Thanksgiving Day History Activities Gr. 9-12

This packet is complete with activities that look at the history of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. What better way to encourage students to reflect on what Thanksgiving means to them?

This packet includes four presidential proclamations showing the shift in emphasis from Washington and Lincoln, to Franklin Roosevelt and Obama. Students work in groups to consider what each president lists to be thankful for. This information will be used for discussion and reflection, as well as a group writing of a proclamation for the current year. This information can also be a springboard for a lively discussion on the separation between church and state. It is interesting to see how presidential values shift over the years. Do presidential values reflect the values of Americans?

These activities are scaffolded and differentiated: teacher decides on groupings for analyzing the text, decides the extent to which articles are explored and determines length of writing prompts. The whole class might read together, or one group might analyze only one proclamation, while another group analyzes all four. Answer keys provided for graphic organizer and vocabulary worksheets. Vocabulary worksheets can be divided by groups and definitions can be supplied to differentiate.

Five reflective essay prompts are also offered to allow for student choice. Duration depends on teacher objectives: usually one to two class periods, or more if students are responsible for coming up with their own working definitions.

Kid tested, teacher approved. Yours from Paradise Unlimited New England!