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The Minnesota Literacy Council created this curriculumwith funding from the MN Department of Education. We

invite you to adapt it for your own classrooms.

MASTERThanksgivingUnit Overview:

This is a 3 day unit during which students will learn about American history and traditionssurrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. Students will also spend time considering what theyare thankful for, and comparing the Thanksgiving celebration with typical celebrations intheir countries.

* Please note that on day one of this unit, teachers and coordinators have a choice to usethe Higher Level Beginning Resources or the Lower Level Beginning Resources. In yourlesson reporting, remember to communicate which story you chose for your class.

Unit Objectives:After this unit students will...

● know more the history of Thanksgiving as an American holiday.● be more familiar with the typical foods eaten on Thanksgiving.● feel thankful for important things in their lives.● be able to compare Thanksgiving with celebrations in their countries or cultures.

Unit Outline:Monday: History of ThanksgivingTuesday: Thanksgiving foodsWednesday: (morning classes only) Thanksgiving and other celebrations

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Thanksgiving: Monday, Week 1 of 1History of ThanksgivingLesson Objectives: Materials

● Students will learn about the history ofThanksgiving.

● Students will discuss what they are thankfulfor.

History of Thanksgiving (HigherLevel Beginning): found below

● Thanksgiving vocab● Thanksgiving reading● Thanksgiving reading:

Comprehension QuestionsHistory of Thanksgiving (LowerLevel Beginning): found below

● Thanksgiving vocab● Thanksgiving reading● Thanksgiving reading:

Comprehension Questions

Activity Ideas:

Introduce the topic:● Ask students to tell you what they know about Thanksgiving. See what they know

about food, traditions, history. Also ask them what they will do on Thanksgiving thisyear.

● Bring in photos you have from Thanksgiving. Talk about traditions in your family forThanksgiving, and what your plans are for Thanksgiving this year.

History of Thanksgiving:● FIRST: Choose the readings that are appropriate for your class HIGHER

LEVEL BEG. OR LOWER LEVEL BEG. CHOOSE ONLY 1 story NOT BOTH!● Go through Thanksgiving vocab. Make sure to take some time talking through

each of the terms to be sure students understand the words.● Read Thanksgiving reading. Read it through several times. Choose different

reading modes, such as:○ You read aloud and they listen, without looking at the text.○ You read aloud and they listen, while following along with the text.○ Everyone reads silently.○ Ss read aloud to a partner.○ You read aloud and Ss repeat after you, phrase by phrase.

● Go through the Thanksgiving reading: Comprehension Questions. Try to makesure students understand the concepts, not just have the correct answers to thequestions.

Being thankful:● Discuss the word "thankful". Give some examples of what you are thankful for and

why.● Have Ss interview each other and ask what they are thankful for. Compile the

answers into a chart/grid/poster that you can display.

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Thanksgiving Vocabulary (High-Level)

holiday

Pilgrims

Native Americans

immigrants

feast

celebrate

traditional

1. A special day when people don’t go to work or school is a ___________________________ .

2. Something that all people have done for many years is ______________________________ .

3. A ______________________________ is when many people eat a lot of food together.

4. When we _________________________ , we have a big party because we are happy aboutsomething.

5. _________________________ are people who move from one country to a different country.

6. The _________________________________ were the first immigrants to the U.S.

7. The ________________________ are the people who lived in the U.S. before the Pilgrimscame. They are NOT immigrants.

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Thanksgiving DayThanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday inNovember. It is a holiday to give thanks for all the good things in our lives.

The Pilgrims were immigrants from England over 300 years ago. Theywere the first to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in Massachusetts in the year1620. When the Pilgrims first came to America, they had a very difficult firstyear. The winter was terrible and very cold. They got very sick and had littlefood. Many Pilgrims died. The Native Americans in the area helped thePilgrims. They showed them how to grow food, catch fish and hunt animals.The Pilgrims celebrated their first year in America with a big feast. Theyinvited the Native Americans to eat and celebrate with them.

Today, Thanksgiving is a family holiday in the United States. People travelacross the country to visit their family and friends. They eat traditional foodssuch as turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, yams, corn, and pumpkin pie.

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Thanksgiving (High Level)Comprehension Questions

1. When is Thanksgiving celebrated?

2. Who were the Pilgrims?

3. When did the Pilgrims come to the U.S.?

4. What happened to the Pilgrims in their first year in the U.S.?

5. Who helped the Pilgrims?

6. How did the Native Americans help the Pilgrims?

7. What foods do Americans eat at Thanksgiving?

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Thanksgiving: NEW WORDS (low level)

holiday

Pilgrims

Native Americans

immigrants

celebrate

1. A day when people DO NOT go to work or school

______________________________________

2. A big party because we are happy about something

____________________________

3. People who move from one country to a different country

____________________________

4. The first immigrants to the USA

____________________________

5. The people who lived in the U.S. before the Pilgrims came.They are NOT immigrants.

___________________________

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Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday in November.

On this day people in the USA say “Thank You”.

The Pilgrims were immigrants from England in 1620.

When the Pilgrims came to the USA, they had a badtime.

The winter was very cold.

The Pilgrims had little food.

The Pilgrims were very sick and many Pilgrims died.

The Native Americans helped the Pilgrims.

The Native Americans helped the Pilgrims grow food.

The Pilgrims celebrated their first year in America with abig dinner.

The Native Americans ate with them.

Now, many Americans have Thanksgiving dinner inNovember.

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Thanksgiving Comprehension Questions (low):

1. What month is Thanksgiving in?

A) January B) November C) July

2. When did the Pilgrims come to the USA?

A) 1960 b) 2010 C) 1620

3. Who helped the Pilgrims?

A) England B) The Native Americans C) The USA

Ask your teacher!

