Thanksgiving Lesson Plans
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Adding holiday lessons and activities to our regularly scheduled curriculum is one way I keep my kids (and myself) motivated to get schoolwork done during the holidays. I start sprinkling these kid-friendly Thanksgiving activities into our school days about a week after Halloween.
I teach almost solely these Thanksgiving lesson plans to my middle school kiddos the week of Thanksgiving. Somehow my kids don’t mind doing schoolwork if it is seasonally appropriate and fun.
Thanksgiving Lesson Plans
I searched the internet for these Thanksgiving activities for middle school students that I am going to personally add to my Thanksgiving lesson plans.
I thought I would share them with all of you too. Just click on the heading to be taken to the appropriate activity. Share these with your friends so they can incorporate these ideas too!
Thanksgiving Language Arts
Hosting a Thanksgiving poetry tea time with friends and family is one of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions.
I like to do this at least a week in advance of Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday with a few delicious treats, beautiful imagery, and a calm environment.
It is a time for my family to catch our breath and enjoy each other’s company before we get busy preparing for Thanksgiving. It also spreads out the holiday baking a little bit.
Seasonally appropriate books are a perfect addition to any Thanksgiving lesson plans.
I like to keep these books in a basket by our fireplace. My kids naturally gravitate to the book basket to find something to read when they are relaxing after running through leaf piles or riding bikes.
Literature-Based Thanksgiving Unit Study
This Rabbit Trails Thanksgiving unit study is perfect for Thanksgiving! It has hands-on activities and educational ideas to help you really dive into the holiday picture book.
Thanksgiving Games for Idioms and Context Clues
These games are a great free Thanksgiving lesson plan addition. They are a fun way to review literary skills such as identifying idioms and understanding context clues.
My kids love to play Mad Libs any time of year, but this Thanksgiving version always makes them laugh. We have this exact booklet, and I keep it in our Thanksgiving boredom basket. It also makes a great warm-up activity before we start our school day.
- Used Book in Good Condition
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This free printable activity will challenge your children to create new words out of classic Thanksgiving vocabulary.
Writing prompts are a great way to help kids practice their writing skills when they can’t think of anything to write about. The link above has about 10 different Thanksgiving-themed writing prompt options.
Options include:
- Several Thanksgiving journal writing prompts
- Word banks
- Acrostic poems
Thanksgiving Math
Math word problems can be a wonderful way to practice math skills. Math word problems require a little more skill than solving standard math operations. It takes practice to know how to solve word problems.
This can be a stand-alone math lesson, or they can be divided up to use as a math warm-up.
Thanksgiving Math Proportions Maze
Solve the proportions to help the turkey navigate the maze. This free activity doesn’t require any prep work. Just print it out and add it to your Thanksgiving lesson plans.
Thanksgiving Prime and Composite Numbers Coloring Sheet
This free turkey math coloring sheet is an easy way to practice identifying prime and composite numbers.
Multiplying and Dividing Decimals Thanksgiving Game
This game works best with at least two players. Students roll the dice and move around the game board while multiplying and dividing with decimals.
I plan to play one-on-one with my kiddos. They are super competitive, and that isn’t always a good thing.
Thanksgiving Science
Right before a huge turkey dinner is the perfect time to learn about tryptophan. Students will read the information and analyze the data to determine whether tryptophan really causes drowsiness.
In this Thanksgiving activity, students use Punnett squares to determine the phenotype and genotype of turkeys.
Related: Homeschool Friendly Thanksgiving Science Experiments
Thanksgiving History
‘When is Thanksgiving’ Ted Ed video
This Ted Ed video is a great addition to Thanksgiving lesson plans for visual learners. My kids are huge Ted Ed fans, so there is a strong possibility they will find this on their own, but if not, this will be a nice way to bring them back to the school table after our lunch break.
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Keep reading . . .
- November Homeschool Activities
- Thanksgiving Homeschool Ideas
- Homeschool Friendly Thanksgiving Science Experiments
- Thanksgiving Poetry Teatime
- Favorite Thanksgiving Books for Kids
- Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Activities
- Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids