It’s November! We made it through most of the Fall and the election! Thanksgiving (and a break!) is around the corner, so sharing some reminders and activities. Here are some from the past: Thanksgiving & Native American Heritage Month Resources & Reminders.

Always center Native American perspectives however you address Thanksgiving in your classroom (and in general). For example, you and your students could look at the Native Land map to see whose land you're on and emphasize that they are still here. You could research the tribe whose land you are on and find out about where they are living now.

Also, show students the table depicting original tribal names and note that many tribal names were changed by white settlers.

Learn about land acknowledgements by watching Land Acknowledgement | Molly of Denali. (Sidenote, Molly of Denali is a great example of representation, own voices, and a genuine character that has typical trials and tribulations as all kids do. Alaskan Native voices are involved in all aspects of production and research shows positive effects on children’s use of informational text after watching the show.)

You and your students can think about creating a land acknowledgement at your school or in your community. However, keep in mind the limitations of land acknowledgements, and talk to students about how they should just be the first step and DO NOT and CANNOT undo or “fix” past wrongs. For a more in depth analysis from a Indigenous perspective, listen to this story from Oregon Public Broadcasting: As land acknowledgments become more common, Indigenous people grapple with next steps - OPB

A new picture book that is a re-telling of the story of Thanksgiving is Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun's Thanksgiving Story. There are discussion guides online, but unfortunately the book is sold out and won’t be back in stock before Thanksgiving. However, something to keep in mind for next year!

I try to incorporate gratitude into my classroom all year, especially towards people in the building who take care of us. There are many studies about the positive effects of gratitude and students love putting good energy out there and planning surprises or pick-me-ups for others.

Nikki Grimes expresses it so beautifully:

Find this poem on Twitter here. Use it to inspire students and/or yourself! Another fun idea is tiny gratitude stories from the New York Times. They asked Tell Us What You’re Thankful For, in Six Words in the past. I love these ideas for so many reasons, at the very least because there are plenty of mentor texts for students and it is something quick and easy (and FUN). Students could challenge others in the building to write one as well and add it to a wall or bulletin board.

See other Gratitude Activities We Love from our post last Thanksgiving.

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving. Hope your holidays are relaxing and filled with deliciousness!

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Happy almost Thanksgiving! This has been an incredibly long fall, especially for teachers. Even when we are beyond tired, it is always a good time to remind people (including ourselves) to give thanks and reflect on what we are grateful for. We like to share with students that there are many benefits to giving thanks including our own mental and physical health. But first and foremost, it’s important to appreciate the people in our lives who take care of us and keep us safe.

Make thank you cards. My class will be working on thank you cards for many of the staff in our school building, especially the custodians who clean up after us every single day as well as the kitchen staff who cooks for us. If you don’t know everyone’s name, find time to introduce yourself, learn how their name is spelled, and how they like to be addressed. Most of the people who clean our building prefer to speak in Spanish, so I’ve had one of the Spanish teachers help us get started with some example phrases of appreciation in the past.
A parent sent in “My First Gratitude Journals” for my entire class this year, which was so kind and generous! The journals have a page per day with some different entry formats. We gave them to the students on Friday and had them fill out one entry and will do so on Monday and Tuesday before sending them home for Thanksgiving break. Students who fill out more pages during the break can bring them in and share. We’re hoping the repeated use will lead to a habit.
In My Map Book by Sara Fanelli (which is a great book for some many uses and my students LOVE it), the author includes a “Map of My Heart.” We are going to have students make their own maps of their hearts, focusing on who we love and are grateful for.
So many writing prompts! If you want to be extra cute you can make a turkey or something Thanksgiving themed (making sure there are NO cartoon Native Americans or anything like that) and have students write one thing they are grateful for on each turkey feather etc. Sometimes, it’s easier for younger students to think about things that have made them happy recently and go from there. Some prompts that I’ve used in the past are: I am thankful for, I am grateful for, Some things that made me happy recently are..
Appreciation webs: we’ve made these in the past for co-workers’ birthdays, going away posters, or just for fun. In the middle of the web, you write something like “I/we appreciate _________ because..” and students fill in reasons. This can be done with writing or drawing for the really little ones. You can also use whatever verb works for you - appreciate, love, am grateful for, admire, will miss, etc.
Compliment or appreciation shares: We usually have an appreciation circle when it is someone’s birthday. For our Morning Meeting greeting, we all say what we appreciate about the person whose birthday we are celebrating. I’ve also written all my students’ names on slips of paper and passed them out at random and you write a compliment or appreciation for whomever’s name you receive. This might be a nice activity to end with heading into the break.