1. What do people eat on Thanksgiving day?

2. What do people do on Thanksgiving day?

3. Where do people go on Thanksgiving day?

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Thanksgiving: Tuesday, Week 1 of 1Thanksgiving FoodsLesson Objectives: Materials

● Students willlearn abouttypicalThanksgivingfoods in theU.S.

● Students willwrite aboutwhat they arethankful for.

History of Thanksgiving (Higher Level Beginning):● Thanksgiving reading (found after Monday’s lesson plan)

History of Thanksgiving (Lower Level Beginning):● Thanksgiving reading (found after Monday’s lesson plan)

Thanksgiving foods:● Thanksgiving food (found below)● Thanksgiving meal items (found below)

Bring in: forks, spoons, knives, plates, cups and other tableware

Activity Ideas:

Introduce the topic:● Bring in photos you have from Thanksgiving. Talk about traditions in your family for

Thanksgiving, and what your plans are for Thanksgiving this year.● Ask students to tell you about special holidays or celebrations in their

countries/families.● Ask what foods students eat for those holidays. If feasible, group students in to

country groups and have them present to the rest of the class about what foods theyeat for a special celebration and how they prepare those foods.

Thanksgiving foods:● Review the Thanksgiving reading (used in class yesterday) to remember the history

of Thanksgiving. (MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE LESSON REPORT to see which level ofstory was used yesterday, or ask your coordinator)

● Use Thanksgiving food handout to talk about foods that are typically eaten onThanksgiving. Compare foods that might have been eaten at the first Thanksgivingto foods commonly eaten now.

● Use Thanksgiving meal items handout to go over some food names as well as tableitems like plate, glass, fork, etc. If possible please bring in plates, glasses and forksfrom home (or ask your coordinator.)

● Choose 2-3 common meal phrases to practice like:○ Can you pass the ________ , please?○ Could you give me the ____________?○ Put the ______________ over there.○ I need more _____________ , please.○ Is there any more ____________ ?○ Are there any more _____________ ?

● Have students role play a meal situation using above phrases and tableware youbrought in.Being thankful:

● Discuss the word "thankful". Give some examples of what you are thankful for andwhy.

● Have Ss write down several phrases about what they are thankful for, and then sharethose with a partner. (Note that these are similar activities to those suggestedyesterday, but yesterday they did more talking about being thankful, and today theywill focus on writing about it.)

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1861 2004Fish Roast

Turkey

Seafood(clams, lobster, crabs)

Ham

Birds(quail, pheasant, duck)

Stuffing(breadcrumbsbaked with spices)

Deer Mashedpotatoes(potatoes boiledand mashed)

Dried berries,grapes

Gravy(sauce made fromthe juice of meat)

Peas, squash,pumpkins

Cranberrysauce

Beans Pumpkin pie

Nuts Sweetpotatoes

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Thanksgiving: Wednesday, Week 1 of 1Thanksgiving and other celebrations

Lesson Objectives: Materials

● Students will review information they've learnedabout Thanksgiving food and traditions.

● Students will discuss and write aboutcelebrations in their families and countries.

Thanksgiving food andtraditions:History of Thanksgiving (HigherLevel Beginning):

● Thanksgiving reading (foundafter Monday’s lesson)

History of Thanksgiving (LowerLevel Beginning):

● Thanksgiving reading (foundafter Monday’s lesson)

● Thanksgiving food (used inclass on Tuesday)

● “The Pilgrims” (found below)● “The Wampanoag” (found

below)

Activity Ideas:

Introduce the topic:● Bring in photos you have from Thanksgiving. Talk about traditions in your family for

Thanksgiving, and what your plans are for Thanksgiving this year.

Review Thanksgiving information:● Review the Thanksgiving reading (used in class on Monday, ask your coordinator

which reading was used) to remember the history of Thanksgiving.● Review Thanksgiving food handout (used in class on Tuesday) to talk about foods

that are typically eaten on Thanksgiving.● Read aloud The Pilgrims, stopping frequently to show pictures or to explain new

words and check comprehension. Then, allow students to read through it andunderstand most of it, give them the same reading cut up into strips and see if theycan put it in order.

● Do the activity as a class on The Wampanoag (the Native American tribe thathelped the Pilgrims).

● Look on the internet or ask your coordinator for other Thanksgiving resourcesappropriate for your class.

Celebrations:● Ask students which holiday/celebration in their country is most similar to

Thanksgiving in the U.S.● Individually or with a partner, have students write about the history and/or the

typical foods associated with a holiday in their country. Have students present theinfo to the class.

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Pilgrims: New People from England

The Pilgrims came to America in November, 1620.

The first winter was very difficult.

102 colonists came to America in November.

By spring only 52 colonists were still alive.

50 had died of hunger, cold and illness.

The Indians met the colonists in April of 1621.

They gave the colonists food.

They taught them how to plant corn and catch fish.

The next year they had planted and harvested crops.

Their new town began to grow.

That fall the colonists invited the Wampanoags to a celebration.

People celebrate this day as Thanksgiving.

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The Wampanoag

Fill in the blanks: families hunters homes oceans farmerssquash summer corn

The Wampanoag were ________________ in a place we now call Massachusetts.

Their name, Wampanoag , means People of

the First Light. They grew ______________,

beans, _______________ and tobacco.

They were also _______________ and

fishers. In the ________________ they

caught fish and lived near the

___________________.

The summer ________________ were called longhouses. Many ______________

lived together in the longhouses.