thanksgiving stereotypes

Lesson 1 is designed for students to learn about the first Thanksgiving and the stereotypical images of Thanksgiving that have developed over time. Students will use the Internet to do some of their research and can supplement the lesson with books from the library. In the second lesson, students will discover why Canadian Thanksgiving is on a different day and why we celebrate it too. They will also write a poem about giving thanks on Thanksgiving.

IRPs Covered:
GRADE 4:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-locate and record information from a variety of sources
-identify alternative interpretations from specific historical and contemporary sources
-demonstrate understanding of contributions of Aboriginal people to Canadian society
-describe how people's basic needs are met in a variety of cultures
-compare the "discovery" and "exploration" of North America from European and Aboriginal people's perspectives
-identify economic and technological exchanges between explorers and Aboriginal people
-evaluate the influence of mass media on stereotyping
-analyze how people interact with their environment, in the past and in the present

GRADE 5:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-gather and record a body of information from a variety of primary and secondary sources
-develop alternative interpretations from varied sources
-demonstrate understanding of Canadian culture
-demonstrate appreciation of contributions of Aboriginal people, the French, and the British to the development of Canada
- demonstrate understanding of why immigrants come to Canada, the challenges they face, and their contributions to Canada
-Alan's how people are influenced by and influence mass media messages

GRADE 6:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-demonstrate appreciation of contributions of a variety of cultures to Canada and the world
-research information using print, non-print, and electronic sources
-evaluate the credibility and reliability of various sources
-evaluate mass media stereotypes of cultural groups or geographic regions

COMPUTER SCOPE AND SEQUENCE COVERED:

Network operations (log-on, log-off) if appropriate.
Combine information from multiple sources for presentation.
Launch browser to access the World Wide Web, FTP sites, Gopher.
Access information files and search sites.
Observe appropriate etiquette at all times.
Identify, define/locate sources of electronic information (e.g. CD-ROM, Internet).
Select relevant information
Evaluate suitability of info for use in specific contexts.

LESSON 1: The First Thanksgiving

1. Click here to download the worksheet (if you have Adobe Acrobat click here) to be used for this discussion, or have students record their thought from this discussion in their Social Studies notebooks.

2. In class, have one student read out the definition of stereotypes. Talk about the meaning of this and ask students to volunteer some common stereotypes. Point out that stereotypes of people are rarely what they are really like and make sure that students are careful not to offend others during this discussion.

3. Now have students record common beliefs about Thanksgiving, it's origin and what they believe the first Thanksgiving was like. Here are some questions you can use to lead this discussion:
What do we do for Thanksgiving?
Why do we have Thanksgiving?
Where was the first one and why do you think they had it?
What do you think they ate? What do we eat?
Do you think the pilgrims who had the first Thanksgiving got along with the Aboriginal people in the area?

4. Now students can go to the computer lab and look at the following site to find information about what the first Thanksgiving was like. Reading here may be difficult and you may wish to do this lesson as a whole class lesson where people read some of the passages out loud. To get to the first site go to:

http://sd71.bc.ca/Sd71/Edulinks/thanks/myth.htm - Students can read this and click at the bottom to find more information about the Pilgrims or type in the next address.

http://members.aol.com/calebj/thanksgiving.html - The Pilgrims' 1621 Thanksgiving. Here you can find two passages written by the original Pilgrims about Thanksgiving day and a list of the food they did have along with a list of food that we thought they had but really didn't. If the reading level is too difficult, scroll down and just read the food sections.

5. Students can now go to this address:

http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm - The Thanksgiving Story and answer the questions on page 2 of their sheet. While reading this they may decide to flip the page and add things to the first page in their list. Students who don't finish can use books in the library and encyclopedias to answer these questions as the answers can be found there too.

6. Students who finish can click on the quiz which marks itself and see how they do.

7. In the library students can look at a selection of Thanksgiving library books and see if they find stereotypes. They could write down the name of the book and write down the stereotypes that they find.

8. You may wish to go to the scholastic First Thanksgiving site and go through the timeline with students using the questions at the bottom to guide your discussion: http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/index.htm

EXTENSIONS:

1. Have students study the clothes of the pilgrims and the natives and dispel myths about these too (ex. the pilgrims did not wear all black and white and the natives that they encountered did not live in teepees and wear headdresses). This can be done at: http://www.autopenhosting.org/mayflowerhistory/mayflower.html

2. To do a more thorough study of the Mayflower and it's journey go to the address above. There is excellent information about the Mayflower passengers, their clothes, letter they wrote and their journey. The Scholastic site also is a great source of information for this.

Click here to return to the main Thanksgiving page

LESSON 2: Canadian Thanksgiving

1. In class have students speculate about why our Thanksgiving is on a different day than the American one. Also talk about why they think we chose the date that we celebrate it on.

2. Teachers with Microsoft Works click here to download the worksheet for students to fill out in the lab. If you have Adobe Acrobat, click here.

3. Type in the following address to begin to complete the questions on the worksheet:

kidexchange.about.com/kids/kidexchange/library/weekly/aa092898.htm -About's Info about Canadian Thanksgiving.

4. After students complete the questions 1-6, they go to this address:

http://home.ican.net/~marlatt/craig/thanksgiving.html - Canada Info. Thanksgiving. Here studentslook at a poem about Thanks and write one like it themselves. The idea is that they think of things that they are thankful for that begin with the letters in the word THANKS. There are some suggestions in the answer section that is with the worksheet. You may wish to brainstorm some of these as a class and bring a list of them with you to the computer lab. I suggested that they write it out as a sign in Student Writing Center but this can be done in a program of your choice.

EXTENSIONS:

1. Students could further research the journey of Martin Frobisher. Sites about him were difficult to read but there are some listed on the Links page.

2. Have a Canadian Thanksgiving in class or try one of the recipes on the Canadian Thanksgiving page.

3. Students could create a chart comparing the Canadian and American Thanksgivings.

4. Students could do a comparison of Thanksgiving celebrations around the world. Some sites to help with this are listed on the links page.

Click here to return to the main Thanksgiving page