Maps and Videos About Where Thanksgiving Foods Come From
Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? is an interactive storymap that I’ve shared in the past and still find interesting. The map displays where eight popular Thanksgiving foods are grown and harvested in the United States. The storymap includes a map for each ingredient. Each map shows the locations of commercial producers. Fun facts are […]
STEAM Lessons About the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a little tradition in my house just like it is in millions of other homes in the United States. For the last few years Macy’s has offered some hands-on STEAM lessons related to the parade. Parade 101 features four video demonstrations of hands-on activities that students can do at […]
The Science Behind My Favorite Thanksgiving Foods
American Thanksgiving is one week away. The traditional Thanksgiving meal is one of my favorite combinations of foods. My mouth is watering just thinking about turkey, potatoes, squash, stuffing and cranberry sauce from a can (I love the “shlop” sound the cranberry sauce makes as it pops out of the can). This year I’m in charge of […]
The Differences Between American and Canadian Thanksgiving
American Thanksgiving is later this week. My Canadian friends celebrated Thanksgiving last month. Besides the timing of the holiday, there are some other differences between American Thanksgiving and Canadian Thanksgiving. There are also some commonalities between the two holidays. The following videos provide a humorous look at the similarities and differences between American Thanksgiving and […]
The History of Corn – A TED-Ed Lesson
Pictures of corn like the one in this blog post have become symbols of fall harvest and Thanksgiving. Corn and many products made with it are a staple of the diets of many of us today. How did corn become a staple of our diets? What has enabled it to become one of the most […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Somehow over the last 50 years it became a tradition that classic rock stations play Alice’s Restaurant Massacree at noon on Thanksgiving Day. And it has become a tradition for the last ten years that I post a video of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree here on Free Technology for Teachers. If you […]
Three Videos for Thanksgiving Lessons
Thanksgiving is just a few days away. If you find yourself looking for a quick, Thanksgiving-themed video lesson to use this week, take a look at the following three options. The Chemistry of Thanksgiving The Thanksgiving Turkey Compilation from the Reactions YouTube channel explains two concepts related to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. First, it explains how the deep-frying process […]
Three Thanksgiving Lessons You Can Do in the Next Week
Thanksgiving is just over a week away here in the U.S. Should you find yourself looking for some Thanksgiving-themed lessons to do, consider giving one of the following options a try. Create a Thanksgiving Story Map Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? is an interactive storymap that displays where eight popular Thanksgiving foods are grown […]
Thanksgiving Chemistry
The Thanksgiving Turkey Compilation from the Reactions YouTube channel explains two concepts related to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. First, it explains how the deep-frying process works and how it helps to make a turkey more flavorful. Second, the video explains why turkey isn’t the primary culprit in making you drowsy after devouring your Thanksgiving meal. Applications for Education This […]
Mapping Thanksgiving
Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? is an interactive storymap that displays where eight popular Thanksgiving foods are grown and harvested in the United States. The storymap includes a map for each ingredient. Each map shows the locations of commercial producers. Fun facts are included in the storymap too. For example, did you know that […]
The Great Thanksgiving Listen is Back!
For the fifth year in a row StoryCorps is hosting The Great Thanksgiving Listen. This annual event is an effort to get families to talk and record their stories around the Thanksgiving table. The project was originally developed to get high school students to record the stories of their parents, grandparents, and other older family […]
Canadian vs. American Thanksgiving
Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada. If you’re curious about the differences and similarities between American and Canadian Thanksgiving, watch the following videos. Both of the following humorous videos that explain the differences between Thanksgiving in Canada and Thanksgiving in the United States. Just a reminder, you should always preview videos before showing them in your […]
The Chemistry of Thanksgiving or “Why It’s Not the Turkey Making You Sleepy”
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Just like I did last year, on this Thanksgiving Eve I found a video that would have made for a nice Thanksgiving-themed lesson. So even though it is too late to use it this year, bookmark the Thanksgiving Turkey Compilation from the Reactions YouTube channel. The video […]
Mapping the Ingredients in Thanksgiving Meals
Last year on Thanksgiving I discovered an ESRI Storymap titled Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? Of course, having discovered it on Thanksgiving Day it was a bit too late to be useful so I’m sharing it again this year in advance of Thanksgiving. Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? displays where eight […]
The Origins of Ingredients in Thanksgiving Meals
Last week I shared three Thanksgiving-themed projects that you can do this month. Of course, I have many more Thanksgiving resources bookmarked to share with you. One of those is an interesting video from It’s Okay to be Smart titled The Surprising Origins of Thanksgiving Foods. Through the video students can learn how the most […]
Three Thanksgiving-Themed Activities To Do This Month
Now that it is November it’s time to start sharing some resources and ideas for Thanksgiving-themed lessons (apologies to readers outside of the U.S. who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving when Americans do, if at all). Here are a few activities that you could start now and have your students continue working on throughout the month. 1. […]
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating the holiday today or this weekend. I hope that it is the best Thanksgiving ever! I’ll be celebrating with my family in Connecticut. One of our traditions that goes back for 30+ years is watching the Manchester Road Race. Another tradition is listening to Alice’s Restaurant Masacree. And here […]
Mapping the Thanksgiving Harvest
Where Does Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? is the title of an Esri Storymap. The storymap displays where eight popular Thanksgiving foods are grown and harvested in the United States. The storymap includes a map for each ingredient. Each map shows the locations of commercial producers. Fun facts are included in the storymap too. For […]
Thanksgiving Activities for Students
Thanksgiving is next week and if you are like me, this holiday has crept up on you and you might not be ready. If you are still trying to come up with some activities for your students, you might want to take a look at this post from last year. It is full of resources and […]
The StoryCorps Recording App Gets Updated Privacy Controls
StoryCorps offers a free app for recording interviews. I’ve used the app for a couple of years. In fact, I like it enough to include it in my Teaching History With Technology class. The one complaint that people have had about it is that your recorded interviews are automatically made public in the StoryCorps archives. […]
Canadian Thanksgiving vs. American Thanksgiving
This coming Monday in the United States is generally referred to as Columbus Day. In Canada this coming Monday is Thanksgiving. Start your Saturday morning on a lighter note by watching one or both of the following humorous videos that explain the differences between Thanksgiving in Canada and Thanksgiving in the United States. You should […]
Thank You!
