1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Thanksgiving Activities With Me
One of the loose ends I just completed was the fall time cards, so if you are looking for analog as well as digital time activities and games, click on the links for It's Turkey Time and Time For Pumpkins.
I've had several visitors inquire if I'm going to start designing some activities for older elementary students.
It's certainly on my bucket list, as I've taught many grades: PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (prepped an entire summer for 8th before I was bumped back down, 3 days before school started! ) assisted with MEAPS for 5th, and taught 9th, 10th, 12th + college. Whatever grade I was teaching at the time, became my favorite.
I think lots of the writing prompt activities on the site can be given to older students. Writing is one of my "hot buttons" and I'm passionate about motivating students to WANT to write. I truly believe that if you grab their interest, students will excitedly get down to business. It's one of the reasons I just designed the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing packet.
As I was doing research on the Pilgrims I came across the wonderful Scholastic Thanksgiving site. They teamed up with Plimoth Plantation (this IS spelled correctly) to make a wonderful virtual field trip your kiddo's can go on.
Among the many cool things they have on the site, are fictional letters written by the Pilgrim child "Lizzie" to her Aunt Constance, as well as several from the Wampanoag.
I got to thinking that this would make an awesome writing prompt for older el and could even be attempted with lower el with some prior discussion, and examples.
After reading several stories about the Pilgrims, so that your students have some knowledge of their life and times, have them write a letter to a Pilgrim child on the Mayflower.
My Pilgrim Children packet is chock full of information, as well as a list of the names of the 31 real kids on the Mayflower.
Write your students' names on the quill tags. Children choose one and write a letter to their "Pilgrim" classmate. That child receives the letter and then writes one back, as if they were a real Pilgrim child. This is a great way to practice writing from a specific perspective, as well as explaining point of view.
I spent some time searching the Internet for Pilgrim letter examples that you can share with your students, and compiled a list of links. I also recommend that you write one yourself, so that your students know what's expected of them.
Encourage your class to use specific details about the Pilgrims that they have learned. Click on the link to view/download the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing Prompt Packet.
Finally, another interesting writing prompt for students would be to have them write about the Thanksgiving vacation of their dreams. They have unlimited funds to plan an unbelievable (sky's the limit) Thanksgiving.
Brrrring! The bell rings and they are on "holiday" as the English would say. Where are they going, with whom, what are they wearing, playing, doing, eating, learning. . . ? It's all in the details and you want plenty of them.
Writing can be a one-pager where students share their page and you collect and collate the pages into a class book, or have students do lots more writing, by filling in the pages to a fictional fun travel journal.
I've also included diary pages for yet another writing option. Click on the link to view/download the "A Feast Of Fictional Fun" Thanksgiving break packet.
Thanks for visiting. It's a typical dreary November day, drizzly and damp here in Michigan. The perfect kind of weather to put another log on the fire and curl up with a good book. Wishing you a relaxing, warm-fuzzy kind of day.
"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." -Henry Van Dyke
