Thanksgiving Feast-We make butter, cranberry muffins(to go with book, Cranberry
Thanksgiving), and popcorn. We lay a long piece of bulletin board paper(for the table) in
the room and we sit Indian style along the paper with another class. Some of the students
dress as Pilgrims and some as Native Americans.
We make Pilgrim hats.
Make teepees-kids trace a cone shape, cut it out, decorate with Native American
signs, and then we staple together to make a teepee.
We learn to read some of the Native American signs.
Indian headband-I either use real turkey feathers or the children color and cut out
feathers for a headband. I use a sentence strip to make the headband. Students decorate
the band with Native American signs and then we staple feathers on.
We make Indian vest out of paper grocery bags. They color and also decorate with
Native American signs.
Maize Art-After learning about maize, we pop popcorn and the students fill an oval
shape with the popcorn and then add leaves to make it look like corn (maize)
Map skills- Discuss and show on map the Pilgrims’ voyage and where the different
Native Americans lived.
Coffee filter Turkey
Paper bag turkey
Oreo turkey
Make canoes
Make Indian Shakers
Kachina Dolls and Pueblo Houses
Plank houses and totem poles
I bring a white deer skin for my children to see and feel when I read the book, The
Legend of the Indian Paint Brush.
Paper Plate Pilgrims
Discuss different types of Native Americans-homes, travel
Discuss Wants and Need-relates to what Pilgrims had to pack when coming to
America.
Long Ago/Present
We use rulers and other units to measure different canoes drawn on paper.
We made a class tepee out of 6 poles and a sheet. I let the children decorate the sheet with Native American signs on it.
Here is a spoon turkey that a parent made with my class.
We make a wigwam for the students to get in.
Turkey handprint.
We talk about how Squanto taught the pilgrims to plant corn.
Letter Recognition:
1. Letter Charts- Tt for teepee and Ii for Indian. Also /th/ for Thanksgiving.
