We all have hopes, dreams and desires. But during Thanksgiving, we don’t focus so much on what we hope to have, but rather what we already have, which we should be thankful for.
So, this Thanksgiving instead of having your ESL students hope and dream about more fun activities in class, give them some they can truly be thankful for!
Thanksgiving Crafts:
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1
Tube Turkey
This project makes beautiful centerpieces for your students to take home for Thanksgiving dinner. You’ll need to supply each of your students with a toilet paper tube and a copy of this template. Those who finish their turkeys may complete the writing task and describe their animal: Where does it live? What does it eat? They may even create a story for it.
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2
Wax Painting Secret Message Cards
Students will have the pleasure of finding out what a classmate is thankful for with this project they can later make into great Thanksgiving cards. Give each of your students some white poster board or card paper, and a white wax crayon. Students carefully write something they are thankful for with the white crayon – naturally it will be very difficult to read. Each student passes their paper to another classmate. Give them some diluted poster paint and a paintbrush. As they brush the paint over the paper, their classmate’s message is magically revealed!
The messages are shared with the class (Maria is thankful for having so many great friends.), and each paper is then returned to its owner. They may fold the paper into a card, write Happy Thanksgiving on the front, and decorate it as they please.
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3
Thanksgiving Scrapbook
There is no better time than Thanksgiving to not only count our blessings, but also share them with others. For this project, your class will create colorful scrapbooks to remember everything they are thankful for. Give your students plenty of colored paper, scissors, crayons and markers, plus lots of magazines they can cut pictures from.
For their scrapbook cover they will write the title, “This year I’m thankful for…” On the following pages they will add all of the things they are thankful for using magazine cut outs or by drawing their own pictures on each page. They may wish to add pictures of places they visited, sports or things they learned to play, or general good times they had with their families.
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4
A Bird in the Hand…
There’s a popular expression in English that goes, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, which means we should be thankful for what we do have, rather than focus on the possibility of more. Ask your students how this expression can be applied to Thanksgiving. Then, show them how they, too, can have “a bird in the hand”. Show them how to trace a hand on a piece of paper. The thumb will be the head and the fingers will be the feathers of their bird, which in this case will be a turkey. After they trace their hands, they draw other details and color their turkeys.
Thanksgiving Games:
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5
Thanksgiving Yummy Bingo
Looking for a fun Thanksgiving Bingo to play with your class? Then, look no further! Download this Thanksgiving Yummy Bingo worksheet, kindly provided by Hallmark and have tons of fun with your class.
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Thanksgiving Tic Tac Toe
How about giving the ol’ Tic Tac Toe game a Thanksgiving theme? It’s as easy as pumpkin pie! Simply download this Thanksgiving full-color clipart file and print some into small Tic Tac Toe-sized squares – try to have at least five of each image you choose, for example five pilgrim hats and five turkeys. Draw the typical 3x3 grid on some poster board. Students use the images instead of the Xs and Os. For a bigger challenge, you may require them to answer a question correctly before they can place their card on the board.
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Pin the Snood on the Turkey
What’s that funny-looking thing that hangs below the turkey’s chin? Why, that would be the snood, and won’t your students have a grand, ol’ time trying to pin it onto a turkey. Put up a poster of a turkey without the snood and have your blindfolded students take turns trying to pin it in the right place for some hilarious fun!
And aren’t you thankful you’ve got a site like BusyTeacher on your side, always supplying fresh ideas when you’ve got none and new worksheets when you’re tired of using the same old, same old?
This Thanksgiving, head to our Thanksgiving section, where you’ll find turkey templates, colorful clipart and more, including ideas on How to Teach the Perfect Thanksgiving Lesson.
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