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Lesson Plan

Thanksgiving Mourning

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Thanksgiving Mourning lesson plan also includes:

Two primary sources, a speech, and an article provide tweens and teens with different perspectives of the American Thanksgiving holiday. After analyzing Wamsutta James' suppressed speech and Jacqueline Keeler's article, class members use the provided prompts to discuss points made in the documents. The lesson concludes with individuals journaling about how what they learned impacts their understanding of Thanksgiving.

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CCSS: Adaptable
Concepts
thanksgiving, the first thanksgiving, point of view, perspectives, native american culture, native american history, native americans, north american native americans, indigenous people, colonization, national holidays, racism, critical thinking, discrimination, boycotts
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Additional Tags
social studies
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Instructional Ideas
  • Ask groups to design a Thanksgiving celebration that honors the values Keller mentions in her article as well as their own family traditions
Classroom Considerations
  • Requires copies of James' speech and Keeler's article
  • A protocol must be in place to permit a safe, respectful discussion of opposing points of view
Pros
  • The contrasting views presented by the two documents urge young scholars to think critically about the holiday
Cons
  • None