Holidays

Holiday Lessons/Activities

Scroll down for resources on: Thanksgiving Veterans Day **Thanksgiving** A Short List of Thanksgiving Lesson Resources Thanksgiving-themed lessons will be taking place in classrooms all over the United States next week. If you're looking for some Thanksgiving lesson ideas, take a look at the following resources. Please add other resources to share.

Voyage on the Mayflower is a nice resource produced by Scholastic. Voyage on the Mayflower has two parts for students to explore. The first part is an interactive map of the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Students can click on placemarks on the map to read and hear about the journey. The second part of the Voyage on the Mayflower takes students "inside" the Mayflower to see and hear about the parts of the ship.

You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving is an interactive exploration of the facts and myths associated with the story of the First Thanksgiving. Students can explore the facts and myths through the eyes of a Native American child or through the eyes of a female Pilgrim. Through the eyes of each character students discover the culture of giving thanks in the Native American and English cultures. My favorite part of the investigation is "The Path to 1621" in which students hear the perspectives of Native Americans and Pilgrims about events prior to 1621.

The First Thanksgiving: Daily Life is another online activity produced by Scholastic. Daily Life is comparison of the lifestyles of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. Students can click through each aspect of daily life to see a comparison of housing, clothing, food, chores, school, and games.

The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings tells the story of Thanksgiving 1939. In 1939 Thanksgiving was going to fall on the last day of November which caused merchants to be worried about a shortened shopping season. In response to this concern President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would be moved up one week. Some states chose to ignore this proclamation and celebrate Thanksgiving on the last day of the month anyway. The conflict was finally resolved in 1941 when Congress passed a law stating that Thanksgiving would always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month. The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings is supported by ten primary source documents. Included in those documents are letters from merchants appealing to FDR to change the day of Thanksgiving and letters opposing the change.

If you're looking for a writing activity to do with the students in advance of Thanksgiving, National Geographic Kids offers a Mad Libs-like story writing activity. Funny Fill-In generates a funny Thanksgiving story based on the words that kids write in response to Thanksgiving prompts. Quiz Your Noodle is another fun Thanksgiving game available on National Geographic Kids.

= Map Your Recipe is a neat use of Google Maps that allows you to enter a recipe and find out where the vegetables in that recipe were first domesticated. According to the creator of the site the purpose of doing this is to show how few truly local ingredients go into many of our favorite meals. You can try Map Your Recipe with one of the sample recipes or you can enter a recipe of your own. Map Your Recipe could be a fun tool to have students use to see where their favorite Thanksgiving foods originally came from.=

Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Explore the rich historical and cultural aspects of this American holiday with Thanksgiving activities, lessons, and printables. You can incorporate Thanksgiving into many of your classes, such as Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies. There are arts & crafts projects with which your students can demonstrate their creativity, math worksheets so they can show their critical thinking skills, references to teach the history of Thanksgiving, and activities perfect for your students to show their vocabulary and reading capabilities. ||
 * [[image:https://i.infopls.com/images/cornucopia.jpg width="83" height="80" caption="Cornucopia"]] || Thanksgiving – Teacher Resources


