TeachersFirst's Thanksgiving Resources
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections

Take a look at these rich resources, sure to make you thankful! This collection includes Thanksgiving resources for all grades in a variety of subjects. Teach your students about the "true" Thanksgiving story; use this time as an opportunity to help your students learn about Native Americans; take your students on a virtual trip to Plimouth Plantation; or try many other seasonal resources and activities.
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National Museum of the American Indian - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this site for use with lessons on Thanksgiving, using primary sources, or when teaching about Native Americans. Consider using curation tools such as Padlet, reviewed here, or Wakelet, reviewed here, to organize resources for easy retrieval. Padlet and Wakelet are also handy when sharing information and resources with students. As you begin your lessons on American Indians, begin with a formative assessment to gauge your students' understanding of the topic. Use an easy online quiz tool such as Baamboozle, reviewed here, to engage students in your learning activities. As you continue in your lessons, continue to motivate and engage students using Wooclap, reviewed here, to review information either in class or as a homework activity. Instead of testing to assess knowledge upon completing your unit, offer students the opportunity to share their understanding of content in various ways. Examples include creating an infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, an explainer video made using Clipchamp, reviewed here, and an interactive map built using Google My Maps, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Americans - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Replace some of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Introduce the site to students on your interactive whiteboard to demonstrate the different features available and how to find them. After students have time to explore, create groups to do in-depth research within the four different featured areas. Create a Padlet, reviewed here, with four columns for students to share web and video resources found during their research. Instead of written or oral presentations, ask student groups to create quizzes for their classmates using a quiz-creation tool like Baamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy resource for creating and sharing quizzes for teams of two. As a final project, transform student learning by using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create class books sharing information about Native Americans. Book Creator is a digital book creation site offering the ability to add images, text, video, and more. Be sure to share student-created books on your class website or blog after publication.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Left Brain Craft Brain - Anne Carey
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site for use when implementing STEAM activities. Use the search bar on the site to find activities for specific content. Have students create an online or printed comic demonstrating their activities using one of these tools Make Beliefs Comix, reviewed here, or Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos of activities using their photos uploaded to moovly, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Left Brain Craft Brain offers some excellent activities to use in conjunction with your Earth Day and Thanksgiving lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Celebrating the Holidays with a Kid's Heart - Roxie Carroll - A Kids Heart
Grades
K to 4This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Need to find quick activities for a special holiday in your class? Find ready-made activities to use during center time, class celebrations, or special reward time on your interactive whiteboard. After school programs can easily use activities for all different interests during holiday times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings - Marist College
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Use information from the article and documents as part of any lesson about Thanksgiving. Share the documents as part of a unit on primary resources. Print and share documents with students and challenge them to present an opposing point of view or write a reply from President Roosevelt. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast different points of view. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook "as" President Roosevelt or one of the writers of letters to the president.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The History of Thanksgiving and its Celebrations - Holidays on the Net
Grades
K to 8This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Lead your students to this site filled with information. Research can determine the many myths and true information about Thanksgiving. Allow students to plan and make parts of their Thanksgiving feast. Find fun activities, crafts, decorations to make your celebration perfect with your students and families. Add at a center for timely fun information and research time. Link this to your class website or wiki for parent information and extensions at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Plimoth Plantation - Plimoth Plantation
Grades
3 to 8This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Change the commercial traditions of tradition and bring on a study of history. Fascinating worlds of primary resources are at your computer! Virtual field trips, historical sleuthing, genealogy, and so much more. Challenge your students to take a closer look and decide for themselves. Debate information lines the pages of this website. Have students keep a virtual journal about what they are learning (that is new to them) from Plimoth Plantation. Use an easy virtual journaling tool such as Penzu, reviewed here. With Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. Study history not false information. Share this and other sections of the TeachersFirst Colonial America tour as part of your study of the colonies so students can see what these historic locations look like today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Legends and Stories to Share for Thanksgiving - Apples 4 the Teacher
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Be prepared for the Thanksgiving holiday with the ones you are thankful for, your students! Enjoy the academic content and party ideas to make it the best Thanksgiving yet!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Plimoth Patuxet Museums Digital Resources - Plimoth.org
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Share this and other sections of the TeachersFirst Colonial America tour as part of your study of the colonies so students can see what these historic locations look like today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vocab-u-lous! - Education World
Grades
7 to 12Be aware: this site has several advertisements, some pop-up.
In the Classroom
Just try to take the dictionaries away from your students when you project a Vocab-u-lous activity sheet on your whiteboard (or projector) or hand them the printable version of the worksheet. These are useful for SAT preparation and other tests that assess vocabulary, as well as building a strong vocabulary necessary for better reading comprehension and oral and written communication. When using this activity with a class set of computers, provide a link from your class web page to a reputable online dictionary. For additional practice, provide this link on your class website for students to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Thanksgiving Story - Wilstar
Grades
3 to 6Note - there is a link to a YouTube video midway through the information on the page, students may need to be cautioned that it isn't part of the activity.
