The Thanksgiving Story

Thanksgiving Memory Verses and Copywork Bible memory verses about being thankful. Three verses per page choose from manuscript, cursive, or d’nealian.

The REAL Story of Thanksgiving (MP3)
Rush Limbaugh reads and adds to the story history books leave out.

America’s Judeo-Christian Heritage, Thanksgiving, The Puritans, And Prayer Though it’s a uniquely American tradition, the roots of Thanksgiving go back to ancient Israel.

Was the first Thanksgiving a Feast of Tabernacles Celebration? Read about this Bible holiday and how it points to Christ.

Thanksgiving Lapbook from Joanne Griffin’s third grade web site. You’ll find several printables here.

Thanksgiving Ar6ts and Crafts from Family Fun Magazine. You will find several printable for Lapbooks here.

Squanto’s Science Lesson – This hands-on science activity proves what a great help Squanto was to the early settlers (K-6)

You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving Students earn about the facts and myths that surround the “First Thanksgiving” (the harvest celebration of 1621) at Plimoth Colony.

Cranberry Bog Students explore cranberry farming in Massachusetts and the rest of the nation. They research on challenges facing cranberry farming industry and then write reflection papers on optimum pest control methods from the perspective of a small farm owner.(6-12 grades)

First Thanksgiving Teacher’s Guide – Students research information about the Mayflower, Pilgrims, the Plymouth Colony, the Wampanoags, and the first Thanksgiving. They take an online tour of the Mayflower, interpret timelines, create a postcard, and compare and contrast the life of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags Indian tribe. (K-12 grades)

Colors of Indian Corn =Salvation - Coloring page with plan of salvation.

The First Thanksgiving
Chuck Missler examines the roots of our Thanksgiving tradition, and shows how God was working in the lives of Indian and Pilgrim alike to preserve His faithful.

Thanksgiving Resources on the Web for Educators
Some of these pages have been created by schools for the specific purpose of using them in the classroom. They may contain some modern day information and fun activities revolving around this holiday.

A Walking Tour of Plimoth Plantation Take a walking tour through Plimoth (Plymouth) Plantation, the first permanent European settlement in southern New England.

No Bake Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies - From my family blog.

Thanksgiving Web Quest
Answers the questions: Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? How did the holiday begin? Who declared Thanksgiving a national holiday? What was the first Thanksgiving like? Who attended the first Thanksgiving? Why is Thanksgiving always celebrated in the fall?

Thanksgiving Bible Crafts from Christian Preschool Printables

A Thankful Woman – Free Bible study (12 p PDF)

Thanksgiving Lapbook Ideas – Study Thanksgiving history and culture while making a lapbook with file folders.

Thanksgiving Workboxes – ideas to add to your homeschool workboxes

Lets Talk Turkey: The Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner Economic lesson plan.

Thanksgiving; A Celebration in Gratitude Sites purpose is to assist educators and parents in teaching their children gratitude – and how to be thankful for what we have. This is done by teaching lessons centered around the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians

Celebrating Thanksgiving: Fall Wreaths
Fall leaves, ribbon, and a hay wreath are the easy supplies for making a beautiful autumn decoration. You can hang this on your door and let the kids give them as gifts. Makes a great activity when investigating autumn and the life cycle of deciduous trees.

Thanksgiving: A Study in the Scriptures
Bible study on thanksgiving. Includes history of the holiday.

A Homespun Thanksgiving Great ideas and beautiful graphics from Homeschooled-Kids.com.

Thanksgiving Fun Foods & Recipes for Kids
Make a cornucopia with Bugles corn snacks and Trix, turkeys out of toast, crackers or Oreos.

When Is Your Thanksgiving Day?
A Thanksgiving Day article from the Good News Broadcasting Association.

Thanksgiving Quilt Grade Level: K–2. Make a quilt with felt squares.

Make a Thanksgiving Tree
A craft to help children think about what they are thankful for.

Thanksgiving Crafts for Sunday School
Several crafts focusing on being grateful and the Pilgrims.

