What can I teach the week before Thanksgiving break?
What can I teach the week before Thanksgiving break?
Teach real content in short blocks: a lesson on the Wampanoag, a lesson on the 1621 harvest gathering from the eyewitness account, a gratitude writing task and a fall art project to close. Keep your routines, because a short week without structure feels long. This page gives a day-by-day plan, classroom tips and answers to common questions.
Plan the week with this bundleThe week before Thanksgiving break works best with short, real lessons rather than filler. Spend one day on the Wampanoag, one on the 1621 harvest gathering using Edward Winslow's brief account, and finish with gratitude writing and a fall art project on the last afternoon. Keep your normal reading and math routines, and avoid costume activities that turn Native people into decoration.
Ready-made material
Thanksgiving and Fall Bundle, Grades K–4
4 resources in one download: $49.99 instead of $69.96 bought separately.
The first cover is the main resource; the others are related options. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Thanksgiving and Fall Bundle | Pilgrims, First Peoples, Autumn Crafts | Grades K–4
Early American History Bundle | Native Americans, Explorers, Pilgrims & Pioneers | 8 Units | Grades 1–4
Christmas and Winter Crafts Bundle | 6 Printable Art Activities | Grades K–4
Elementary History Curriculum | All 20 History Units | Grades 1–4
Why it is hard
Why this week is hard to teach
Every teacher knows the pattern. Attendance drops as families leave early, students are thinking about food and travel, and the schedule fills with assemblies, food drives and class parties. A week with two or three school days can feel longer than a full one. The usual answer is a stack of turkey coloring pages, which keeps students busy but teaches nothing and often repeats the Pilgrims-and-Indians myths that later teachers have to undo. The opposite answer, pressing on with new content as if nothing is happening, frustrates everyone and leaves absent students behind. The best weeks sit in between: a short, accurate piece of history tied to the holiday, reading and math practice in review form, and a calm hands-on finish for the last afternoon when focus is lowest. Watch for a few traps: paper headdresses, role-play feasts, and lessons that show Native people only as guests at someone else's meal. Plan, too, for students whose families do not celebrate Thanksgiving; a harvest and gratitude frame lets everyone take part.
What works
Tips that keep a short week on track
These keep students learning without asking for much new prep in a busy week.
- Keep morning work, read-aloud and math warm-ups exactly as usual to anchor each day.
- Teach history in 20 to 30 minute blocks, each with one short reading and one task.
- Use a gratitude prompt that works for every family: something I am thankful for at school.
- Put the art project on the final afternoon, when students are least ready for new content.
- Prepare a take-home page for students who leave early so they do not miss the history.
- Replace costume crafts with a map of Wampanoag homelands or a 1621 harvest food chart.
Step by step
A five-block plan for a short week
Use as many blocks as you have days. With only two days, combine blocks 1 and 2, then blocks 4 and 5.
- Block 1: Who were the Wampanoag?Introduce the people who lived around Plymouth long before 1620: villages, the wetu, corn, beans and squash, fishing. Students draw one season of Wampanoag life and label two details.
- Block 2: The Mayflower and a hard winterTell why the Pilgrims came and how difficult their first winter was. Students list three things the colonists needed and name who helped them learn to plant corn.
- Block 3: The 1621 harvest gatheringRead Winslow's short description in simple words. Students list who was there, what they ate and how long it lasted, then compare it with a modern holiday table.
- Block 4: Gratitude writingStudents write and illustrate a short piece on what they are thankful for at school. Kindergartners dictate or draw; fourth graders write a paragraph with a reason and an example.
- Block 5: Fall art to closeFinish with an autumn art project on the last afternoon. Display the art beside the gratitude writing so the hallway shows both the history and the students' own thinking.
Ready-made option
Four ready resources for the week
The Thanksgiving and Fall Bundle ($49.99; the parts cost $69.96 separately) holds two full history units, Pilgrims & the First Thanksgiving and Native Americans: First Peoples of North America, plus two fall art activities: an Autumn Tree Craft and a Fall Art Project called My Favorite Autumn School Day. Each history unit has an overview and three sub-units with lesson plans, differentiated worksheets, source or project tasks, answer keys and slides, so you can teach one sub-unit per day. For explorers, pioneers and timelines as well, the Early American History Bundle ($99.99) is the wider choice. For December, the Christmas and Winter Crafts Bundle ($39.99) follows on.
Honest limits
What a short-week bundle cannot cover
The two art activities are single printable projects, not full units, and paper, paint and glue are not included. The bundle does not plan your reading and math review, and it cannot judge which history details suit kindergarten versus fourth grade; that call is yours. Compare the history units with your state's social studies standards. Sharing the files with colleagues needs a short message to Teach Lessons first. You can exchange the bundle within 7 days for store credit of equal value; there is no cash refund.
Good to know
More teacher questions
What if I only have two days before break?
Choose one history lesson and one closing project. Teach the Wampanoag and the 1621 gathering together on day one, and do gratitude writing plus the art project on day two. Keep your reading and math warm-ups; dropping them on short days makes the Monday after break harder.
Is the bundle suitable for kindergarten?
The bundle is listed for Grades K–4. The art activities work well in kindergarten. The history units are written for Grades 1–4, so with kindergartners read the passages aloud, use the slides and pictures, and swap the worksheet for a drawing or a short spoken answer.
Do these lessons line up with state standards?
Teach Lessons makes no claim that the bundle aligns with any state's standards. Kindergarten and first grade social studies often include holidays and traditions, while third and fourth grade may ask for Native peoples or colonial history. Look up your grade in your state's standards and choose the sub-units that fit.
How do I include students who don't celebrate Thanksgiving?
Frame the week around harvest, history and gratitude rather than the family holiday. Every student can learn about the Wampanoag and 1621, write about something they are thankful for at school and make the fall art. Avoid prompts that assume a turkey dinner or travel, and let students share family traditions only if they want to.
What should students do on the day of the class party?
Hold the art project or the gratitude writing until just before the party, so the excitement has somewhere to go. A short read-aloud about the 1621 gathering makes a quiet start. Keep at least one normal routine in the morning; students settle faster when the day still looks familiar.
Can I use the history units again later in the year?
Yes, and it helps. The Native Americans unit in particular should not live only in November. Teach part of it now and the rest in spring with a then-and-now focus, so students meet Native nations outside the holiday too. The licence covers your own teaching all year.
A short week can still teach something
Pick one history lesson, one writing task and one art project, and keep your routines. The bundle has all four resources ready.
Plan the week with this bundle