Esteves School of Education Lesson Plan

Teacher: Randi & Julia

Lesson Title: Looking Beyond Thanksgiving
Grade Level: 3rd
Lesson Topic: Thanksgiving
Literature Selection: The Story of the First Thanksgiving
Context for Learning
Central Focus

Students will gain a better understanding about the events that led up to Thanksgiving being named
a national holiday. We will learn about cause and effects that led up to how we celebrate
Thanksgiving today.
Goal: Students will be able to discuss their Thanksgiving traditions and comapre/contrast to earlier
periods of time.
Objectives Students will be able to make a venn diagram comparing and contrasting Thanksgiving
now to Thanksgiving in a time period of their choice.
Students will be able to illustrate a picture showing their understanding of how Thanksgiving was
celebrated in a time period of their choice.

Content
Standards/Objectives

Common Core Content Standard (same as

goals)
Identify multiple perspectives by comparing and
contrasting points of view in differing world communities.
Recognize and use different forms of evidence
to make meaning in social studies (including
primary and secondary sources, such as art
and photographs, artifacts, oral histories,
maps, and graphs).
Create understanding of the past by using and
analyzing primary and secondary sources.
Research to Build & Present Knowledge:
Recall information from experiences or gather
information from print and digital sources; take
brief notes on sources and sort evidence into
provided categories.

Learning Objectives (list at least three

objectives)

Esteves School of Education Lesson Plan

Vocabulary/Concepts/Langu

age

Responding to Literature:
11. Create and present a poem, narrative, play,
art work, or personal response to a particular
author or theme studied in class.
Plymouth
Thanksgiving
Pilgrim
Turkey
Traditions
Indian

Rationale

Essential Questions
(Focus Questions)

Students should be able to expand on their current understanding of Thanksgiving and events that
led up to our time period.
Students can become more culturally aware of the different time periods.
What do you know about Thanksgiving from earlier time periods?
What is the significance of Plymouth colony?
How does Thanksgiving today compare to Thanksgiving back in earlier time periods?

Assessments:
Summative

Students will be able to

construct a venn diagram
stating at least four
comparisons from
Thanksgiving now to
Thanksgiving in an earlier
time period.

Modifications to the assessment so

that all students could demonstrate
their learning.

Evaluate the students learning by observing

their venn diagrams and pictures they
illustrate.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks

Procedure

Teacher will:

Students will:

Anticipatory Set
10 minutes

Post a picture on the

SMART Board and ask

Share with their group

and then share with the

Modifications (RTI/UDL
Strategies)

Esteves School of Education Lesson Plan

Make connections to students

prior knowledge. Often called

a Bell ringer, or a Do now.
Use a strategy that has
attention-gaining steps to
access prior knowledge, i.e.,
Brainstorming, Assessing
Prior Knowledge, Do Now,
Question of the day,
literature, think/pair/share,
group activity, visual or video.

Learning Tasks and

Instructional
Strategies
15 minutes
Demonstration, Guided
Practice,
Journals, Critique, Activity,
Work Time (for example)
This section should be
separated into individual rows
as needed.
*Differentiated Instructional
Strategies Should be Included

Independent
Practice/Exploration
of Concepts
25 minutes

the following questions:

What is something you
notice in the picture that
you do/dont
understand?
What time period do you
think this photo was
published?
What group of people do
you think this newspaper
article was published
for?
We will read The Story of
the First Thanksgiving.
We will browse resources
on the SMART Board
together.
Will show the class how
to complete/fill in a Venn
Diagram
We will complete a quick
activity with a partner to
look up different time
periods that celebrated
Thanksgiving.
Meet with each student
as they work on their
projects

class.

We will complete a quick

activity with a partner to
look up different time
periods that celebrated
Thanksgiving.

Students will create their

Venn Diagram with a
partner, with at least 4
differences and 2
similarities.

Esteves School of Education Lesson Plan

Closure
10 minutes

Students will also

illustrate a picture about
Thanksgiving during a
time period they chose.
Teacher will ask students Students will share out
why they chose that time their illustration and
period and what
what they learned about
information they learned. during that time period.

Student Product: A constructed venn diagram and a photo the students will illustrate depicting the time period the
students choose
Instructional Resources, Materials and References: poster board, markers, paper, pencils, The book: The Story
of the First Thanksgiving

https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/thanksgiving/
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/primary-source-analysis-tool/index.php

Esteves School of Education Lesson Plan