The Pilgrim's Pen: Teaching Students About Quill and Ink Pens

For this classroom project you are going to need a batch of chicken or turkey feathers. You will need to contact a local farmer and ask that he or she comb the pens and pick some up for you. You will need at least one for each student and one for yourself as you demonstrate to the students what to do. If you can't find a local farmer you can buy some online.

You will need the following items for this project:

1. Turkey or Chicken feather
2. Paint
3. Water
4. Baby food jars
5. Scissors
6. Paintbrush or small stick
7. Paper

Follow the steps below to complete the project:

1. Hold up your feather and cut the tip of it at an angle with your scissors. Instruct your students to do the same.
2. Give each student a baby food jar and some black paint. Have them squirt the black paint in to the jar.
3. Instruct the students to add some water to the baby food jar to thin out the paint. Mix the paint water mixture with a paintbrush or a small stick.
4. Show students how to dip their feather in to the paint and start writing with it. It may take some practice so give them a practice sheet of paper and then a piece of paper for writing an actual assignment.
5. Have the students write out with their new quill ink pens what they have learned about the Thanksgiving holiday and how it began. You could choose to have them compare what the Pilgrims had to do in order to write a letter to a family member verses what they have to do to write a letter to their family.

Use this time to talk with your students about the hardships of everyday life for the Pilgrims and Indians. They couldn't just go to Staples and buy school supplies or the grocery store to buy food. One of the things they can be grateful for this Thanksgiving is the many ways that life has been made simpler through inventions and a growing economy.