everyday snapshots: Thanksgiving Unit For Early Elementary and Kindergarten

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Thanksgiving Unit For Early Elementary and Kindergarten

Without a doubt the most popular post on this blog is the Thanksgiving lapbook I did with the kids a couple of years ago. I think I titled it well for search engine results, because it gets tons of hits year- round. I hope that folks are finding it useful.

To that end I thought I would post our Thanksgiving unit a couple of weeks in advance in case someone could draw some ideas from it. This is also the first unit I put together with my new unit study guidelines in mind.

Living Books
"The First Thanksgiving" chapter from Stories of the Pilgrims By Margaret Blanche Pumphrey
Sarah Morton's Day
Samuel Eaton's Day
The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving

Read and narrate daily using various forms of narration.

Watch
The links go to a videos on Discovery Streaming and BrainPop Jr. which are subscription services. We got ours a a deep discount through Online G3 (scroll to the bottom--Social Forums). It looks like registration is closed for this year, but bookmark the page because it is a wonderful resource. These might also be found at your local library.
The Pilgrims of Plimoth
Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?
Animated Hero Classics: William Bradford the First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving - If you do not have this service still check back the week of Thanksgiving. I would be willing to bet this will be the free movie of the week that week.

Activities

Make cornbread similar to what Sara Morton made. We'll use the recipe on the cornmeal bag.
Make butter from cream.
Create a double flip book comparing your life to Sarah Morton's or Samuel Eaton's. Compare clothes, chores, learning, etc.
Memorize Psalm 100.
Create a Thanksgiving Story bracelet.
Do a coloring page.

Art and Handicrafts
We will likely not get to all of these, but I wanted to share them all.

Pinch Pot Turkey - Since we do not have a kiln we will make ours with air dry clay, paint with acrylics, and apply a glossy sealer.
Hand-stitched Thanksgiving Cards
Turkey Scratch Art Drawing - If anything gets scratched (sorry, couldn't resist) it will likely be this one since I think the kids will like it least. We may try if we have time. I did think it was a cool art project and those are hard to find amidst the hand print and toilet roll turkeys out there.

Faith

Make a grateful tree.
Pray a Thanksgiving Novena using this prayer:

           For each new morning with its light,
   For rest and shelter of the night,
       For health and food,
           For love and friends,
           For everything Thy goodness sends. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
           Each day of the novena each child can add things for which we they thankful followed by the response "We thank you, oh Lord." We will finish with the Our Father.