Thanksgiving Lessons, a FREEBIE, and a Thanksgiving Reader's Theater: The Gift of Time!

Thanksgiving is always a really exciting time!  The school seems to be buzzing with excitement for various reasons...mainly a 5-day break.  Fall conferences have ended, the second quarter is in full swing, and the winter holidays are also right around the corner.

As much as it is essential to keep everything  "business as usual," it is tricky.  We teachers are just as excited as the students for all of those things.   My plans usually involve the normal structured lessons, but I like to incorporate some other fun learning tools as well.

During this time in November, I like to get my students writing.  With Thanksgiving, it is easy to tackle essay writing-5-paragraph style.  If you are looking for a successful tool for teaching the 5-paragraph essay, grab this FREEBIE...it is 11 pages of the tried and true BING, BANG, BONGO method.  This essay pack will help you take your students from the brainstorm stage to the publishing stage of essay writing.  Your students may even return from college one day to thank you for teaching them this essay strategy!  Simply click the image and download for free!

 Some Thanksgiving essay topic ideas:

1. What are three foods you can't live without on Thanksgiving?
2. What are three foods you would rather poke your eyes out than eat on Thanksgiving?
3. What three things are you most thankful for this year?
4. What three people (famous, dead, etc.) do you wish could join your Thanksgiving table?

The holidays also get people in the mode of giving!  Everywhere you turn, donations are being requested.  For my students this can be a challenge.  Many of the families in my school are just getting by and some require assistance wherever they can find it...food pantries, state services, etc.  Because so many of our school families are struggling to make their own ends meet, it got me thinking.  From that thinking, I wrote the middle grades reader's theater below. 

If you are looking for ideas to incorporate into your lesson plans for the days before Thanksgiving that will get your students thinking about ways they can "give"...check this out!  With word work, reader response questions, and 2-journal topics, your students will be inspired to find ways to give.




Keep me posted on your plans in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.  I would love to hear about anything special you do with your students.