 * Videos about Thanksgiving ||
 * || [|History of Thanksgiving – Videos & Activities] ||
 * Thanksgiving Slideshows ||
 * || [|Seasons Printables Slideshow] ||
 * || [|Favorite Autumn Activities Slideshow (K-8)] ||
 * || [|Favorite Thanksgiving Activities Slideshow, Grades 3-6] ||
 * || [|9 Creative Ways to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Turkey Traditions at the White House] ||
 * Printables for Grades K-12 ||
 * || [|Thanks Around the World] ||
 * || [|Paper Weaving Instructions] ||
 * || [|Colonial New England Food & Cooking] ||
 * || [|The First Thanksgiving Book] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Dinner] ||
 * || [|Your Favorite Foods at Thanksgiving] ||
 * || [|//Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy's Day Parade// Educator's Guide] ||
 * || More [|Popular Thanksgiving Printables] ||
 * Thankgiving Lesson Plans ||
 * || [|Pilgrim Unit (7 lessons)] ||
 * || [|Paper Weavings] ||
 * || [|Colonial New England Food & Cooking] ||
 * || [|The Wampanoag: A Thanksgiving Lesson] ||
 * || [|Planning for the Voyage - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 1 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving: Multiple Perspectives] ||
 * || [|Make a Dried Bouquet] ||
 * || More [|Thanksgiving Lesson Plans] ||
 * Social Studies & Thanksgiving Connected ||
 * || [|Paper Weavings] ||
 * || [|History of Thanksgiving] ||
 * || [|Pilgrim Fact Cards] ||
 * || [|The Wampanoag: A Thanksgiving Lesson] ||
 * || [|//Sarah Morton's Day//, //Samuel Eaton's Day//, & //Tapenum's Day//] ||
 * || [|//Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message//] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving: Multiple Perspectives] ||
 * || More [|Popular Social Studies Activities] ||
 * Studying Colonial Times ||
 * || [|Popular Colonial Times Printables] ||
 * || [|Paper Weavings] ||
 * || [|Colonial New England Food & Cooking] ||
 * || [|//Of Plymouth Plantation// Excerpt] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving: Multiple Perspectives] ||
 * || [|Make a Dried Bouquet] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Menu: Then & Now] ||
 * || More [|Colonial Times Resources] ||
 * Thanksgiving Math Activities ||
 * || [|A Thanksgiving Feast] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Problem Solving] ||
 * || [|Shopping for Thanksgiving Math] ||
 * || [|Graphing Turkey Consumption] ||
 * || [|Set Design for "Pilgrims of Plymouth"] ||
 * || More [|Thanksgiving Math Activities] ||  ||   ||   ||||   ||
 * Art Activities for Thanksgiving ||
 * || [|Paper Weavings] ||
 * || [|Classroom Tree Bulletin Board] ||
 * || [|Make a Dried Bouquet] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Placemats] ||
 * || [|Turkey Coloring Page] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Day Draw] ||
 * || [|Headband Pattern] ||
 * || More [|Thanksgiving Art Activities] ||
 * Reading & Language Arts Activities for Thanksgiving ||
 * || [|//Sarah Morton's Day//, //Samuel Eaton's Day//, & //Tapenum's Day//] ||
 * || [|//Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message//] ||
 * || [|A Pilgrim Conversation] ||
 * || [|"I'm Thankful for..." List] ||
 * || [|A Pilgrim Conversation Rubric] ||
 * || [|Giving Thanks Writing Activity] ||
 * || [|Daily Journal Topics: Thanksgiving] ||
 * || More [|Reading & Language Arts Activities] ||
 * Thanksgiving Foods & Recipes ||
 * || [|Cranberry Facts] ||
 * || [|Colonial New England Food & Cooking] ||
 * || [|Make a Dried Bouquet] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving Menu: Then & Now] ||
 * || [|Fruity Maple Glazed Ham] ||
 * || [|Juice Nutrition 101] ||
 * || [|Dried-Pepper Hangings Instruction Sheet] ||
 * || More [|Food Resources for Thanksgiving] ||
 * Teaching Native American Heritage ||
 * || [|Popular Native American Printables] ||
 * || [|Native American Music Resources] ||
 * || [|//Sarah Morton's Day//, //Samuel Eaton's Day//, & //Tapenum's Day//] ||
 * || [|//Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message//] ||
 * || [|Thanksgiving: Multiple Perspectives] ||
 * || [|Popular Native American Language Arts Activities] ||
 * || [|The First Thanksgiving - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 5 of 7)] ||
 * || More [|Native American Resources] ||
 * Learning About the Pilgrims ||
 * || [|Pilgrim Children - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 7 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Pin the Hat on the Pilgrim] ||
 * || [|Today's Pilgrim Worksheet] ||
 * || [|The First Winter - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 4 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Set Design for "Pilgrims of Plymouth"] ||
 * || [|Life in Plymouth - Pilgrim Study Unit (lesson 6 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Aboard the //Mayflower// - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 2 of 7)] ||
 * || More [|Pilgrim Resources] ||  ||
 * || More [|Native American Resources] ||
 * Learning About the Pilgrims ||
 * || [|Pilgrim Children - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 7 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Pin the Hat on the Pilgrim] ||
 * || [|Today's Pilgrim Worksheet] ||
 * || [|The First Winter - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 4 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Set Design for "Pilgrims of Plymouth"] ||
 * || [|Life in Plymouth - Pilgrim Study Unit (lesson 6 of 7)] ||
 * || [|Aboard the //Mayflower// - Pilgrim Study Unit (Lesson 2 of 7)] ||
 * || More [|Pilgrim Resources] ||  ||
 * || More [|Pilgrim Resources] ||  ||

=**Veterans** = =Popular Veterans Day Resources for Social Studies =
 * [[image:https://i.infopls.com/images/AZ459314_V_TV.jpg caption="Boy pledging allegiance"]] || [[image:https://i.infopls.com/images/spacer.gif width="15" height="1" caption=" "]] || Show your students how important veterans are to our nation's history, with these printables, lessons, and activities for social studies class. There are Veterans Day worksheets to honor heroes, facts about flags, pop-up art books to make, literature guides, patriotic songs, and many more fun and educational activities for your students of all grade levels. ||


 * ** [|Veterans Day Videos & Activities]
 * [|Chronology of Conscription in the U.S. -- Colonial Era to 1999]
 * [|ANZAC Day: Design a Stamp]
 * [|The History & Poetry of "In Flanders Fields"]
 * [|//The Wall//: Literature Guide for Teachers]
 * [|//Slaughterhouse-Five//]
 * [|Veterans Day Commemoration Activities]
 * [|"In Flanders Fields"]
 * [|The Story of Veterans Day]
 * [|United States Flag Bulletin Board Example]
 * [|Lincoln's Gettysburg Address]
 * [|"Star-Spangled Banner"]
 * [|Veterans Day Newspaper]
 * [|Veterans Day Comprehension Questions]
 * [|Three Famous Americans in the Civil War] || ** [|Last Living Veterans of America's Wars]
 * [|War and Peace]
 * [|More Flag Facts]
 * [|When and How to Display the U.S. Flag]
 * [|Veterans Day/Remembrance Day]
 * [|Commanding Officer Reading Warm-Up]
 * [|Reading Guide for //My Dad, John McCain//]
 * [|Remembrance Day]
 * [|Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]
 * [|The Selective Service System]
 * [|American Patriotic Pencil Wrap]


 * More [|Veterans Day Social Studies Activities] ||