Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Our Thanksgiving Unit Study

After my last blog done on unit studies I had a few people ask me exactly how I went about planning and carrying out the theme.  In this look at our Thanksgiving unit I will go into a little more detail about how I planned it.



First I picked a theme - hmm . . . Thanksgiving (don't ask me how I decided on that one!)  ;-)  This unit was particularly fun because I had a friend that was doing the same study so we bounced ideas off of each other.



I started with reserving books at the library on that theme.



Next I opened a new folder on my internet "my favorites" menu under "school" and called it  "Thanksgiving".



I typed in several different searches such as, "Thanksgiving crafts, Indian crafts, Thanksgiving activities, Mayflower online games, Thanksgiving songs, Thanksgiving video clips, pilgrim coloring pages, Thanksgiving snacks . . . you get the drift.



I selected activities, crafts and online work that is appropriate for the ages of my boys - and of course things I feel comfortable doing.  (I'm not real artsy so I need easy crafts that have lots of pictures showing me how to do it.)



I remain flexible with each of our school days and don't push too much at once.  If we never end up doing something I had planned that's totally OK!  My main intent on doing things with my kids is to develop a love of learning in them and if they (or myself) aren't having fun, then it's just not worth doing.



Here is how our unit went:



We read books about the Mayflower journey and the first Thanksgiving.



We watched this video clip (thanks Donna!)



We made Indian headdresses and vests




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We went on a field trip to the Museum of the Great Plains with our friends


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We made a map of the Mayflower and a mini Mayflower
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We still plan to make turkey pine cones



And will take these yummy snacks to our Thanksgiving Day Dinner (thanks Donna!)





Hope this gives you some great last-minute ideas to do with your kiddos, or gets you on your way to doing your own unit study.



What Thanksgiving craft do you most remember making when you were a child?

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Erin

8 comments:

  1. Great stuff, the hand turkey...didn't everyone make the hand turkey?

    We make a tree with as many paper leaves as there are days until thanksgiving. The kids write (or draw) something they are thankful for on each one. Each day leading up to thanksgiving they let their leaves 'fall', say a prayer of thanks for what was on that leaf, and count how many days are left. It is a lot of fun!

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  2. I remember making a Turkey stuffed with popcorn. I cracked that sucker open in the Grandparents' camper on the way to Thanksgiving at the lake. Good times.

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  3. I love it! They are adorable! I can't wait to see them Thursday. Good idea and good job. I can't wait till I have kids...

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  4. I love it! Thanks for the idea=)

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  5. Yay! I love the picture! Can you email me a copy? My camera is on the blitz since Seth dropped it. :( They are just all so cute. :) We had fun! Thanks for all of the ideas to!

    We are finally getting to the map today!

    I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving. Wasn't August just last week?

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  6. You and Donna are awesome.

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  7. I remember when I was in 1st grade we got to make Indian hats...with cut out feathers....the funny thing is.....shawn my 15 yr old has one also...I keep his in a box for when he gets older...

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  8. Erin, thanks for stopping by my blog. How old are your boys? It would be fun to get together sometime. I'd love to hear more about your journey and get to know you better.

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