Tag Archive | Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving Unit

Nov21

 

The First Thanksgiving, Jennie Brownscombe

I love this national holiday for several reasons. First, it’s not too commercialized! It’s a bit hard to sell thankfulness, don’t you think? If so, I would order a case or two of it.

Another reason I like Thanksgiving is the history regarding why the Pilgrims came to America;  plus I love to read about the life of Squanto.  He chose to help the race of people who had enslaved him and were responsible (directly or indirectly) for his tribe’s demise. Squanto is one of my heroes! I have included a list of books that I have enjoyed reading to my sons about Squanto and the Pilgrims that I think you will too.

One more reason I like Thanksgiving is because this day focuses on God and the blessings He has given to us. I have included some copywork/dictation pieces for your students to practice their handwriting. Make an extra set and send them to the grandparents as I am sure they would enjoy receiving them.

Would you like to focus on Thanksgiving and do unit study? I have some lapbooks that you can download. I have included two to get you started. Just look over the activities and see which ones you would like to do with your family. I have activities for students all the way from preschool through high school.

Crafts and Art Activities: There are so many ideas that it can be overwhelming. I have only provided you with some we have done as well as a few websites.

Placemats– Make a placemat for each guest that will be attending dinner. Laminate them with contact paper so that the artwork is not destroyed with gravy. Start early on this if you have a large gathering so as not to overwhelm your artists. You can personalize the placemats or make general themes.

Click to enlarge

Thankful Wreath– Using fall colors, trace your children’s hands onto the paper and cut them out. Have each person tell you (if they are little) or write one thing they are thankful on each of the hands. Glue the fingers of one hand on to the palm of another hand. You will need to have several sets as you will want to form a wreath shape from the hands. If you have a larger number of children than you can accommodate for creating a wreath then you can make more or… you can make a wreath with construction paper leaves instead.

Thanksgiving coloring pages. Print off a few to take with you on the long car ride to Grandma if you are traveling.

How about a word find or crossword puzzle? There are several levels of difficulty that are given on this website.

Have you ever seen about.com? I have found them to be an excellent resource for topics we are studying. You are sure to find something on these two pages that you and your children will enjoy pertaining to puzzles and word finds.

Enchanted Learning has a variety of crafts, worksheets, and mini books to create for elementary students.

Here is a crossword puzzle for Bible: Psalms of Thanksgiving . You can use these verses for copywork as well.

History:

Research the first Thanksgiving.  Ideas about how to use this for school: Have student(s) narrate what they have read; ask comprehension questions about the passage; calculate how many years it was from the time of the first Thanksgiving until George Washington declared  a day of thanks.

Here is another site from Scholastic under the heading of Research Starters that has the history and additional websites to investigate. click here This website can be used for middle- senior high students.

Watch a video from the History Channel about Thanksgiving. (for older students) Accompanying the video are questions to answer.

There is quite a bit of information on this website about the Mayflower. You can read the original compact  and also read it in Governor Bradford’s own handwriting by going here: Mayflower Compact. Middle school students can narrate what they have read and answer questions such as: What was the purpose of the signing of the compact ? Why did all men sign and not women? Junior/senior high students can create their own compact. Consider why it would be important to include when beginning a new colony.  Have them create a model of their colony.

Plimouth Plantation (website with many things to do and see) I would recommend you to go to  Just for Kids, but don’t stop there because there is quite a bit to look at on this website. Older students can use this website to research topics.

Scholastic. com has some fabulous resources that contain videos of the Pilgrim’s and Native American’s villages. There are also activities to accompany your unit. Click on the right hand side for activities, lessons, and worksheets.

Research how and when Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Books to Read:

Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Robert Clyde Bulla  Discuss how Squanto helped the Pilgrims. Squanto reminds me of another man who was ill-treated but turned it around for the good of a nation. His name was Joseph and you can read his story in the bible: Genesis chapters 37-50.  Older students can compare and contrast him to Squanto.

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh This is a nice read aloud for younger students.

Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret Pumphrey  This a great book for all ages as a read aloud for younger students and an assigned reader for older students. Older students can pick a few stories to highlight and tell to the family if everyone is not going to be reading it.

The If You series are books that my children and I found to provide details and factual information in an interesting format. Here are two that pertain to Thanksgiving:

If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma

If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann DeVito

How about including a book report to accompany the reading? Here is a book report form from ABC Teach  thanksgiving book reports

Copywork/Dictation:

Students can copy these scripture passages on to a piece of notebook paper. Glue a piece of construction paper to the back to provide a frame. Hang up the masterpieces and memorize this month.

