How much has Thanksgiving changed over time?

“My purpose is to engage students in dialogue so they can see other’s points of view – in a world that needs this more than ever. I do this by sharing lessons on this site which connect students with the past and inspire critical thinking. Please read below to find details about this one.” Dan

This lesson is titled “How much has Thanksgiving changed over time?”
This 28-slide PowerPoint begins with three starter activities. Students are invited to do a Fist to Five, to write their existing knowledge on the board, and then to decide if three statements are true or false. Lesson aims and objectives are then introduced before a series of slides of background information to enable teacher exposition (about the first Thanksgiving, 1863, the ‘20s and ‘30s, and modern traditions since 1941.) Students then test their knowledge in a Whose Line is it Anyway activity. They are then introduced to the main activity, which is to create a timeline of Thanksgiving over time using the information they have learned. They then show off their work in a Gallery Walk and there is a slide in which the teacher cold calls three students to explain. In the first plenary students then come to the board to write down one way Thanksgiving has changed and one way it has stayed the same on the two trash cans on the screen. In the second plenary they vote with Thinking Thumbs on the lesson’s Key Question. Aims and objectives are revisited. There is a homework task also.

This lesson was created with a desirable difficulty level for students in high school settings and is written in UK English.

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Wishing you a terrific day.