In the upper elementary grades, it can be tricky to recognize Thanksgiving in way that the older kiddos can connect to. A lot of the crafts are too “baby-ish”, students are “too cool” for picture books, and forget cute little songs!
The best way I’ve found to bring the Thanksgiving spirit into the classroom with the older kiddos (thinking those 4th and 5th graders here!) is to incorporate it into my ELA block!
Thanksgiving brings a lot of rich vocabulary that can be used as building blocks for standards-based ELA skills in the upper elementary classroom!
Thanksgiving Vocabulary for Upper Elementary Grades:
Harvest
Cornucopia
Gratitude
Gather
Abundance
Hospitality
Feast
Pilgrim
Settler
Foliage
Recipe
Baste
Autumn
Practice Figurative Language Using Thanksgiving Vocabulary and Themes
Thanksgiving and descriptive language go together like mashed potatoes and gravy. Why not use this time to review and practice figurative language with your students? Students will use figurative language to describe the tastes, smells, and feelings surrounding Thanksgiving with this THANKSGIVING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PACKET!
Practice Dictionary Skills using Thanksgiving Vocabulary
Thanksgiving vocabulary can be used to help your students brush up on their dictionary skills! One “bell ringer” I like to use is having each student choose a Thanksgiving vocabulary word, look it up in the dictionary, write it down on a post-it, and stick it on our class Parking Lot!
If you don’t have a class set of dictionaries (which I never did), this THANKSGIVING DICTIONARY SKILLS PACKET can be super helpful! Guide word practice, dictionary entries, vocabulary, alphabetical order practice, and parts of speech review are ‘baked’ right in for you and your students!
Practice Grammar + Parts of Speech Using Thanksgiving Vocabulary
One way that I like to help my students practice grammar skills around the Thanksgiving holiday is by having them write a story about their perfect Thanksgiving. I then guide them through the editing process, using key moments to review grammar skills.
Looking for a more structured way to teach grammar around the Thanksgiving holiday? I’ve go you covered! I love this THANKSGIVING GRAMMAR + PARTS OF SPEECH PACKET to review important grammar skills while using Thanksgiving vocabulary, with some parts of speech thrown in!
Whether you’re looking to introduce, practice, or review ELA skills around the Thanksgiving holiday, this season is FULL of rich vocabulary for you and your students to explore!
