Hands-On Thanksgiving Activity

Students in Jessica Heaton's first grade classroom integrated art into social studies as they learned about The First Thanksgiving. Mrs. Heaton started the lesson by reading Thanksgiving Day by Anne Rockwell. 

Vocabulary words were on display for students to refer to throughout the activity.

Students were provide with art materials that included: black, brown and red rectangles, yellow tissue paper, feathers and popsicle sticks. Their mission was to use the items to illustrate  "The First Thanksgiving" booklet.

Notice, students completed each sentence by adding a word from the vocabulary list that made sense and fit into the given number of letter spaces.

My favorite part of this activity was the use of different textures on each page and the fact that students had to make their own boat, pilgrim hat and Indian headband from the rectangles they were provided with. They needed to use their problem solving and collaboration skills to get the job done! 

Needless to say, all students were totally engaged in this activity!