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

1 Chronicles 16:34
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Older students: Use any of the documents listed above as a resource  for  copying such as the Mayflower Compact or the declaration of a day of thanks from George Washington.

Here’s a Thankfulness Character Study for your family. Click Here

Lapbooks:

Here is a lapbook for younger students to complete using the book Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92 by Karma Wilson. If you can’t find the book you can still use the psalm from your favorite translation.

Another lapbook from homeschool share based upon the book Goody O’Grumpity by Carol Ryrie Brink. Even if you do not use the book that is recommended, you can still use the lapbook ideas.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The First Thanksgiving : Reading and Writing

Nov24

thanksgiving-wallpaper-13

Here are some reading and writing activities for Thanksgiving. The first activity is a  mini book called  The First Thanksgiving. The book has seven pages which is perfect for young readers. You can also use thees pictures that  summarize the page of information you are reading. There are only six pictures, but the last two pages of the mini book  are similar so there is only one picture to represent both of them. (They are not anything fancy, but it serves the purpose. Feel free to use this idea and get other pictures if you don’t like my selection.) For Thanksgiving pictures, click here-> Thanksgiving Retelling. Cut these out for the activity. Give your student a piece of blank paper and have them write the title, The First Thanksgiving on the top of the page.

After your student reads one page, give him/her a choice of two pictures and choose which one best describes what s/he had read. Glue them on to the First Thanksgiving paper s/he created. Then have him/her write the numeral of the event  in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture. Do this for each page until the book is finished.

After all of the pictures are glued, it is his/her turn to tell you about each of them that s/he had glued onto the paper. Mission accomplished, the retelling of the story is easily done since there is a pictorial representation to refer to when explaining what s/he read.

If you want, you can have your student write out the story on Thanksgiving  themed paper or do one or both of these copywork pages:  Thanksgiving copywork   Thanksgiving copywork2 You can also have your student color the mini book too if you have time.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,

~Lisa

Being Thankful

Nov19

freedictionary.com defines thankful as:  Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful. 2. Expressive of gratitude So, I was thinking this would be a good time to just state some things that I am thankful for:

  • God- Where would I be without Him?
  • Family- I have an amazing husband who loves me and two wonderful sons. I will be adding a daughter-in-law to the list next year! 🙂
  • Sisters- Aren’t sisters family? Well, of course they are, but in another sense they are not. I think of my sisters as a separate category- Superfriends. They know you like no one else and they still love you.
  • America- I think this is the greatest place to be, even with all of its warts and blemishes.
  • Freedom- We have so many freedoms: speech, religion, and assembly are just a few that come to mind. Thank you to all of our servicemen!
  • Health- I am so appreciative of being healthy. I am grateful to be alive and kickin’.
  • Marriage- I am blessed to have married my college sweetheart. I must say that I chose well with God’s help!
  • Girlfriends- I have two gals who have known me for over 20 years and they still want to hang out with me. Bless you!
  • Homeschooling- I know I am strongly opinionated when it comes to homeschooling, but I am glad we did it. My relationship with my sons is strong and healthy because we homeschooled. The academics were fantastic as well, not because I taught them everything, I didn’t. I found wonderful teachers who were passionate about content matter and made subjects come alive. Who would think that math is fun? Not me, but my neighbor and friend does. I love her for teaching my children that math makes sense.
  • Provision- I am appreciative of the food we eat, clothing I wear, and the house we call our home.
  • Employment- My husband and I are both employed and I am so glad to be able to go to work. Of course, I love what I do so the days that I see my class doesn’t seem like work at all! I teach 7th and 8th grade students who make me laugh every week.
  • Electricity and Technology – Yep, I am extremely grateful for all of the appliances and gadgets that I can use to make my life easier. I am glad I am not down at the creek beating my clothes on a rock or boiling water on an outdoor fire to cook food for my family. I am happy to not have to write my lesson plans by hand, or via a typewriter, or even mimeograph paper! If you don’t know what that is, be glad. It’s an ancient form of making duplicate copies.

My list could go on for quite a while, but before I stop I ‘d like to say I am thankful for you!

What about taking a few minutes to think of all of the things you are thankful for this year? How about writing them down and reflecting over all the blessings you have in your life? I am sure your list will be equally as long as mine.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

~Lisa