Are you looking for some activities for your primary classroom for Thanksgiving? This post will walk you through some of our favorite resources that you can use to teach students an honest and inclusive Thanksgiving lesson this year! Before we begin, here is an overview of what we will cover: You can read more about NOT YOUR AVERAGE TURKEY UNIT, NOVEMBER SOCIAL STUDIES, and THE TRUTH ABOUT THANKSGIVING by clicking those links! For this post, we wanted to share a Staff Resource Training for Thanksgiving as well as an evidence-based resource that is a great exercise in finding evidence for historical claims!

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This resource was created for educators! We wanted to provide a springboard for staff-wide conversations around problematic history lessons that we teach our students. When teachers individually decide to teach honest history, they are often afraid because they are usually on their own. How powerful would it be to get your entire school on the same page? If you are a united front, then you will be able to handle misinformed parents that may feel like these lessons are incorrect. Grab your admin and ask for a PLC or staff meeting to dive into this powerful work. You will find a PowerPoint presentation that will walk your staff through activities, turn and talks, and steps to make a plan of action. You will decide how you will roll it out and gather materials…outside of that? It’s all done! Here’s what people are saying: These conversations will affect the historical understanding of our history for the next generation. Getting the adults in your building on the same page will encourage a united front so that teachers aren’t left feeling like they aren’t a team player for teaching a truthful lesson. Some topics are too critical for crafts! Next, we want to highlight a resource that will cultivate little historians. Critical thinking skills will be extremely important for this resource! Students will be presented with a claim and will be asked to consider some evidence before coming to their own conclusions…just like historians do! We hope that one or more of these resources will aid in helping you teach your students or your own children an honest and inclusive historical understanding of Thanksgiving!