Valeria Valencia-Abarca

EDU 280
Professor Wyckoff

Subject: Social Studies

Culture: Puerto Rican
Topic: Thanksgiving
Grade Level: Pre-K

Title of the Lesson: Our Thanksgiving

Book Title, Author, Publication Date, Grade Level: ​Gracias The Thanksgiving Turkey​ by Joy
Cowley, 1996, Kindergarten

Multicultural Themes: Focusing on Puerto Rican Thanksgiving culture and comparing it to the
cultures of the students in the class.

Materials: “My Thanksgiving” handout, crayons, colored pencils, markers, stickers. Feathers,
glitter, glue, tape.

Standards: ​5. K. 2 ​ ​5. K 3​ ​6. K. 3 ​ ​ 6. K. 7

Objectives:
- Students will be able to summarize the story with teacher scaffolding, in a group
discussion with 85% accuracy.
- Students will be able to illustrate a story based off of their personal Thanksgiving
experience, in a small group setting of 4 children, with 85% accuracy.
- Students will be able to discuss their drawing in a whole class setting with 85% accuracy.

Procedure:
1. Introduction: “Good morning class! Today we are going to be reading a book about
Thanksgiving. Our morning book is called ​Gracias The Thanksgiving Turkey​. Does
anybody know what ‘gracias’ means? You’re right! It is the Spanish word for ‘thank
you’. In this book, we will read about a boy from an island called Puerto Rico. Let’s dive
into the story!”
2. Reading: The book will be read in a whole class setting.
3. Discuss:
- “So far in the story, we see that Miguel is going to get a present from his father.
What do you think the gift will be?”
 - “Wow, the gift was a turkey! What a surprise! Have you ever received an animal
as a present?”
- “Miguel’s father left a message that said “fatten this turkey up. What do you think
they are going to do with the turkey?”
- “You’re right. They are going to eat the turkey! What do you eat on
Thanksgiving or during the holidays?”
- “Miguel’s turkey was stolen, oh no! Where do you think they are going to hide
Gracias?”
4. Activities: The students will divide into groups of 4. In these groups, the students will
have a handout named “My Thanksgiving”. In this handout, there will be a large space
for the students to illustrate what they eat on their Thanksgiving day. If a student does not
celebrate Thanksgiving, they will be able to draw their favorite holiday meal. After about
15 minutes of drawing, the students will come back together on the reading carpet and
explain their meals to their classmates. Once our meal discussion is done, there will be a
large turkey in the middle of the reading carpet. The students will all work together to
decorate our group turkey and give our class turkey a name.

Evaluation: Students will summarize the story we read as a class after our activities. The
students will also identify the differences between their culture and Miguel’s culture. The
teacher will also listen to the children’s stories about their drawing to determine how well
they cn explain their story and compare it to the story we read as a class.