Thanksgiving
Second Grade
• Mary Maxwell
• Missy Brindle
Table of Contents
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Slide 3: I. American Heritage
& People in Societies
Slide 4-6: I. Activities
Slide 7: I. Websites
Slide 8: II. People in Societies
Slide 9-11: II. Activities
Slide 12: II. Websites
Slide 13: III. World Interactions
Slide 14-16: III. Activities
Slide 17: III. Websites
Slide 18: IV. Citizenship Rights
and Responsibilities
Slide 19, 20: IV. Activities
• Slide 21: IV. Websites
• Slide 22: V. Democratic
Processes
• Slide 23, 24: V. Activities
• Slide 25: V. Websites
• Slide 26: VI. Decision
Making and Resources
• Slide 27, 28: VI. Activities
• Slide 29: VI. Websites
• Slide 30: VII. Science
Technology, and Society
• Slide 31, 32: VII. Website
Activities
• Slide 33: VII. Websites
I.
American
Heritage
&
People in
Societies
I. Activities
1.
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As a class read the story, “The First Thanksgiving” by
Linda Hayward. Create a timeline from the start of
Columbus’s voyage to the first Thanksgiving. Have the
students illustrate the events.
Materials: “First Thanksgiving,” chart papers, markers,
construction paper, scissors, glue
2. Have the students visit a reenactment site or have a
Colonial or Native American enactor visit the classroom.
Have the students examine artifacts and make a
history log including drawings.
• Materials: books for additional reference, paper, pencil
I. Activities
3. Read the story, “Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl” by
Kate Waters. Talk about the differences in life today
and life in colonial times. Record the results in a chart
comparing similarities and differences.
• Materials: “Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl,” chart
paper, markers
4. Record the results of Columbus’s voyage in calendar
form. Talk about the number of days, weeks, and
months the voyage took place.
• Materials: data for calendar, calendar
I. Activities
5. As a class make fry bread and butter like the Pilgrims
would have in the colonial times. This is to experience
food and the ways of life of the Pilgrims.
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Fry Bread
2 c. flour
1 c. milk
3 tsp. Baking powder
Deep frying pan with fat
1 tsp. Salt
Mix dry ingredients. Stir in milk. Kneed and work dough on board
with hands until smooth. Pinch off fist-size lumps and shape into a
disk. Fry in pan until golden brown (about 5 mins.) Drain on paper.
•
Butter
baby food jars
salt
whip cream
Fill jars half full with whipped cream and screw on lids tightly. Shake
the far for about 5 mins. Or until lumps of yellow butter form.
Shake until cream has formed a ball. Add salt if desired.
I. Websites
• www.teacherlink.ed.usa.edu/Tlresources/longter
m/LessonPlans/MonsonUnits/amychr/index.htm
• www.kstrom.net/isk/food/r_frybre.html
• www.ed.uiuc.edu
• www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/history.h
tml
• www.ericir.syr.edu
II.
People in Societies
II. Activities
1.
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Students will make a map on where
the Pilgrims started in England to where they ended up
at Plymouth Rock. Then have a class discussion of the
obstacles the Pilgrims faced on their journey.
Materials: map, atlas, markers, paper
2. Make a list of clothing worn by the Pilgrims and the
Native Americans. Ask why each group wore certain
things and what kind of materials were used. Read the
story, “The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush,” by Tomie
DePaola. Talk about the dyes the Pilgrims used from
plants and foods to color their clothing.
• Materials: “The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush,” chart
paper, marker
II. Activities
3. Have the students construct a model
of the Mayflower ship out of construction paper and
put the ship on a popsicle stick. Take another piece
of construction paper and decorate it like the ocean.
Cut a slit in this paper and stick the Mayflower ship
in it.
• Materials: construction paper, crayons, popsicle
sticks, scissors, glue
4. Divide the class into groups of Native Americans and
Pilgrims. Have the class role play the different
emotions each group felt in this new situation.
• Materials: Kids!, research books
II. Activities
5. Explore the different cultural and ethnic backgrounds
of the people that have traveled to this land to become
Americans. Explore the following websites and keep
and history log of your findings.
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Sites
www.internationalchannel.com/education/ellis
www.ellisisland.org
www.libertystatepark.com/history1.html
II. Websites
• www.libsci.sc.edu/miller/diversity.htm
• www.teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/Tlresources/lo
ngterm/LessonPlans/Byrnes/Thanksgiving.
html
• www.theteacherscorner.net/seasonal.htm
• www.teelfamily.com/education/thanksunit.
html
• www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans
III.
World Interactions
III. Activities
1.
•
Make a map of our community. Compare this location to
Plymouth Rock. Discuss as a class, the different
geographic features of each area and the benefits of
living in each area.
Materials: map, atlas, paper, crayons, encyclopedia,
reference books
2. Make a world map labeling all the continents and oceans
to have a better understanding of the world and
migration.
• Materials: maps, paper, crayons
III. Activities
3. Discuss and contrast the American Thanksgiving with
Canada’s Thanksgiving. (American tradition of
remembering Pilgrims and the New World, Canada gives
thanks for a harvest) Discuss the following Canadian
poem:
T
H
A
N
K
S
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for the time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
for harvest stored away, home and hearth, and holiday.
for autumn’s frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
for neighbors, and October, nice things, new things to remember.
for kitchen, kettle’s croon, kith and kin expected soon.
for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that abounds.
Materials: poem
III. Activities
4. Pretend you are a Native American
child from colonial times dropped into
today’s society. What would you notice new?
Different? Write a story from your new point
of view.