Good morning from Connecticut where I am watching my brother and other members of his club run in the 80th annual road race in our hometown. To borrow a line from Jim Nantz, in my family watching the race “is a tradition unlike any other.” But enough about my family… On this Thanksgiving morning I’d […]
The Search for Alice’s Restaurant
Radio stations all over the United States play Alice’s Restaurant Massacree on Thanksgiving Day. While I was looking for a recording of the song on YouTube it occurred to me that many other people were surely doing the same thing. That thought prompted me to go to Wolfram Alpha where I found a chart of Wikipedia […]
The History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
For millions of Americans watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thanksgiving morning is as much a tradition as watching football after the turkey dinner. The Macy’s Parade is 90 years old this year. It has evolved quite a bit since its early days. Macy’s Parade History offers an interactive timeline of the parade’s history. You can […]
Record History on Thanksgiving Day
For many Americans Thanksgiving is one of the few times, perhaps only time, that extended family gathers together. It can be a great time for grandparents and grandchildren to talk to each other. I know that my mother cannot wait to talk to Isla even though she’s only three months old and doesn’t say much […]
A Quick, Last-minute Thanksgiving Lesson Plan
American Thanksgiving is just a few days away. Some schools are closed this week while others are open for the first few days of the week. If you’re school is open and you’re looking for a quick Thanksgiving lesson activity, try this idea that I originally shared a few years ago. 1. Create a Padlet […]
The Origins of Thanksgiving Foods
On Tuesday I shared ten resources for Thanksgiving-themed lesson plans. This afternoon I discovered another good resource for a Thanksgiving lesson. The Surprising Origins of Thanksgiving Foods is a new video from It’s Okay to be Smart (a PBS production). Through the video students can learn how the most common, traditional Thanksgiving foods originated and […]
10 Thanksgiving Lesson Resources and Ideas
American Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Should you find yourself in need of some Thanksgiving-themed lesson ideas, take a look at the following resources. Favorite Thanksgiving dishes, like all favorite foods, vary from region to region. The New York Times has a neat site about the favorite Thanksgiving dishes served in each state (and D.C. and Puerto […]
Storyboard That Offers 5 Thanksgiving Lesson Plans
American Thanksgiving is just a couple of weeks away. Many of us are looking for Thanksgiving-related lesson ideas. If you’re looking for some elementary school lesson plans about Thanksgiving, Storyboard That has some ideas for you. On the Storyboard That teacher guide site you’ll find five Thanksgiving lesson plans. As you would expect, all of the lesson plans […]
Padlet for Halloween and Thanksgiving
Earlier today Jennifer Casa-Todd asked me if I had a video tutorial on how to use the new version of Padlet. I do have a tutorial about the new version of Padlet. You can see it on my YouTube channel or as embedded lower in this post. Coincidentally, I received an email from Padlet today. […]
A Thanksgiving Lesson for the Whole Family
Last year StoryCorps launched a new initiative that they called The Great Thanksgiving Listen. The purpose of the project was to get students to interview family members during Thanksgiving weekend. The first year went well as more than 50,000 recordings were made. The project is back for 2016. The Great Thanksgiving Listen is an initiative intended […]
Differences Between American & Canadian Thanksgiving
This coming Monday in the United States is generally referred to as Columbus Day. In Canada this coming Monday is Thanksgiving. Start your Friday morning on a lighter note by watching one or both of the following humorous videos that explain the differences between Thanksgiving in Canada and Thanksgiving in the United States. Definitely preview […]