Name: Esther Yoo

Title: Celebrating Thanksgiving Day

Grade: 2nd
Concept/topic: Social Studies
Time needed: 30 minutes
Identify Desired Results/Learning Outcomes/Essential Question:
Desired Results: This lesson will focus on the significance and celebration aspect of
Thanksgiving Day. Around the United States, families and communities celebrate Thanksgiving
with their own traditions. In this lesson, students will discuss about their personal experiences in
celebrating Thanksgiving. They will also learn about the various traditions associated with
Thanksgiving and the significance of the holiday.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will discuss about different traditions of celebrating Thanksgiving.
Students will describe the significance of celebrating Thanksgiving.
Students will make a personal connection to the national holiday.
Essential Standards: 2.C.1.1 Explain how artistic expressions of diverse cultures contribute to
the community (stories, art, music, food, etc.).
Assessment Plan:
Meeting the Students where they are:
Prior Knowledge/Connections: Prior to this lesson, the students had learned about national
holidays. In one of the earlier lessons, the students learned about Veterans Day and how
Americans observed and celebrated this holiday in honor of the veterans. The students should
have some background understanding of Thanksgiving celebration. In the week before this
lesson, many of the students had expressed that they were going to travel over their
Thanksgiving break to meet with family members and relatives. It seems some of the students
already participate in traditions to celebrate Thanksgiving. My classroom is also very diverse, so
not all of the students may celebrate Thanksgiving or they may have a different cultural approach
in celebrating Thanksgiving.
Lesson Introduction/Hook: This lesson will be taught the week after Thanksgiving break. The
teacher will ask the students this question: Which national holiday did we celebrate last
Thursday? The teacher will explain that Thanksgiving is a national holiday that is celebrated
each year in the United States. The teacher will also ask the students their knowledge on why we
celebrate Thanksgiving. The students will have the opportunity to turn and talk to share with a
partner how they personally celebrated Thanksgiving or how they would have celebrated
Thanksgiving.

Heart of the Lesson/Learning Plan:

Differentiation/Same-ation: This lesson is designed for whole class instruction. Most of the
lesson will be mostly discussion based, which makes this lesson accessible to all students. A few
students (5-6) are English Learners so in order to accommodate to their needs, the lesson will
include visuals and display of vocabulary words. These visual aids will give students guidance.
Additionally, the students will have the opportunity to discuss and participate with the whole
class and with partners.

Lesson Development:
At the beginning of the lesson, the class will be asked two questions:
Which national holiday did we celebrate last Thursday?
The students will turn and talk and share with a partner about their experiences with celebrating
Thanksgiving or how they would celebrate Thanksgiving.
Questions: How did you celebrate Thanksgiving? If you did not celebrate Thanksgiving, how
would you celebrate?
Activity 1: Thanksgiving Meal
The teacher will show a picture of a typical Thanksgiving meal from an American household.
The students will use this image to discuss about the foods they usually eat for Thanksgiving and
their family traditions. Students will compare and contrast their experiences with their
classmates. By doing so, students learn about diversity across the United States.
Activity 2: Purpose for celebrating
The students will then talk about the reason for celebrating Thanksgiving Day. Have the students
talk about the reason why people celebrate Thanksgiving in the present time. The teacher should
lead a discussion about giving thanks, being thankful, and appreciating the people or family
members they have in their lives.
Remind the students that Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in the United States
but that it is celebrated differently in each household. Everyone has his or her own way of
celebrating Thanksgiving. Some families eat Turkey, and some dont. Some families gather with
their relatives, and some dont.
Exit Ticket: Explain to the students that they will write about their experiences about
Thanksgiving Day. If the students do not celebrate Thanksgiving, have them think about just a
special day they would think about giving thanks. Let them think about the foods they would eat
and who would celebrate with them! The students will write about what they would eat on
Thanksgiving Day and who they would like to celebrate it with. Also, have the students write atleast one thing they are thankful for.
Example: On Thanksgiving day, I would eat I would celebrate with I am thankful for
Specific Questioning:
How did you celebrate Thanksgiving?
If you did not celebrate Thanksgiving, how would you celebrate? Or, do you know of any
holidays in your
Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving Day?

New Vocabulary:
National holiday
Celebration
Tradition

Materials:
Images of Thanksgiving Meal
Exit Ticket
Powerpoint with vocab words and images
Teaching Behavior Focus: I would like to focus on meeting the needs of learners. More
specifically, I would focus on student engagement through discussion and learners experiences
are acknowledged and integrated into discussion.
Follow Up Activities/Parent Involvement: To follow-up with this lesson, students will also
learn about the historical background information about the first Thanksgiving Day in a separate
social studies lesson. The students will be asked to do some research at home or at the library on
the First Thanksgiving day. By doing so, we will have a class discussion about their prior
knowledge and to combat any misconceptions they may have.