• Materials: paper, pencil, resource books
5. Compare two maps from “Blackcoats Among the
Delaware,” by Earl P. Olmstead. One map is of
Ohio in 1808, when Native Americans lived here,
and the other one is a current map of Ohio. As
a class discuss the differences and boundary
lines.
• Materials: “Blackcoats Among the Delaware”
III. Websites
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www.everythingesl.net/lessons/gobble.php
www.craigmarlatt.com/craig/canada/symbols
www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/celthanksgiving.htm/
www.western2.com/global/holidays/thanks.htm/
www.sapme.com/net/newstories/9810/tlb.htm/
IV.
Decision Making and
Resources
IV. Activities
1. Set up a bartering exchange in the classroom. Give
each student a different color or size of marbles.
Each student should have about 10 marbles. Have
the students practice exchanging marbles to get as
many different marbles (goods) as possible. Talk
about how the Pilgrims and Native Americans had
to exchange goods for other needed goods.
• Materials: 10 marbles for each student
2. Brainstorm about the goods that the Pilgrims had,
the goods they needed, and how they got them.
• Materials: none
IV. Activities
3.
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4.
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5.
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Discuss the limited space aboard the Mayflower and the
limited goods the Pilgrims could bring. Give the students a
list of 20 survival items, and have them pick 10 items that
they would take on a survival trip. Discuss the results.
Materials: survival items list
Make a bar graph about the number of items selected from
the survival list in Activity #3. For example, if 16 students
picked matches, the that bar would extend from 0 to 16.
Materials: survival list results, paper, crayons, pencils
Make a picture book about what goods and services the
Pilgrims and Native Americans had and exchanged.
Materials: construction paper, crayons, resource books
IV. Websites
• www.vivisima.com
• www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/cw/l/afthanks.html
• www.Holidays.net
• www.themeunits.com/Thanksgiving_c.html
• www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson037.shtml
V.
Democratic Processes
V. Activities
1.
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2.
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3.
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Review the story “The First Thanksgiving,” by Linda
Hayward. Discuss the different leaders of the Pilgrim
colony and why they were picked. Discuss what qualities the
students think a good leader should have.
Materials: “The First Thanksgiving,” chart paper, marker
Have the students read a version of the Mayflower Compact.
Discuss why the Pilgrims picked certain laws and how those
laws helped the colony.
Materials: books on the Mayflower Compact
Find information about Squanto, a Native American leader,
on the internet as a class. Discuss what he did that made
him a good leader.
Materials: computer, internet service
V. Activities
4. Discuss the different laws in our
community and how they are similar/
different to the laws the Pilgrims had. Make a book
based on the discussion. Have each student pick a law
and illustrate it.
• Materials: construction paper, crayons/markers, chart
paper
5. Give the students role-playing scenarios about resolving
conflicts. Have them take on the role as Native
Americans of Pilgrims and act out scenarios about
problems that arose during the first Thanksgiving.
• Materials: research books
V. Websites
• www.night.net/thanksgiving/indextext.html
• www.odur.let.rug.nl/~usu/D/16011650/plymouth/compac.html
• www.tolatsga.org/wampa.html
• www.biography.com/find/find.html
• www.encyclopedia.com
VI.
Citizenship Rights
and Responsibility
VI. Activities
1.
•
Give each student a 9”x9” felt square.
Have them write a name or draw a picture
of a person they are thankful for. Sew the
squares together to make a Thanksgiving quilt.
Materials: felt, felt tip markers, thread, needle
2. Organize a food drive for your school. Tell the
students to bring in canned goods to help needy
families during Thanksgiving.
• Materials: boxes to hold goods
3. Students will make thankful turkeys out of construction
paper. On each feather of the turkey, the students will
write something that they are thankful for.
• Materials: construction paper, glue, scissor, markers
VI. Activities
4. Divide the students into groups. Tell
the students that they are settlers
and they are going to divide up responsibilities. All the
jobs must be divided, and each student must have a job.
(hunting, cooking, making clothing, etc.) Each student
should then write a paragraph about their job.
• Materials: paper, pencil, research books
5. Set up reading buddies with another classroom. Have
the reading buddies share their favorite
fall/Thanksgiving book with each other. This activity
shows caring and respect for classmates opinions.
• Materials: buddies!, books
VI. Websites
• www.atozteacherstuff.com/lessons/ThanksgivingQuilt.s
html
• www.kinderart.com/seasons/thankfulturkey.html
• www.edhelper.com/cat159.html
• www.teacherfeatures.com/themes/thanksgivingtheme.html
• www.annieshomepage.com/thanksgivinglesson.html
VII.
Science, Technology,
and Society
VII. Website
Activities
1.
Explore the Waterboro Public Library home page.
Learn about the Mayflower, First Thanksgiving
Proclamation, and the history or Plymouth and its
settlers.
2. Learn about the different symbols of Thanksgiving:
turkey, corn, Pilgrims, etc.
3. Each student will design a slide for a Power Point
presentation. It will be titled, “I am Thankful for….”
The teacher will put the slides together for a
presentation.
VII. Website
Activities
4. Explore this website to learn about harvest
around the world. Make a Venn diagram
comparing the American harvest to a
harvest from another country.
5. Do the crossword puzzle at this site.
Explore other Thanksgiving games to play on
this site.
VII. Websites
• www.media3.com/plymouth/thanksgiving.html
• www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslij/cu/l/afthanks.html
• www.webhand.com/lagrande/schools/lessonpl
ans/thanksgiving.html
• www.waterboro.lib.me.us/thanksgi.html
• www.holidays.net/thanksgiving
The End!