In the Classroom
Create a quiz for the information on this site using, Slido, reviewed here, and give it to your students before studying Thanksgiving to assess prior knowledge. Use the story page on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) for students to highlight key words and write a main idea sentence or do practice comprehension or notetaking skills during Thanksgiving season. Older students can read the site on their own at a classroom center and complete the quiz at the end of their session. After reading the story, ask students to write their own story from the perspective of one of the first Thanksgiving participants. Create a class book using their stories using a site such as Bookemon, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Thanksgiving Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use these resources to connect Thanksgiving to your curriculum in almost any subject or select one or two ideas to highlight along with your regular lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vocaroo - Vocaroo
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
You need to be able to navigate controls on the website and sound levels on your computer. Copy/pasting embed codes is also a necessary skill for insertion in a website. Email the sound clip very easily.Future saving of Vocaroos is unsure depending upon server space. Before using with students, you may wish to obtain permission from administration and/or parents. Be sure to check your school's acceptable use policy. Students should be made aware of acceptable use and consequences of misuse of the service.
Vocaroo has a wide variety of applications in any type of classroom! For basic technology integration extend and enhance learning with this tool. Record snippets of information as reminders on your class website or instructions for students to follow. This is terrific for learning support students or non-readers! Have students describe aspects of classroom learning experiences to share with others, such as what they learned from a science experiment or found out about life in Colonial America. Record a quick message for an absentee and email the link to him/her explaining how to catch up on missing work. Create tutorial pieces that students can use as study aids (or have them create them for each other). Use this site in world language classes or for ELL students: have students record and listen to their own pronunciation or send short messages to each other to translate. Have students use this site to practice speeches before the presentation to hear their speed, tone, and words. Use this site for research presentations, instructions for a substitute, or many other possibilities. With younger students, read a short story on Vocaroo, and have student follow along using a picture book. Or have the students read their own stories into Vocaroo and email the readings to their parents! For Mothers Day, why not have students record messages for mom or grandma? Another idea: create a class wiki where parents can "find" the entire selection of Vocaroos for Mother's Day (or another holiday). Record Vocaroos of each student talking about the importance of Moms for Mother's Day or how grateful they are for certain things at Thanksgiving. Embed them all in a class wiki to share with parents. Just email the URL for the collection.
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Popcorn! - The Popcorn Board
Grades
1 to 6In the Classroom
The site can also be incorporated into social studies and history for the many uses of popcorn by various cultures. For example, include the site in a Thanksgiving unit. Follow the seed to plant information for a life cycle unit in science. Add it to a health curriculum under healthy eating habits and food groups. Do not forget to check out the worksheets and lessons for math and reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Women's History Museum - National Women's History Museum
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Of course, the site would be useful to students doing research on the women's movement in general, or on the role of women during several important historical eras. In the "educational resources" section, there is a collection of quotations from women that would be great for creating displays for women's history month. Challenge students to create a poster for one of the women quoted using a tool such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. There is also a group of quizzes that could be adapted for classroom use. The section focused on the women of Jamestown includes the stories of Native American women as well as the role of early European settler women and could supplement the usual Thanksgiving lessons on the new American colonies. There are also free lesson plans and classroom activities that teachers should take advantage of!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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South American Cultures - Discovery Education
Grades
5 to 9This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this when studying South American countries or at a time when Americans celebrate traditional rites, such as Thanksgiving. This site offers a great opportunity to make your Mexican and other Spanish speaking students feel valued in the classroom. This is an excellent site for research.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mayflower History - Caleb Johnson
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Only a visit to a far away museum could get any better than having the full-text primary sources which are available with a click on the left menu. Enhance student learning and bring the Mayflower experience to life with Fakebook, reviewed here. Have students set up fictitious Fakebook page and become one of the voyagers. Perhaps students could adopt a Mayflower 'ancestor' and write how they are alike or unlike by setting up two Fakebook pages. Around Thanksgiving, teachers may want to try some of the original recipes for an authentic Mayflower 'flavor' to their lesson plans.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Who Were The Pilgrims - Plimoth Plantation
Grades
1 to 6On the right side of the website, there is a list of other relevant topics (Thanksgiving, Growing Food, What to Wear, Playing and Learning, What's for Dinner, and several others).
In the Classroom
A teacher could use this website for research projects. Incorporate this website into your lessons on pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Thanksgiving. Use this site to help prepare for Colonial Days at your school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Thanksgiving Day Vocabulary - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector or make them available as links on your teacher public page. Have students (or groups) create their own illustrated dictionaries of terms using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. As you add more vocabulary lists during the year, have them select their favorite 6-10 terms from each list to add to their "book."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Facts for Features: Thanksgiving Day 2017 - U.S. Census Bureau
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Choose a statistic your students can estimate then use this site to help develop estimation and number sense--all in a holiday spirit. Gobble, Gobble! Perhaps create an infographic to display your favorite data. An interesting question to ask: what other data would you like to learn from the U.S. census the next time they do one?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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