An American Thanksgiving

When we think of Thanksgiving, our minds conjure images of Pilgrims and Natives sharing a common feast in the New World in 1621.  President George Washington recognized the importance of a national day of giving thanks, and later, President Abraham Lincoln made the holiday a permanent one.  Today, let's spend some time considering this important holiday from a slightly different perspective.

(LIBERTY) BELL WORK

Sentence Surgery
Read the sentence below.
​Do you see any problems?
Do not rewrite the sentence.  In fact, don't even fix the sentence.  Instead, on your paper, tell the writer three things that need to be corrected.

did george and martha eat turkey and dresing for there thanksgiving meal

Sentence Augmentation*
Augment the sentence below to greatly improve it.  Record your improved sentence on your paper.

The kid likes to eat.

​*Augment:  make (something) greater ​by adding to it

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​Word Work
Using today's lesson set,
create a list of words ​to fit in the categories below.
​Pay particular attention to spelling patterns.

Thanksgiving (words with th-)

Thanksgiving
​(compound words)

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Word Wise
Define the ​following words:

proclamation

thankfulness

On Target

​Write the target number in the "bull's eye".
In the 20 other open sections of the target,
write equations to equal the target number.

Today's number is 18.

For example, if the target number is 36, the student may write expressions like the ones here (right):

6 squared
2 x 18
3 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8
72/2
3 x 3 x 4

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Quick Write:  If you could make one law, what would the law be and why would you make it? 

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PRIMARY Source:  A PROCLAMATION

Click to enlarge.

Having trouble reading this? Here is a link to the transcript.
​
​Be ready to discuss this in class.  We will use some of the questions here to evaluate this primary source.

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Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789
File Size:	474 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Infographic

Thanksgiving by the Numbers

A TIMELINE of Thanksgiving

From George Washington's Mount Vernon:

Americans don’t know it and children aren’t taught it, but George Washington is responsible for our Thanksgiving holiday. It was our first president, not the Pilgrims and not Abraham Lincoln, who led the charge to make this day of thanks a truly national event.

Use another Mount Vernon Thanksgiving article to create a timeline of important dates and events. Make it decorative with appropriate illustrations.

• What can a person learn from your timeline?
• What did you find out that you didn't know before you read the article?

What's on the Menu?

Have you ever wondered what it might have been like to share a meal with the Washingtons?

• What might be on the menu?
• How would you be served?
• Where would you be seated?

Use the Dining at Mount Vernon article to prepare for a discussion.

Then again, here are some of the ingredients we should all add to our own Thanksgiving meal:  (The Real) Thanksgiving Meal.

While We're on the Subject

Why Is Thanksgiving Always on a Thursday?

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The (18th Century) Food Channel

Want to try your hand (or your imagination) at a Thanksgiving cooking show?  Here is your chance.

Watch the videos about making a pumpkin pie and a pie crust (right).  Then figure out what you would like to make for your upcoming Thanksgiving dinner.

• What simple steps will you use to tell us how to make your item?
• How are you going to depict the preparation on video?  (You're not really making the food; you'll need to use pictures and your imagination.)
• Use the Seesaw app to actually create your video.  Make sure your narration is clear.

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Turkey's on the Table