In the spirit of historical accuracy, I thought you might enjoy a 30-second promo for the History Channel's docu-drama, Desperate Crossing, which tells the story of those who journeyed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. I tried to link to it directly, but couldn't get it to work. To view it, go to www.youtube.com, type "What is Thanksgiving" in the search bar, and then click on the first result that pops up. The promo basically asks the question: "What if the traditional elementary school Thanksgiving play told the real story?"
And in the same spirit, what kinds of activities/lessons/celebrations are you seeing in your schools this week focused on Thanksgiving? Any little Pilgrims with buckled hats and shoes? Or any "alternative" looks at the Thanksgiving story that go beyond the traditional approach?
10 comments:
I haven't had a chance to talk to my mentor teacher about her Thanksgiving plans and the reasoning behind it, but she seems to have taken an interesting approach from what I can tell. Being in a first grade class, the students study social studies as a part of their "Theme" time in the afternoons. Today and tomorrow, the students' theme is Thanksgiving, but my teacher has taken an interesting approach. The theme is guided in a sense that everything is about being thankful and being thankful is sometimes associated with a thanksgiving feast, but there is no real talk of the story of "the first thanksgiving." My teacher reads stories aloud to the students about being thankful and has them working on turkey crafts where they are making a puppet and a turkey out of an apple. I would be interested to talk to my mentor to find out the logic behind the delivery of this theme, but haven't had a chance to do so. I will say though that in regards to teaching students the truth, I think my teacher is doing less harm by focusing on being thankful then she would teaching students about the Pilgrims and the Indians and the first thanksgiving.
Now that I am in my middle school placement I don't get to see what the elementary school is doing for Thanksgiving. I taught a comprehension lesson today where they rotated to different stations and read a variety of articles. I thought of this class when I was choosing articles and I had my students read "The Great Thanksgiving Hoax" and my students really enjoyed it. They didn't realize that the story they learned in elementary school isn't the true story. One student got really into the article he started asking about Columbus and if his story is true or not. I told this student that the story he learned in elementary school isn't exactly what actually happened. When we come back from Thanksgiving break I promised him I would give him the articles we read about Columbus in Social Studies. For a comprehension question to this article I asked the students opinion on telling this story over what they learned. Most of them said they liked the version they learned because it sounds better. Which I totally have to agree upon because who wants to learn that the first "Thanksgiving was not a celebration but the last meal of condemned men." I was a little surprised that only one student was intrigued by this article but at the same time students might choose to not believe the "real story." I am glad I was able to have my students read this article because they need to know that there is an "alternative" story and they might learn about it in high school or college. I wish I had the opportunity to learn the "real" story instead all I remember learning about The First Thanksgiving is dressing up as Pilgrims and Indians.
I taught a 3-day lesson about Thanksgiving and my kids loved it. The team that I am on right now in eighth grade decided to have a Thanksgiving feast as a celebration of the end of the first trimester. When my mentor was telling me more about their plans, I was shocked to hear they wanted to do an elementary school-style Thanksgiving feast. After getting over the initial shock and discussing with my mentor what we learned in class and through reading "The Truth About the First Thanksgiving", she asked me to do a lesson about this topic.
I began my lesson with an anticipation guide asking students to identify facts and myths about Thanksgiving. I then shared excerpts from Loewen's article with the students, and we spent some time discussing what it meant (some of the vocabulary was new for the students). After reading the article aloud, I asked the students what they thought. One student said, "Wait. So you mean everything we've learned in school about Thanksgiving is wrong?" This brought about an interesting discussion about the first Thanksgiving compared to what we celebrate today, and then we went back to the anticipation guide. Students were shocked to learn that pilgrims did not wear dark clothes with big buckles on their hats and shoes, and that Thanksgiving was not a yearly tradition from the start.
We then talked about the Thanksgiving we celebrate today, and how many people now think of it as a time to think about everything for which we are thankful. I shared several children's books over the next few days about Thanksgiving, but they were all about giving thanks for what we have. On the day of the feast, students were asked to think about people or things they are grateful for, and some shared these ideas with the whole team right before the feast. (My mentor loved the activities we did, and asked for copies so she can use these ideas again next year.)
Initially, I thought it would be hard to teach this, but the eighth graders seemed to understand that what we celebrate today has little to do with "the first Thanksgiving". They still enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast, but the teachers emphasized that we should be thankful for everything we have, and that we are surrounded by many great people.
I'm in a 6th grade math and science classroom for Phase 2. The only thing that I saw dealing with Thanksgiving in the classroom was an activity during an advisory class. It wasn't talked about directly but more of an overview dealing with thankfulness and giving. There was also a puzzle day that had two different Thanksgiving puzzles for the students to do on their own if they wanted.
A week and a half prior to Thanksgiving the whole school did a "Random Acts of Kindness Week" full of different activities for each day. There was a food drive, spread a smile and mix it up during lunch. I liked that the main focus wasn't on Thanksgiving but on what it means to give and the reasons to do so.
I just finished up my middle school placement and was able to see what types of activities the teachers wanted to plan for the Holidays. I am happy to report that none of the 6th grade teachers suggested doing anything that Stereotyped Thanksgiving or those involved in the first Thanksgiving. On the day before break the 6th grade team had a morning full of stations that allowed students to rotate through the different periods to teachers whom they normally don't have. I was able to teach a lesson about teamwork. Not only was it a great connection to the spirit of Thanksgiving (working together to gather food, celebrating others) but it was also a great way for our students to meet other students on the 6th grade team.
