The+First+Thanksgiving

The First Thanksgiving - [|http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/]
**Sponsoring Organization: Scholastic, Inc. **  **Date of Last Update:** The updating of the page is not listed at the bottom of the page, but one part of the site has recently been updated with a news article from just a few days ago.


 * Authority:** The Scholastic company has been a leader in the education field for many years. The website offers their mission statement and credo. A specific author was not listed.


 * Content:** This website discusses the voyage of the Mayflower, daily life of the pilgrims, and the Thanksgiving feast. The information is factual, not opinion based. There is also a webquest on the site, allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge. The readability is fine for mid- upper elementary, but the site also has a narrator reading almost all text on each page.
 * Currency: This site has an up to date copyright and no links are broken, but there is not an update stamp on the page. **


 * Purpose:** The purpose of the site is clear and there is no advertising on the page at all. All links/buttons are related to the topic of the Pilgrims or the first Thanksgiving.


 * Organization/Design/Navigation:** This site is very well organized in its navigation. The buttons in the center of the front page give three choices which then lead you to other choices for information. It is clean and there are no advertisements. I also like how there is a speaker button where the text can be read aloud.


 * Strengths:** The photographs are well done and help cement a visual for students that may have little background knowledge regarding this period in time. A webquest is available for students to confirm what they know or head back to the website pages to find the answers. The daily life section also does a compare and contrast with the pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians.
 * Weaknesses:** There is a timeline down toward the bottom of the site. It almost goes unnoticed. I think a better placement would be at the top, so students are more apt to click and see what happened during different time periods.


 * Instructional Uses:** This could be used as a teacher directed site for younger students, but for the 5th graders I use it with, it is independently done. This goes along well with their Colonial Unit in Social Studies.


 * Benefits to Students:** One of my favorite parts of the site describes the interior of the ship the Pilgrims were on for 65 days with 100 strangers. There are other scenarios that students can read or listen to that they may never have thought of.