Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims Pockets of Time

Another Thanksgiving project was our Pockets of Time to go with the book "Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims" by Clyde Bulla. Every few years (as the youngest child in our family is old enough to appreciate it), we read about Squanto. It really is an adventurous story- a perfect "boy read". The older two boys love this story- this was the first time we read it while James (6yo) was old enough to really "get it", and I have to admit that it was just too much for his tender
heart. :( I am such a chicken that I finished reading the book to the older boys while he was asleep- I don't think he could take it that when Squanto finally got home, his family was all gone.
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The thing that made this time around different were the Pockets of Time by Fortunately for You Books. There are several reasons that these are perfect for us- first, as is often the case with boys, mine do not like writing! This hands-on activity involves no writing- plus #1! Second, my oldest ds has a very difficult time reading. The cards that are used in the Pockets of Time still have all the main vocabulary words included in the book, but in just one little sentence per card- much less intimidating for a reluctant reader. Best of all, he could feel successful at reading in these nice, small bits. Last, the boys just really liked this! We were doing the cards per chapter, but the boys wanted to take them all out and line them up in order across the floor.
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Our Pockets of Time:
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This is our cover page printed from Keeping Kids Busy. Each page has two pockets- each pocket has cards for one chapter. While I read a chapter from the book, the boys colored these reading comprehension cards and then laminated them. The cards are color coded to match an answer key. The reading comprehension exercise is that the students put the cards in the order that the events happened in a particular chapter. If the students have the correct order, the cards will match the color order listed on the answer key. My kids started getting pretty wild with some of their coloring after a while-- as long as I could tell what color the card was suppose to be, I allowed them to have their fun. :)



As a side note: for the boxes I put the crayons on one student's box, the book in another and the cards to be colored in another. It did not take them long to figure it out. :)

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