I love connecting with a Thanksgiving theme when teaching during November. My second graders begin to realize how much that they are grateful for! There are so many ways to get students reflecting on thankfulness during the month of November, or all year!
First of all, you can incorporate this free Thankful Turkey Craft ! For this craft, students will brainstorm reasons they are thankful, cut out colorful turkey feathers, and glue them on to create a cute turkey craft! Fun and free!
I love this Joy in a Jar idea from Education World. Every day, students can write down one thing they are grateful for and put in the jar. Teachers or students can read aloud some if they want on the last day of school before Thanksgiving , or my idea would be to turn it into a class book of joy!
These books are great read alouds for the theme of Thanksgiving and gratefulness.
Gratitude Journals: Have students keep a journal in the classroom Encourage them to be specific. For example, instead of writing I’m grateful for my family, students might write: “I am thankful for my brother because we have fun playing LEGOs together”..
Gratitude Collage: Have students cut out or illustrate something they are grateful for such as animals, shoes, etc. and put them into individual or class colleges.
The gratitude collage idea came from Imagine Learning. They have several other great ideas on how to teach gratitude in the classroom and you can check them out here.
There are some arts and crafts ideas here –
Turkey Craft from Hello Wonderful
Thanksgiving Table Setting Craft from View from the Fridge
Pine Cone Turkeys from Fireflies and Mudflies
Turkey Napkin Holders from View from the Fridge
If you have a fun way to get students thinking about being thankful and grateful in the classroom, let us know!
