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Teaching the History of Thanksgiving

Middle school students are mature enough to begin thinking more deeply about Thanksgiving. They are able to complete more complex assignments about the related history. Thanksgiving unit studies for middle school students create hands-on learning opportunities when holiday excitement makes it hard to concentrate on text books.

Children who enjoy role playing may enjoy creating costumes and writing plays for friends and family to participate in. Costume making combines history and home economics subjects. Who doesn’t like getting two for one? Perhaps your reluctant writer will forget to be reluctant when carried away by writing the play?

Ways to Teach the History of Thanksgiving

Unit studies allow elementary and older children to work on the same historical time period together. Expand the requirements for an elementary unit study to make it middle school appropriate.

1)  Research Pilgrim-era games and teach them to younger friends and family during the holidays.

2) Create a timeline of Pilgrim leaders and other historical figures who lived at the same time, etc.

3) Identify the character traits, good and bad, of the major figures in the Pilgrim story. Did those traits help or hurt the person? Which of those traits to you see in yourself?

4) Computer savvy youngsters may want to create a power point presentation of their findings on a Thanksgiving related topic.

Nothing like knocking out two subjects with one assignment!

Resources

Visit the Thanksgiving unit study at 123 Homeschool 4 Me. Ideas include: costumes, quills, DIY marbles, Johnny Cakes, and book printables. I love the hands on activites included in this engaging unit study. Especially for a youngster who learns by doing more than reading, hands on activities make learning easier.

Want to teach your middle school student more about Plymouth Rock? Take the ideas from Fall Into First and create more challenging tasks for middle schoolers while working with younger ones on the same topics.

Love Pinterest? Amanda Bennett has a wonderful board of unit study ideas.

The website In All You Do offers a free printable Thanksgiving unit study for pre-K through 5th grade.

Field of Daisies has listings of poems, audiobooks, a play, science activities, and loads of cooking fun tucked inside the Old Fashioned Thanksgiving unit study. Math, music, Bible studies and  printables round out this wonderful resource.

Unit studies may seem challenging for moms who are more comfortable with text book based learning. The holiday season is a good time to try one on for size. Offer your middle schoolers the opportunity to use unit studies and broaden their understanding of colonial history while celebrating Thanksgiving.

This article was originally published on our Homeschool Launch Blog.

 

 

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