Thanksgiving Learning Adventure
What is my child learning this week?
Essential Question: Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?
Over the next 5 days, your child will be learning about the significance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Because our short break is quickly approaching, we want for your children to come home with a basic historical understanding of why Thanksgiving is so important for our culture. They will have a new found appreciation for the holiday, tradition, and history of our country's ancestors.
Day by Day Lesson Breakdown
Please look at the tab labeled "Helpful Tools" on our class website, Thanksgiving Learning Adventure, to understand what your child's lesson introduction will look like. This will be presented to the class on Friday before the lesson starts the following week.
Activities for Daily Questions:
Your child has access to all of the printables and links using the thanksgiving learning adventure website. This is a simple explanation of each activity, which your child will be hearing during class time. All materials for these projects have already been provided through the school and through the beginning of the year packs that you sent your child to class with. No additional supplies or parental guidance will be needed for in-class activities!
What is a tradition?
On Monday we will be learning about traditions. Today will have an emphasis on Math as we collectively make this classroom bar graph to study addition, charts, and traditions. At the very beginning of class we will all fill out KWL charts and discuss them.
When was the first Thanksgiving?
On Tuesday there will be an emphasis on Writing. As we start to explore the history of Thanksgiving day, your child will imagine going back in time and how life would have been.
Time Travel
To help your child realize how different life was for the Pilgrims and Native Americans during the first Thanksgiving, we will make these quills to use during the "If I had a pet turkey" writing activity.
What happened at the first Thanksgiving feast?
Today we will be learning about how the Indians and Pilgrims met and what happened between them. At the end of the day, we will do a reenactment of the scene. Half of the class will be Pilgrims and half will be Native Americans. Today will have an emphasis on History and Drama.
Who was it that came to Plymouth, and how did they get there?
On Thursday, we will learn about the Pilgrims' voyage to Plymouth Rock. How long were they on the boat? What did they do for so long? On this day, Science will be our emphasis as we make our own boats to sail across the Atlantic Ocean!
Why do we still celebrate Thanksgiving today?
On Friday we will come full circle, as we again talk about traditions and why they are so important to our culture. Your child will learn about the importance of the holiday and modern society. Each student will be making a Thankful Turkey to bring home for the break and remember everything that they have learned this week.
Final Project
How has Thanksgiving changed?
This is a project that your child should work on over the break. Each student must fill out this chart to compare the differences and similarities between the Thanksgiving holiday next week and the first Thanksgiving. This will work as a brainstorming activity for your child. After they have completed this venn diagram, they must pick their favorite thing about the holiday that has changed (or that has not changed). Your child must bring a visual representation of this to class and explain to everyone how it has changed and why he or she chose that topic.
Opportunities for Extention
Further your child's knowledge and explore future life aspirations with the following resources and activities.
Along with the skills in Math, Writing, History, and Science that our classroom has gained from this week, use the following opportunities to continue your child's interest in the lesson over the holiday break.
Culinary
Use this book with your child over the break! You can both learn a few simple recipes to help out at the big family get together!
Reading
We already know the story of the Pilgrims, but what about Pete? Your child will love hearing the journey from the cat's perspective!
Art
De-stress over the holiday. Let your child go through these coloring pages to remember all of the lessons that we learned throughout the week.