[Love2nd]

Hi Everyone,

I have two questions!

It's my first year teaching .. I was wondering if anyone had a lesson and activity I could do on Veterans Day. We don't have a s.s. or science curriculum so we're stuck introducing and teaching through picture books and open response writing. I'd like to actually teach about Veterans Day and Thanksgiving also.

My first question is do you have any lessons and activities for Veterans Day or for Thanksgiving? I know my kids know NOTHING about Veterans Day. I have some thanksgiving A+C projects we can do about thankfulness but I'd like to teach the concepts around it as well and was wondering what the best way to do this for 1st grade is. I tend to overthink it (seeing that it's my first year) and some of my lessons I make up go WAY over their heads!

My second question is do you do thanksgiving centers? I had Halloween centers the day before Halloween and the kids loved it and I'd love to do something for Thanksgiving as well. My centers are 20-30 minutes and three would have to be independent and one would be with me!

Thanks so much in advance for all of your help!

[readfirst]

I Googled "Veteran's Day Poems" and some great ones popped up! I used them last year to help teach about Veteran's Day.

ABC Teach has Thanksgiving vocabulary cards the kids could match and I think there are a couple other activities the kids do independently.

Have fun!

[ms.b]

We are using a Veteran's Day poem to make cards for veterans at a local VA hospital/rehab center. I don't really know how I am going to introduce the idea of "veterans" to the kids yet. I am thinking about maybe reading a September 11 book, since its something they can kind of relate to.

If anyone has picture book suggestions for Veteran's Day, I'd appreciate them too!

[ms.b]

I found this link from the History Channel. Its geared at "Bring a Vet to School", but it has some discussion questions and even a few suggested books for primary grades. I don't know how good it is, but maybe it will give you some ideas.

http://www.history.com/content/veter...cher-resources

[dream]

Enchanted Learning has Veteran's Day booklets that are nice.

Other Veteran's Day thread here:
http://www.proteacher.org/c/165_Vete...vember_11.html

Government Veteran's Day site:
http://www4.va.gov/kids/k-5/index.asp?intSiteID=2

Wonderful song for Veterans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roOny...eature=related

Hope this helps a little.

[broomrider]

I use Sarah Morton's Day and Samuel Eaton's Day--books focusing on a day in the life of a pilgrim child. Paperbacks from Scholastic, I believe.

I also do a bulletin board of food of the Americas--food that wasn't know in the old world until the new world was discovered. I'm trying to generate the list from memory: strawberries, turkey, corn, chocolate, pumpkins, potatoes. . . I was running out and found a link http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/E...tany/page5.php Perhaps this one, too. http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/BOOKS/BID142.htm

I usually do a food focused unit in November--Thanksgiving being all about food and it being harvest time and all. There are tons of books about food for young ones to read.

One thing that is a big success is to make corn bread with the students from scratch--I bring in the ingredients and bowls, etc. Put wax paper under the small bowl where they crack the egg--do that separately so you can pick out the shells they include.

Then we put cream in a clear jar with a tight lid and shake it until it turns to butter. I save a bit of cream to compare states as it turns from liquid to solid butter with buttermilk. Then we put it on the cornbread and eat.

Sometimes I have the children each bring in a can of vegetables (categorization) and we make group soup (after reading Stone Soup). Canned veggies only need to be warmed up, not peeled, cut, etc. I always bring in a few back up cans, just in case. We've shared with our Reading Buddies or another classroom, depending on the year and what's going on at school and with the neighboring classes.

Hope this helps.