Thanksgiving and War - Primary Document Activity - History Skillset

This Thanksgiving activity centers on the impact that war had on the usual Thanksgiving traditions of American soldiers during the Civil War, WW1, and WW2. This is a great activity to complete in history classes (or any other) before dismissing for Thanksgiving break. It gives the students a chance to focus on the holiday while remaining engaged in the development of a historical skillset. Students will address the following objective: SWBAT evaluate domestic responses to the United States’ involvement in the global conflict of war during the season of Thanksgiving.

History classes are often filled with large amounts of student memorization, and consequently, the main skillset students acquire is how to memorize facts and dates. This document-based activity is intended to broaden students’ historical skillset through strengthening the following skills: questioning, investigating, using evidence, and communicating conclusions.

The primary focus of the activity is an investigative set of three primary documents. The three primary documents are era-specific newspaper clippings from around the country about the impact war was having on the lives of American soldiers during the Thanksgiving season. Students perform pencil-in-hand readings of the documents through annotating, note-taking, and summarizing.

By formulating their own conclusions through investigation of the documents, students will complete a concluding writing activity. The set also includes a citation activity.