Thanksgiving Lesson

So as I mentioned in my previous post, this week I'm teaching my students about Thanksgiving. It's actually the first time I've used the word Pilgrim since elementary school.  After combing through dozens of Thanksgiving stories, I finally found a story about the first thanksgiving that wasn't too religious, too long or complicated, and didn't use too many big words.  I wanted to focus on the history of the holiday and it's focus on giving thanks, rather than just talk about all the good food Americans eat on the day. I didn't even talk about the Thanksgiving Day Parade, partially because Microsoft Office isn't working on my computer, so I wouldn't be able to show them pictures of the parade or of the yummy food, so just talking about either one would've have been boring.  So with my classes, I've had the students read the story out loud (each student reads two sentences aloud), and then we go over vocab that they might not know: plentiful harvest, feast, colonies, Pilgrims, Wampanoag (apparently the name of the Native American tribe who helped the Pilgrims out; I don't know, different stories mentioned different tribes), bountiful, tradition, etc. I write the definitions on the board so that they are more inclined to write it down in their notes. Then I "quiz" them on the story, to make sure they were paying attention and understand what the story says/what I'm saying to them. Then for homework, I have them write what they are thankful for. They have to list three things they own that they are thankful for, three people in their life, and three things they have access to in this country/three things about Thailand that they are thankful for, and explain why. Here are some of my favorite answers I've received so far:

"I am thankful for love because it makes me happy."
"I am thankful for scientists because they develop and change the world."
"I am thankful for my body that makes me be human."
"I am thankful for Leah who makes me realize everything I should be thankful for." - Hmm... cute, but I know he's just sucking up to me to get a good grade :-)
"I am thankful for my English teacher that helps improving my language skills".
"I am thankful for light bulbs so I can do my homework when it's dark."
"I am thankful for my brain, because it is efficiency and helps me to learn mysteries of this universe."

And lastly...


"However, only one person I have to thank is Jesus Christ, who blesses me and gives me my wonderful life." -This student studies English with missionaries on the weekends. Two students wrote something like this at the bottom of their paper. :-)

At least their answers put a smile on my face