Friendship Feast

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather with family and pause to think of the people and things for which we are grateful.  As we discussed the concept of thankful in class, I described thankful as a feeling we get when someone or something makes us happy over and over again.  We read several stories about being thankful including Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes. The children shared their reasons for giving thanks which included hugs from mom and dad, riding a bike, the family dog, siblings and places they frequently visit with family. In school, we talked about being thankful for friends, teachers and learning new things.

I then connected this idea of thanksgiving to the people and time that we attribute to the very first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. We spent some time reading about, discussing and role playing the history of these groups and how they came together. The focus was on how the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims and why they were thankful. We also spent some time learning about the daily life of each of these groups and comparing them to our lives today.

The following two videos found on You Tube from Scholastic helped the students to visualize what life may have been like in the 1620s:
Wampanoag  (Start at minute 2:06)
Pilgrim Video

Throughout the week we did many Thanksgiving themed activities, but we celebrated the holiday with a Friendship Feast.  Each child enjoyed contributing to the feast by pouring fruit into a bowl, mixing, setting the table, etc.  In advance of the feast, the students made cornbread as they learned about the importance of corn to the Pilgrims and Wampanoag.  It was a fun event for everyone and a great bringing together of our class.

Corn Bread:

Fruit Salad:

Thanksgiving Feast!