First grade students learn about Thanksgiving traditions
First grade students have been learning about the First Thanksgiving, why we celebrate Thanksgiving, and what our family traditions for celebrating Thanksgiving are. Students read a funny fiction book called Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’ and heard the story of how the Tappleton family celebrates Thanksgiving. After reading the story and talking about the word “traditions,” students shared some of their own family holiday traditions. They then revisited the book and focused on a page while “reading as writers”, noticing that when the author made a list of the foods the Tappletons ate, she used a comma in between the words in the list. Students then went to work as authors and wrote their own stories, Thanksgiving at the _____________’s, practicing using commas in their own writing. After completing writing pieces, they finished their project by creating a Thanksgiving Turkey cover for their book. The activity was a fun way for students to learn about the family traditions we have for celebrating Thanksgiving and also learn about using commas in a list.