources are only about the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock, you will be pleasantly surprised.  There is information about Native Americans and African Americans at the Plymouth Colony.  I was impressed by the inclusion of primary sources, like the Mayflower Compact, provisions lists and texts of letters and treaties.

Before you settle in to craft some turkeys and cornucopias, be sure to check out the historical resources here!

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