There are many ways to explore the Thanksgiving holiday in your classroom with Reading A-Z and Raz-Plus resources. From engaging books to Literature Circle activities, we have the materials you need to get your students excited for learning about this popular holiday. With a subscription to Reading A-Z and Raz-Plus, you can access a variety of printable, projectable, and digital classroom resources that will complement your Thanksgiving-themed classroom activities.
Books
Reading A-Z and Raz-Plus have a variety of books that your students can read as they prepare for Thanksgiving. Books like Carlos’s First Thanksgiving, Two Thanksgivings, and Spare the Turkey introduce students to different ways of celebrating Thanksgiving. Choose the books most appropriate for your classroom and enjoy your students’ reactions to multiple approaches to participating in Thanksgiving festivities.
Project-Based Learning Packs
By following the activities in the Food’s Global Web Project Pack, third grade students will answer the question “How do the foods we eat and where they are grown connect us with the people around the world?” With printable and projectable maps, charts, and passages, students will analyze the origins of the world’s food crops and how food connects people around the world.
Social Stories
Social Stories are books that illustrate healthy responses to challenging situations and guide readers in understanding positive social behaviors, such as collaboration, friendship, and manners.
Literature Circle
You can create a book club in your classroom with Literature Circles, which allow students to read books independently and then participate in a structured discussion with a small group to analyze what they read. Sweet Potato Challenge is a Literature Circle book that centers around two cousins who compete to see who can bake the best tasting sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving. After students have finished reading, they can complete a Literature Circle Journal that asks them to consider the book’s theme, settings, and characters.
Shared Reading
Shared Reading books support a balanced literacy instruction approach by helping teachers model close reading, text dependent questioning, and strategies for asking and answering questions. You can practice these skills with students by reading Wild Turkeys, a nonfiction text that outlines all the amazing aspects of wild turkeys.
