This week we continued our unit on Thanksgiving. We had a great discussion about the meaning of Thanksgiving. We learned that we celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November by having a feast. We came up with a list of traditional foods we eat on Thanksgiving such as: turkey, stuffing, rice, squash, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. The children were surprised when they discovered that Native Americans did not have stoves but cooked their meals outside on a fire. They were also surprised when they found out that they didn't have supermarkets back then. The Native Americans hunted and fished for their food and bathed and washed in the river.
The children made colorful teepees and added straws to the top (representing branches).
Other fun areas in the classroom and playground:
We had two special visitors this week. Drama Kids International came and did speech and movement with the children. We also had an interesting visit from the mad scientist. She taught the children about dry ice and about air and the way it moves through different things. The children were fascinated with her experiments.
The children created turkey placemats which they used for the Thanksgiving feast. First they painted the turkey's feathers with their thumbs, drew feet, and then added a sticker with their face on it.
We also baked delicious pumpkin muffins for the feast.
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| Do you believe he cracked an egg all by himself? |
In addition we turned our classroom into a campfire. We sat around the "fire" and toasted marshmallows. We also turned off the lights, used flashlights, and sang campfire songs.
We ended our week by having a fabulous concert and Thanksgiving feast. We hope you had a good time at our Thanksgiving celebration. The children worked so hard preparing for this day. They did an exceptional job singing at the concert. They looked absolutely adorable in their pilgrim costumes. I am sure you will all agree!
Love,
Ms. Bonne and Ms. Barbara
