Thanksgiving

One of my favorite ways to cover the history/story of Thanksgiving is by integrating Social Studies and Language Arts. This way, my students are learning some important history while practicing various reading and writing skills.

This unit includes a variety of activities that can be used to teach your students about the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, and The First Thanksgiving. A little bit of life science has been included too! A few years ago I decided to include turkeys in my Thanksgiving unit; the kids love learning about that bird! This set also includes a variety of CCSS aligned writing prompts.

The following materials are included in this download:

Section 1: The Mayflower
-Contents/suggestions for use
-Mayflower WH’s organizer
-Student Created Mayflower Fact Mini Book
-What Could You Bring? (Mayflower sorting activity)
-**NEW**The Mayflower Voyage Reading Passage
-**NEW**The Mayflower Voyage Comprehension Companion
-**NEW**The Mayflower Voyage Constructed Response
-**NEW**Mayflower craft templates

Section 2: The Pilgrims/The First Thanksgiving
-Contents/Suggestions for use
-Pilgrim’s Life/My Life Venn diagram
-Pilgrims Could/Had/Were
-Native Americans Could/Had/Were
-Pilgrim Web
-Native American Web
-**NEW**The Pilgrims 5 W's/1 H mini book
-The First Thanksgiving Circle Map
-The First Thanksgiving/Thanksgiving Today Venn diagram
-Truth or Lie? (Students write three truths and one lie about the Pilgrims/First Thanksgiving)
-Fact/Opinion Scoot with recording sheet-color and b/w versions (all information related to Pilgrims/First Thanksgiving)
-**NEW**True/False I Spy with recording sheet-color and b/w versions
-3 Paragraph Puzzles about the Pilgrims/First Thanksgiving
-The First Thanksgiving Writing Paper

Section 3: Turkeys
-Contents/suggestions for use
-Turkey Fact Mingle
-Turkeys Can/Have/Are
-Turkey Fact Flap Book

Section 4: How Thanksgiving Became a Holiday
-Contents/suggestions for use
Sarah Hale Comprehension Questions

Section 5: Writing Prompts
-Contents/suggestions for use
How to Cook a Turkey Writing Paper
-If I Were a Pilgrim Writing Paper
-My Thanksgiving Traditions Writing Paper
-I’m Thankful for… Writing Paper
-Blank Title Line Writing Paper
-Lined paper to coordinate with all prompts for students who need more than one page to accommodate their writing

Be sure to check out the preview file to see what’s included!