Sarah Stewart’s The Gardener and Food from Farms by Nancy Dickmann display the importance of community farms. After reading these short picture books, class members draw connections between farms and the food we eat each day. As a...

It's time for the feast! Young historians complete their study of the First Thanksgiving by completing an online activity, watching a slideshow, and examining a First Thanksgiving timeline. After answering text-dependent questions to...

How reliable is a painting of the first Thanksgiving if it was created 300 years after the fact? Learners assess the validity of a primary source image to determine what it can actually reveal about this event. 

A instructional activity looks at the Pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe during the first Thanksgiving. Scholars compare and contrast information presented by an online activity then discuss their findings. Learners examine the two group's...

Spark some lively conversation about American holiday traditions and debunk accepted notions about the first Thanksgiving at the same time. After reviewing the mainstream version of the Thanksgiving story with your class, offer some...

Third graders complete a unit of lessons on the process of six trait writing. They identify good writing traits, read and evaluate poems, literature, and myths, utilize a rubric to evaluate their own writing, and evaluate classmates...

Young scholars write a Thanksgiving Day Story using some or all of the words included in the worksheet. These stories can be fiction or non-fiction (Personal Essays). They are graded on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar,...

A quintessential resource for teaching an elementary unit on the first Thanksgiving addresses a variety of skills, including informational reading, critical thinking, comparing and contrasting facts, technology tools, and historical...

The Pilgrims may have arrived in North America by way of the Mayflower, but chances are, your class members' ancestors came to the United States in another way. Guide them through an exploration of their own heritage, countries of...

A read-aloud anthology explores Colonial America. Third graders listen to informational texts, discuss what they heard, and participate in extension activities and writing. Take-home materials, assessments, and remediation opportunities...

Students investigate the colonization of the United States by researching Thanksgiving.  In this U.S. history instructional activity, students discuss the concept of Thanksgiving, who created it and what it was intended to do. ...

Students write an essay.  In this Thanksgiving lesson, students discuss what Thanksgiving means to them.  Students write an essay about Thanksgiving, things they are thankful for and the importance of Thanksgiving in their lives.

First graders summarize similarities and differences of life in England and America for the Pilgrims by reading a mini-book. Then, they write a journal entry in first person on what it is like to be a pilgrim in England and in America....

Young scholars share memories of a special meal. They research, write and peer edit a newspaper column about a favorite food associated with Thanksgiving (or other holiday or celebration).

Learners explore holidays by participating in class singing activities. In this Thanksgiving history lesson, students discuss the importance of Thanksgiving Day and read several poems which discuss the history of Thanksgiving. Learners...

Students review the reasons why Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States. Using the internet, they research the history of the holiday and discover what the first Thanksgiving was like. They also examine a typical menu for a...

Learners compare a Thanksgiving feast of today to the Thanksgiving feast of 1621. They analyze information to write a Rebus story about a Thanksgiving feast of today of the Thanksgiving feast of 1621. Pupils describe a typical...

Students research the first Thanksgiving. In this first Thanksgiving lesson plan, students research the Internet about how the first Thanksgiving came about between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. They complete a KWL chart, and...

Students investigate the change in the Thanksgiving holiday over time. They research the Native Americans and Pilgrims to find out how their relationship affected the holiday. They create a PowerPoint presentation using digital cameras...

Students read the story I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow. They discuss the details from the story. Students draw an illustration of what they expect their Thanksgiving dinner table will look like. They list details that describe their...

Why is it so important to learn the art of persuasion? Being persuasive helps you acquire the things you want or the things you feel are necessary. Print out these scenarios and assign one to each group of high schoolers. As a team, they...

Students research the pilgrims in terms of why they left England, their voyage to America, the challenges they faced when they arrived, and their relationship with the American Indians. To conclude this unit, the students have a...

Students gain a deeper understanding of what the early colonists experienced in search of a new life in America while giving them a taste of historical methodology. This is an engaging way to assess what your students know about the...

Students view and discuss a video showing different festivals celebrated in Asian cultures. They participate in a class survey of the different festivals celebrated in their own families and brainstorm the purposes for festivals. In...