Mayflower Compact Worksheets

About this resource

Teaching the Mayflower Compact and need pages students can actually work on? This is a complete set for grades 6-8: seven short readings that tell the story from the 1620 voyage to why the Compact mattered, each with a main idea box, a why-it-mattered box and two checks to answer with a letter. Students then take a before and after check, match eight words to their meanings, put events in order on two timelines, fill in a who-and-what chart, write their own compact for a group they belong to, answer short questions with room for four lines each, plan and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph, take a twelve-item quiz, do three cut-and-paste sorts (including Separatists or Strangers) and finish with exit tickets. Answer keys give the letters and a sample for every open answer.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (42 pages)

• 25 student pages in twelve kinds of page, each with a name line and one short instruction
• 73 scored items spread over seventeen pages, every answer taken from the same lists that print on the page
• 7 readings of 151 to 168 words: who sailed on the Mayflower, being blown off course to Cape Cod, signing the Compact (with two short phrases from the 1620 text), choosing Plymouth, the first winter, a new governor, and why the Compact mattered; each with a main idea box and a why-it-mattered box (3 ruled lines each) and 2 checks (14 checks in all)
• 1 Before and After Check (5 questions, an answer box for each time) and 1 Before You Read page with 4 true-or-false items
• 1 Words to Know page: match 8 words (colony, Separatist, compact, majority, governor, self-government, voyage, charter) to their meanings
• 2 timeline pages: write the date for 6 events; number 6 mixed-up events from 1 to 6
• A who-and-what chart for 6 events
• A Write Your Own Compact page: a named group, three promises, how decisions are made, how the leader is chosen and signature lines
• 9 short-answer questions across three pages, 4 ruled lines each
• 2 claim-evidence-reasoning pages: an organizer and an 18-line paragraph page
• 12-item quiz across two pages; 4 exit tickets
• 18 cut-and-paste pieces on 3 sort mats (match the reading, Separatists or Strangers, put in order), 6 pieces each in a 3 by 2 grid
• 4 answer keys with a sample for every open answer; 1 tracker, 1 class grid, 1 team note, 1 family page
• 1 filled example (an invented student), 1 phrase bank (17 starters in 6 groups)
• A binder cover with type-in teacher and class fields, and a page of divider tabs (Readings, Sorts, Quiz, Keys, Records) with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page page

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction with a small picture cue, a plain scalloped border and big ruled boxes. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult: the keys and records are on separate teacher pages. The cut pages have six pieces in a strip-and-grid layout, edge to edge, so there are only a few straight cuts. Clip art is kept to a sailboat, an anchor, a quill, a map, a book, a flag and a pencil. The file prints clean in black and white.

A Short Account, Not A Full Textbook

Each reading is a plain-words summary written for this file, covering the 1620 voyage, the 102 passengers, the landing at Cape Cod instead of the Virginia territory, the 41 men who signed on November 11, 1620, majority rule, John Carver as the first governor, Plymouth, the first winter, and the idea of self-government. The only quoted words are two short phrases from the 1620 text itself. The pages say plainly that only men signed. Check the readings against your own textbook; they are not tied to any standard. The only student in the file is an invented example, and it says so.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, every check box and every ruled work box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A set of Mayflower Compact readings and practice pages with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file, and no claim of alignment to any standard.

If You Want More

Causes of the American Revolution Worksheets | Reading Sort Timeline Grades 6-8; 13 Colonies Worksheets | Regions Sort, Match, Read, Write 5th-8th Grade; Articles of Confederation Worksheets | Sort, Match, Timeline 6th 7th 8th Grade.