Dear America: A Journey to the New World
Kathryn Lasky
Published by Scholastic Inc.
Copyright 2010
Twelve year old Remember Patience Whipple (Mem for short) is a young girl who goes with her family on the Mayflower in order reach the New World where they will be able to practice their religious beliefs without being persecuted by King James of England. On her journey Mem experiences loss as well as hope for the future in a new place. Young readers will find, as Mem did, that nothing is as it seems. They will learn about how difficult the journey from Holland to the New World was, the hardships of settling on new land, the first real Thanksgiving, and much more.
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| Kathryn Lasky |
Reading Level: Grade 4-9; Lexile: 900L
Suggested Delivery: Independent Read, Guided Reading
Web Resources:
Author's Site: Here you can find out more about Kathryn Lasky, the author of A Journey to the New World and many other children's and young adult novels.
Activities and Discussion Questions: Here you will find discussion questions and fun student activities to share with your students. Make succotash, the recipe that one of the Indians shares with Mem in the story. You can also read an interview with Kathryn Lasky and find helpful websites to further the students' understanding of the Plimoth Settlement.
The following links are lesson plans to help students further their knowledge of how it might have been for the Pilgrims who came to the New World on the Mayflower. The second link will lead you to a number of resources that focus on different events and people that are mentioned in A Journey to the New World such as the first Thanksgiving, the Mayflower Compact, Squanto, etc.
Key Vocabulary:
scours
petticoats
turpentine
contortions
sieve
providence
incredulous
sundry
draught
cajoling
cantankerous
victuals
scurvy
adze
tansy
Suggestions for Activities for Students:
Before Reading: Before having the students read this text I would suggest having a discussion about what the students know about the Mayflower, Pilgrims, and the first Thanksgiving. The teacher could record the student's thoughts on a KWL Chart (What they Know, What they Want to Know, and What they Learned). It would be interesting to see what the students know or think they know about these different topics. A teacher might find that they need to address some misconceptions that the students have. Should a student say something about these topics that are wrong the teacher should ask where they got that information and advise them to pay close attention the text they are about to read to see if that truly happened or not.
Teachers can also help the students fill out the "What they Want to Know" part of the KWL Chart. Ask students what they wish to learn about these topics. This will help them engage in the text because they will be looking for information to help them find answers to their questions.
During Reading: While reading the text have the students focus on the vocabulary. In their reading and writing journals have them write down what page they saw the vocabulary word on, what they think the word means based on context clues, and what the word actually means after they have looked it up in a dictionary or online.
After Reading: Have the students fill in the rest of the KWL Chart with what they learned after reading the text. Go over the misconceptions that students had and have the student who had the misconception explain what happened in the text that was different from what they stated at the beginning. For comprehension purposes have the students respond to inferential discussion questions. These may help them make connections to personal experiences or perhaps make connections to other texts that students have read. Click here for examples of thought provoking questions to ask students after they have read the text.
Awards and Acknowledgements:
"More than a supplement to classroom textbooks, this series is an imaginative, solid entre into American history." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Engaging, accessible historical fiction." -- School Library Journal 
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