Multicultural Thanksgiving Books

Does the school year seem to be flying by for anyone else? I can't believe it's already November! Teachers are busy prepping the cutest lessons and crafts filled with turkeys and Pilgrim hats. In just over three weeks time, families across America will come together to celebrate Thanksgiving.
I recently overhead a conversation about traditional Thanksgiving foods that struck a chord with me. The people involved in the conversation seemed appalled that anyone could celebrate Thanksgiving differently from them.When it comes to holiday celebrations, are we using rich and relevant resources for our students? Do we consider to include the diverse backgrounds of our students? Don't get me wrong, I think a paper plate turkey craft is fine as long as it's not the only way we expose our students to Thanksgiving.

Here's a summary of four picture books to include more diversity in your Thanksgiving activities and lesson plans this year. Click on the Amazon affiliate links to learn more.

Miguel is a Puerto Rican boy living in New York City with his family. He is given a turkey to "fatten up" before Thanksgiving dinner. Gracias the turkey is eventually blessed and pardoned by a priest. Spanish vocabulary is woven through out the story. This book beautifully combines community and family.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition for many families in America. This book is inspired by the true story of the first parade. The main character Milly, lives with her Polish family in New York City. She convinces the store owner Mr. Macy to combine old and new to create a new American tradition.

The main character Rivka wants to celebrate Thanksgiving with her Jewish family after learning about it in school. She must convince her family to celebrate Thanksgiving. Rivka convinces her Rabbi the holiday can be celebrated by all cultures and religions.

Tuyet's Vietnamese family is having duck for Thanksgiving dinner. Tuyet worries what her friends and teacher will think about this non traditional Thanksgiving food. She soon learns her classmates eat non traditional Thanksgiving foods as well. I love this book because multiple students in my class are able to make a personal connection to Tuyet every year.
What are you favorite ways to include different cultures in your Thanksgiving lessons?

Grandparent's Day

The temperature has dropped too much for this southern girl! I'm thankful we had a good amount of grandparents come to our classroom today despite the cold. Grandparents visit classrooms for 90 minutes, and the time always flies.

I always like having a special area for visitors to sign in when visiting the classroom.

After morning announcements and introductions were made by grandparents, I read I Already Know I Love You by Billy Crystal. It's a sweet story filled with the hopes and dreams a grandparent has for his first grandchild. I love watching the faces of grandparents in the room light up as the story is read. This book would be a welcome addition to any classroom library.

After our read aloud grandparents became guest teachers. Each group worked on a Thanksgiving activity. All you need are grocery store ads, paper plates, and construction paper. Sadly I couldn't find a digital copy of where the poem comes from. My grade level has been using this since I started teaching. I'm sure you could easily create something similar for your class.

It's always amusing to see how different each poem turns out to be. Most students will start with sweet treats and soda lol. Just half of Tuesday to go and I'll officially be on Thanksgiving break, hooray! My warm bed and socks are calling my name!