2. describe how and why they celebrate Thanksgiving today.

1. Show the children a picture of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving in America from books or posters. Ask the children to share what they already know about Thanksgiving.

Try to categorize the children's responses further into food, activities, people involved, reasons, etc.

2. Read the book Thanksgiving Day , by Gail Gibbons. Following the reading, discuss the Pilgrims' difficult trip and the hardships faced in their new land. Add any new information the children have gained from the book to the charts.

Activity 2

1. Summarize with children's help how and why the Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving.

2. Pose the question to the children, "How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your family?" Discuss ways in which the children celebrate.

3. Read the story What is Thanksgiving? by Harriet Ziefert. Did the characters in the story celebrate in any ways similar to those of the children in the class?

4. Using the repeated sentence pattern in the book, "On Thanksgiving we . . ." have each child draw or paint a picture of something they do with their family on Thanksgiving. Have the sentence "On Thanksgiving we . . ." written on each page. When the children have finished their picture, have them dictate to an adult the end of the sentence to go along with the picture they drew.

5. These pictures with dictations can be used as a bulletin board display or compiled into a class book.