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Thinking About Thanksgiving:
Lessons Across the Curriculum

Are you teaching about the "First Thanksgiving" as it is written in many children’s books, or are you teaching about it as it really happened? This week, Education World helps put Thanksgiving in perspective and challenges students to "think about Thanksgiving." Included: Lessons that teach science, math, geography, foreign languages, more!

Teaching about Thanksgiving presents some very unique challenges. The biggest challenge lies in providing students with a balanced telling of the story of the Pilgrim’s first harvest in the New World. Indeed, many children’s books tell the traditional Thanksgiving story from the perspective of the Pilgrim settlers. The point of view of the Wampanoags, the Indian tribe that befriended those settlers, is often ignored.

We even refer to that Thanksgiving in 1621 as the "First Thanksgiving" when, in reality, the Wampanoags had been celebrating the annual harvest for many years and people in many other cultures had been putting on feasts of thanksgiving for centuries.

This week Education World presents four lessons to challenge students to think about Thanksgiving -- about the real Thanksgiving story, about the holiday’s true meaning, and about turkeys too!

Click on each of the four lesson headlines below for a complete teaching resource. (Appropriate grade levels for each lesson appear in parentheses.)

Thanksgiving Then and Now
Create a Venn diagram to compare the Pilgrim’s "First Thanksgiving" with today’s Thanksgiving celebration. (Grades K-12)

Putting Turkey on a Table (or a Graph)
Put turkey on a table (or a graph)! Show information about turkey population, production, and consumption. (Grades K-12)

Squanto’s Science Lesson
This hands-on science activity proves what a great help Squanto was to the early settlers. (Grades PreK-5)

Say "Thank You" in 100 Languages!
Put the "Thanks" back in Thanksgiving with this geography and language activity that teaches students to say "thank you" in many languages. (Grades K-8)

ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

Below you will find a variety of unique resources that might help you add a new twist to your Thanksgiving lessons. And don’t miss the additional lesson plans we have collected for you.

Make a Turkey Puppet
Delight students with this colorful puppet!

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower Web Pages
One of the most thorough sources of great information for students and teachers.

Thanksgiving in American Memory
The Library of Congress offers links to primary sources and a Thanksgiving timeline.

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
This thesis project offers some insight into the early settlement of Plymouth.

Thanksgiving Day Parade
A behind-the-scenes look at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Veggies Unite
How about a Thanksgiving feast from the vegetarian perspective? Search this archive for the term "Thanksgiving."

Thanksgiving Jokes
And Thanksgiving joke cards too!

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
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