The team I am on has a habit of showing movies, however, i never was there when they showed one. Yet at least on this particular 6th grade team they are very aware of stereotypes and misconceptions and they try very hard not to endorse thoughts thoughts and feelings. When my mentor met with an at-risk student one on one the activity that they did was make thank you cards to those who they were thankful for. This was a great holiday connection and a personal connection to a girl who feels that she does not have much to be thankful for at the moment.
I, too, did not see any history-related Thanksgiving activities going on in the middle school. However, our kids did write letters to someone who they appreciate. We talked about how it is both a positive and humbling thing to tell someone how grateful you are to them and how much they mean to you. It seems to me that the older our students are getting, the less we tend to focus on the "cutesy, dress-up, Pilgrims and Indians being friends" aspect of the holiday. I think the focus on such things as giving thanks and appreciation, self-reflection, and kindness is a good thing. Kids get so wrapped up in eating turkey and thinking about black hats with buckles on them that we forget what the holiday is actually about: giving thanks. And isn't building good character in our students part of building a healthy society?
Erika - your lesson sounds awesome and I'm glad the kids were able to get rid of some of their miscenceptions.
I love the humor in commercials (or promos) like these! But at the same time, it is sad that the though of telling the true story of our past creates laughter. Perhaps that is because they were playing up the brutality, and it just sounds so silly coming from little children’s voices. But I think that the humor digs deeper than that. It is not just about the brutality of our past, but about the entire nation’s ability to dust it under the rug and have their feast and watch their football. I am not attempting to say that everyone should abort Thanksgiving and shamefully admit to our past. I am just pointing out the fact that more times than not, the topic is just not covered.
I heard absolutely no word of Thanksgiving, or of the meaning of the holiday in the middle school team I am on. That may be because of other pressures and commitments that my team was facing at the time, but I also think that it may be because it is simply easier to just say have a good break and leave it at that. With all of the obligations that teachers already have, I think that trying to un-teach the sugarcoated history of Thanksgiving that many students have learned remains on the backburner for many teachers.
When I have a classroom of my own I plan on trying to take advantage of as many of these opportunities to reveal the past as possible. I know that it seems overwhelming, but just pushing these issues under a rug is not doing anyone any good. History may just repeat itself if we never learn from it. As an educator I feel obligated to give that to my students.
Kudos to you Erika!
I know it is after Thanksgiving, but usually the first day back from break sparks conversations about it just like the days before break. Before break during lunch, we were all saying what we were doing. It was the normal going to family or family coming to them. At our team meeting, we had to say one thing we were thankful for that wasnt the cliche thing of family or friends. This was interesting, but hard at the same time because family, friends, food, etc are often the first things that come to mind.
As far as Thanksgiving being discussed in my classroom, it wasnt really unless the kids brought it up on their own among each other. I know at my elementary school the third grade was doing a Cultural Heritage presentation that Monday before. I was not there for it, but i know about it because they started the project one of my last days of Phase 1. I think the idea of heritage tied in Thanksgiving because when you think about your heritage you think about who you are and what makes you and what you are thankful for.
Just like we had those few discussions before break, we had one interesting one today during lunch. Some of my classmates were sharing stories from their Phase 2 and how their SS unit ended early and they didnt knw what to do for the week so one of the last days they did a Thanksgiving feast. This was not done because they had nothing to do, but in the end they said it was because many of the students are new to the country and will not have a Thanksgiving or cannot afford everything on Thanksgiving. This feast allowed them to experience it and touch base on the idea.
I think it is interesting how some students may not even know what it is and the history behind it because it is something i learned growing up. If i were to personally teach the idea of the First Thanksgiving, i can see it being hard in some aspects. I agree with s ome other posts on here that it is easier to teach the idea of being thankful than about Pilgrims and Indians.
I agree with Sara O. in that I also heard nothing of Thanksgiving on my middle school team. We didn't even do Thanksgiving related activities in homebase. I think that our team was very preoccupied with the ending of the trimester and didn't really think of doing anything in homebase or core classes about Thanksgiving. I hadn't really thought about the fact that we didn't even discuss the holiday, but now I realize that it was just simply not addressed.
I feel that even in a middle school, it is important to discuss Thanksgiving with the students. It would be very simple to plan a short lesson during homebase to discuss the truth about the holiday. I think that Erika's lesson is perfect for middle school students; it opens their eyes to the truth, which they deserve. The students are interested in the topic, especially when they find out new information and that what they thought is not necessarily what happened. Looking back on the week before Thanksgiving, I am disappointed that my team did not address the holiday with the students. I think that it would have been a great experience for everyone.
I could not help but chuckle while watching the commercial. I thought it was so cute and I just loved the expressions on the parents' faces. I'm just picturing myself showing that same video to parents and getting the same look on their faces.
Like the others, I did not see any history related activities in my middle school placement. It was the end of the trimester and my mentor was more focused on getting them ready for what was coming in the next couple of weeks. The only activity that my mentor did that was Thanksgiving related was he had the students write about the things they were grateful for. He did not prompt them with any question because he wanted to see their honest reponses. Most of the students wrote about being thankful for the material things such as their video games and computers. Only a few said that they were thankful for their family and the food they ate every day. I was somewhat surprised to read they were thankful for the material things in their life. I expected them to have deeper responses. I wish my mentor would have done an extended activity, emphasizing the importance of being grateful for everything they have.
When I do have my own classroom, I want to challenge my students and make them question what they've learned in previous years. I feel that Thanksgiving history is an easy way to teach multiple perspectives in history.
Lauren and Erika-I am glad you got to teach about this subject. I bet it felt great when the students questioned their previous knowledge. I am glad your mentors were open to these new ideas.
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