Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl

Sarah Morton has been living in the Plimoth colony in the New World for four years, she tells readers. Now age nine, we get one jam-packed day in her life. A Pilgrim girl, she speaks in the vernacular of 1627: "Come thee with me. Let me show thee how my days are," she invites. And thus we see her milking goats, cooking meals, learning her letters, playing knickers (marbles) with friends, reciting her Bible verses, and — in a fascinating sequence of ten pictures — getting dressed: her "overgarments," which include three petticoats and a separate pocket. Photographed on location at Plimoth Plantation, an actual living-history museum, the images are largely unposed and provide a historical verisimilitude with which young readers will show more easily connect.***SRC Quiz*** show less

Sarah Morton;s Day focuses on the daily life of a young pilgrim girl who just moved to Plimouth plantation. On top of the dramatic changes of moving to the New World, Sarah is also facing adjusting to a new father, since her own passed. The book details through the daily chores of Sarah and shows step by step how complicated colonial attire was to put on. The book also presents opportunities to discuss how Sarah is feeling emotionally about the move and about gaining the approval of her new father as well.
I would recommend this book to upper elementary students. It is a great text to use in the classroom to help students gain a better understanding of what daily life was like for a young pilgrim child. In addition, there is added depth show more to the story with the mention of Sarah's feelings about having a new father and living in a new and different place. show less

This picture book gives a really good example of how life was for younger members of pilgrim society in 1627, before America was born. It details the chores that needed to be done, the things that children were learning at the time, and it highlights what was important to the people of that society. The book is maybe a little too immature for older high school students, but I do think it will be a great little book to show to middle school and lower high school ages.

Sarah Morton's Day is a slim little picture book showing a day in the life of a Pilgrim girl on the Plymouth Colony in 1627. From the notes, I guess there's a living history museum out in Plymouth, Massachusetts where folks reenact the life of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people in those days. Sarah Morton is one of the characters and the book uses photographs of her reenactment to show readers what a typical day for a ten-year-old girl might be like. There's also a bit of a story as Sarah ponders some relationship issues with her step-father. It's an enjoyable, five-minute read for grownups, worth checking out if you want to educate your kids (or yourself) about life in the old days.
--J.

This book is fabulous for any elementary age! Sarah Morton is a girl who lived during the time of early American settlement as a pilgrim. She is young, so the students will be able to relate to her more than they would for an adult trying to explain the same concepts. Sarah walks us through her typical days—work, learning, play, eating, dress…the works. It is interesting to compare and contrast society today compared to society when America was first being established!

Summary: This story details the daily activities of Sarah Morton, a pilgrim girl. It clearly relates the things she does each day from getting dressed, to preparing meals, to daily chores. The story takes place in 1627 and reveals many vocabulary words that may be unfamiliar to students in relation to life during the 17th century.

Personal Reaction: I really enjoy Historic Fiction and learning about the life of people that lived centuries ago is captivating. I also enjoy visiting museums that detail the life of the early settlers. History is all about the stories of people’s lives all woven together. That is what makes things so interesting.

Classroom Extension:
1. One way of adding to the lessons in this story would be to have the show more students visit a plantation that depicts life of the early pilgrims from the 17th century.
2. Another way of having the students relate to the story would be to have them write diary entries for their daily life that might be read three hundred years from now helping readers understand what life is like in the 21st century. show less

The story tells the day in the life of a Pilgrim girl. The book is written how they talked back in that day. It will help the children of today understand what life what was during this time in history. In the back of the book, there is a glossary which offers words that children may not understand. The author did a good job with showing how children lived during this time and what they did during their daily life. The illustrations help the reader to visualize how the Pilgrims lived during this time.