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Apple Orchard Field Trip

If You can’t Visit an Apple Orchard Try a Virtual Field Trip with Videos

• Caillou Goes Apple Picking
• ABCs of Agriculture
• Apple Picking
• Bill Nye: Farm Food
• When the Apple Falls: Isaac Newton

A. What are your objectives? (What I hope my child will learn from this trip.)

• Understand how apples grow.
• Understand how seasonal changes affect plant growth.
• Be able to identify major apple varieties.
• Understand how an apple gets to the market
• Understand how to press apple cider.
• Understand plant life cycles
• Understand seeds and germination
• Be ale to appreciate fruit and how the fruit began as a seed
• Understand how the life cycle repeats itself

B. What spiritual values can be taught? (Ask the Lord to help you find spiritual values.)

1. God designed His creation to be responsive to His Word and His plan. We depend on God’s care and His provision for us:  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Colossians 1:17).
2. How we know the type of tree by its fruit: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16).
3. Abiding in Christ, being grafted into God’s family tree: And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again (Romans 11:23).
4. Sowing and reaping: But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6).

C. Questions to create an interest: (Things to find out on the trip.)

1. How do plants or trees begin?
2. Which seasons help plants to begin life?
3. What do plants need to grow?
4. How many different types of apples are there?
5. How many apples can you get from one tree?

D. Activities or projects to do before the trip:

1. See how many types of apples you can find while you are grocery shopping. Jot down the varieties and look them up. Make a chart with various information on each apple: color, seeds, taste, etc. See Apple Varities
2. Cut open several fruits (apple, orange, avocado) and compare seeds.
3. Look up vocabulary words: germination, seedling, sprout, root, embryo, endosperm.
4. Read parables about plants from the Bible.
5. Read and discuss Mark 4:3–8Look up apples in the encyclopedia.
6. Get a book about Johnny Appleseed from the library. Read and discuss.
7. Draw a seed and label its parts.

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundredfold.

E. Activities for after the field trip:

1. Make a poster showing what you have learned.
2. Fold a paper into fourths. Draw the life cycle of an apple tree.
3. Bring home apples and share what you have learned with others.
4. Draw a picture of a man sowing and a picture of a man reaping.
5. Memorize 2 Corinthians 9:6.
6. Make applesauce or an apple pie
7. Make a book.
8. Make a mural of the orchard based on sketches.
9. Make a model of the packing house out of blocks or Legos.

Links to Apple Lessons

Educational Links

• Inside an Apple (Grades K-3) - This lesson will be introducing students to explore and learn the inside of an apple. It is

  necessary for students to know the life cycle of the apple by the time this lesson is given. Several lessons have been given on  life cycle of an apple.

• Apple Picking Time – This is the story of a young girl who spends a whole day picking apples with her family and other workers in Washington state. It is both a tradition and a necessity for the community to help bring in the autumn harvest.
• An Apple a Day - This lesson asks students to listen to “Apples” by Roger B. Yepson (or any book that discusses the parts of an apple) and then identify and label each part on a digram. Students will determine the most popular type of apple by conducting an individual taste survey and constructing a graph to determine the most popular choice among the class.
• Apples on Parade – Children will discover the different varieties of apples after listening to a selected story by describing likenesses and differences of apples, sorting apples, graphing apples, eating apples, and creating apple star trees. This unit can be extended to allow children to cook with apples.
• Apples, Apples, Apples -Students practice reading skills, writing skills, and mathematics as they explore the theme of apples. They write a report about Johnny Appleseed, write an apple recipe book, graph data about favorite types of apples, cut apples into various fractional portions, among many other activities.

Bible Studies

• Fruit of the Spirit – several encouraging Bible studies from Heart of Wisdom Blog
• Fruitfulness: After completing this lesson, the children will understand that some things in life take time and extra effort, but Jesus gives us all the help we need, even special people to care for us.
• Fruit of the Spirit – Do you agree with the idea that people in the world can be drawn to God by His fruit in your life?
• Seeds that Fall on the Path
• Seeds that Fall on Rocky Places
• Seeds that Fall among Thorns
• Seeds that Fall on Good Soil

Worksheets

Apple Activities:

Books

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